Castle di Caela

Article written by Kranar Drogin

Castle di Caela is nothing more than a ruin located in the province of Heartlund, northwest of the great city of Solanthus. It was also known to have been a week's ride south from the High Clerist's Tower. The castle faced west and had a western gate leading out of the castle; it had four towers of varying size on its corners. The two towers that are on the western side are conical, while the southeastern tower, named the Cat Tower, was square and the tallest. The tower obtained its name from one Mariel di Caela, who locked herself in the tower with a number of her cats. She was later eaten by her cats after dying of starvation, as she refused all offers of food while in the tower. This tower was often occupued by the more eccentric or insane members of the family.

Inside the castle was a library, a Great Hall, and a lot of mechanical cuckoo clocks located in the Cat Tower. The castle also had below it a wine cellar, tunnels, and a well. This well actually allowed for the entire castle to have working plumbing and running water.

Before the Cataclysm

In 172 AC, Lord Rowland di Caela ordered the entire castle evacuated and then the torch put to it to destroy a plague of disease carrying rats. These rats were part of a family curse, which stopped the curse for the next thirty years. Sir Rowland then had the castle rebuilt from the inside out.

Age of Despair

In 228 AC, the lord of the castle was Robert di Caela and he ordered a tournament be held to win the hand of his daughter Enid di Caela. Though treachery was at hand by Gabriel Androctus, who took the name Hooded Knight, Bayard Brightblade was still able to defeat him and take the hand of Enid in marriage.

By 231 AC, Bayard was the Lord over the castle with his young wife. In the same year, Bayard ordered that a moat be dug around the castle to allow for better protection. Also, an earthquake hits the castle and caused a gap to form in the dungeon below the Castle and geysers of water to shoot up through the castle. The wine cellar fell into the tunnels located there, and when it was search the old well cap was found there along with Mariel's missing cats' descendants.

The Rebellion

The Rebellion, or The Outcrying, was when the peasants of Lemish, Southlund, and Solamnia rose up against the Knights of Solamnia in 335 AC. When a siege came upon Castle Brightblade, Sir Agion Pathwarden who was the steward of Castle di Caela, rushed to help break through the siege and free his friend. He was betrayed though by Sir Boniface Crownguard and the rebels killed him in an ambush. With no one left to help lead and defend the castle, the defenders were starved out and the castle fell to Ragnell's forces in 336 AC. To this day, the castle is nothing more than a ruin.

References

Weasel's Luck, p. 70, 160, 169-170, 178-182, 218-219, 226
Galen Beknighted, p. 12-15, 60, 83-84, 161-163, 239, 309, 312
The Oath and the Measure, p. 34, 67-68, 80-83, 172-173

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This article has been viewed 1,154 times. It was added on June 7, 2006, and was last modified on September 24, 2006.

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