Retalious' Guide to Seelie Castle

Seelie castle stands in all of its white-walled glory on an island in the northwestern most corner of the Faerie Plane. The entrance gate on the northern part of the castle brings you past the high walls to a lovely little towne. Several streets lay east to west across the main road with quaint little homes lining them. Beware though, preservers of the seelie castle stand to guard the inhabitants of the Sidhe villiage from the mischevious shadows and from adventurers like you, who may be just a bit too curious.

The castle wall not only surrounds the outer perimeter of the villiage, but also serves as the outer wall for the inner castle itself. Walking into the gates of the castle with the southwestern and southeaster doors you'll pass the most entertaining of wizards and the vendor Jithox, who provides a small selection of wares from his cart. Now, the inside of the castle is an intriguing place. The hallways criss cross northwest and southeast from a central northern and western hallway.

These wide and lofty hallways hold some of the most beautiful rooms in the entire plane, rivaling only those in the nearby hotel with the outlook over the endless Chaotic Void. North through the main hallways will leave you to choose from several rooms. On the west side of the hallway you will come across a banquet hall decorated with the finest replicas of the Seelie coat of arms. North of that you will find the one and only King Sandoval's chambers. There is where the benevolent king usually resides, ruling from his throne with a demeanor of a truly wise leader. He is said to be able to detect an enemy enter his chambers immediately.

That being said, it is warned that no Fey enter his chambers unless one likes running the risk of being teleported to a random room in the castle, or outside into the village.It is said however, that behind one of his coat of arms there is a servants hallway that can also covertly access the throne room.Now, deviating from the forboding room of fey displacement, there is a dancing hall across from the chambers with painters perpetually touching up the walls and ceilings as the dancers and flower girls twirl around them. Down the hall will lead to two of the most dangerous places to be found in the castle. One of them is a long hallway against the east part of a hallway leading to an array of advisors rooms and an overgrown garden.

More painters try desperately to touch up these dismally dangerous abodes, but the advisors and changelings interfere to the point of it being almost a pointless venture for them. Though the palletes they carry are highly sought after by many questmasters on the Alyrian plane. It is rumored that the advisors hold the key for admittance into possibly the most dangerous upper room of the castle. A place where not only creatures can kill you, but players too, and then loot your corpse as well! If that, however, sounds too dangerous for you, you can always exit the corridor through the same way you came in, dodging any of the sneaky fey bounty hunters that lurk the hallways with the sharpened femur bones of thier victims... or latest meals.

Further north up the hallways will lead you to a winding staircase that not only leads to another quite dangerous room, but the kings bedchambers themselves! If these rooms are too dangerous for you still, you can exit by overturning a rug in the northern room at the end of the staircase and leaving through a secret servants hallway. That hallway will lead you back to a safer castle ,and to the final rooms in our tour. Following a western hallway you will come to a locked training yard scattered with little creatures, rodents and pesky changelings. There is nothing to really see or do in the empty space but enjoy the nature of the faerie plane. Next up is the kitchen, run by the legendary butcher, Krohnin. Vegetarians beware! Finally, ending our tour is the barracks and armory, a true display of the might of the sidhe. Many generations of sidhe have faught thier cousins the fey, and from this room they have been outfitted for battle.

Leaving the castle may be a hard task to do, basking in the glory and wonder of the architecture and art. It is again, only a rumor, that there is another hidden part to this section of the faerie plane. Under the castle, or perhaps under one of the guarded homes in the village it is said that there is a sect of priests and thier following that perform odd and dark rituals with a giant crystal statue.They hold books that some questsmasters would kill to have. Some adventurers have returned claiming to have been lost in a deep dark forest with ghostly shades of horses and butterflies, only to find the caves of burning corpses and completely unique pyramids of gas and light. Talkor the hermit is also said to be a long time resident of the haunted forest, living amongst the priests and dark creatures, but so far only a few lucky men and women have been able to find his sacred tree home.

How long exactly the castle has stood, and how long it will remain in the plane will remain a mystery for now. None can say for sure when another battle between sidhe and fey will break out again, or even if it is in the future. It is agreed however that the large luxurious castle of the native sidhe would be a tragic loss should a war erupt again. It is urged that all who can travel between planes visit the fortress whilest they can and soak up the rich culture by reading one of the many seelie history texts, visiting the king of the castle, training with one of the wandering wisemen, and then ending your stay with a night in the hotel to the east, looking down upon all of the plane.