Castle Grey, Location and History

^{~Click here for Full View~}

History-
Castle Grey is the childhood home of a girl by the name of Amandra Grey and her six siblings under the care of Lord and Lady Grey.   Castle Grey stood watch over a great misty plane with rocky hills and shadowed forests in a chilly land of the north to the far east of Fiore and past Pergrande called High Moor,  as at the end of this plane was a craggy cliff face cutting off High Moor from the Small Kingdoms.   At it's height the High Moor was plagued with mists and fog as it lived among the clouds and a perpetual cold breeze kept the land damp and gloomy,  the only relief being the Life Festivals and the land's many Hot Spots where hot or warm water flowed up from below the earth.

Of High Moor,  The Grey Family served as it's governors-  It's own Royal Family though it was nothing so posh.  They lived well in Castle Grey but it was not a life of extraordinary extravagance.   For generations the Greys served the people of High Moor,  many of the plagues and famine that brutalized these highlanders had ceased when Grey took the Cold Throne and the harsh land became bearable.

But at what cost?  The Grey Family since that day has been hammered with loss.  The reason why was lost with Haden Grey,  the first Grey who sat on the throne.  Haden told no one what it was he did,  but all saw it in his composure.  The darkness in his eyes,  the weight on his soul could be felt by all who came near him.   But no one accused him of anything,  though some tried to help him,  as he had resolved the conflict of High Moor not just between the land's hostilities but the tribal warring nature of the inhabitants.  

It started ten years into Haden's rule,  when his first wife went missing after the birth of his firstborn.   She appeared six days later with grievous wounds and a blank expression that never left.   She gave Haden one more child before she slipped into the afterlife.   It was after this the firstborn went missing and never returned.   Then the second,  only to return as a lifeless body.   Haden's second wife was more successful,  she too went missing after the birth of her first child but returned only twelve hours later, the flesh of her arm stained black.   Her sanity was more then that of the first wife,  but crumpled into silent tears whenever something directed her attention back to her time missing.   Her child survived but returned with a missing right arm with it's remaining flesh stained black up to and around his neck,  too young to remember the events in the babes later years though the marks never went away.   

This cycle continued throughout the Grey family's heritage for seven generations.  The delay between birth or birthing and disappearance grew wider and more varied but always left room for the family to grow,  never killing them all off without chance of recovery.   It was the fate of the Grey family,  no one was untouched save for those who married into the family and effecting their children.   After the first three generations most those who disappeared returned alive,  but none left unmarked by the black stain that remained which came to be known as a Greymark.  Similarly,  the consistency for which victims were taken became predictable.  All those "Taken into the Black" returned on the third day,  if they did not then they were Lost in the Black.   The family and it's servants came to know the markers indicating a Grey has been Taken into the Black by a sharp smell in the air like melting wax and black drops hard to find in the corners of the room and at the edges of all entryways and windows into the room the Grey was in when he or she was taken.

It was a secret of the family,  though most found out about it through loose-lipped servants.  But all agreed that it was a tragedy that was not to be shared with the Grey children until after their own return.   But the child Amandra was wise beyond her years,  and witnessed the gloom among the halls of Castle Grey,  and was not blind to the disappearance of her cousins and their marked returns.  She saw the bleakness in the eyes of her servants when she inquired.   Even confronted.  She would never get an answer.  All admired her for her looks,  all seemed to love her for her heart.  But it only added to their pain at the though of what would happen to this kind soul the day she would be Taken,  a thought that shook them and tore the voice from their tongue.  Incapable of answering the girl.  

But Amandra found out for herself,  as all Greys do,  on the night following her ninteenth birthday.  Amandra had wanted to be wed by now but no one would allow her to even be alone with a man without supervision and only when necessary- which was only once in her life up to that point.  Now ninteen years old and several years behind the usual age of marriage by the standards of High Moor,  Amandra confronted Brontios.  Her father and Lord Grey.  His reaction was surprisingly positive and welcoming to the idea and Amandra could not sleep for her heart was filled with joy and thoughts racing with imaginings of the future.

The moon rose above the great cliffs to the south on the horizon and Amandra looked upon it as she finally started to give way to sleep,  but she was distraught.  She could feel it in her chest,  and down her spine,  that something was amiss.  The cool light of the moon began to feel sorrowful,  and full of regret.  The candlelight faded as though retreating before the little flames vanished,  blanketing the room in darkness the moonlight did nothing to penetrate.   She shouted for help,  scared for her life,  and the voice of Brontios responded.  Raspy,  thick, but identifiable.  She saw the silhouette of her father appear in the doorway back lit only just by a red glow.   He approached slowly,  Amandra's fear rising with each step he took and she could feel that this was not her father.   A cold hand gripped her throat and the thing breathed in her face.   In the darkness she could only just make out the black tar-like face that might have once been Lord Grey.  It's eyes were bloodshot and violent,  looking for something in Amandra's own eyes.   It's eyes widened and it's black-stained smile widened.  It found what it was looking for,  at last.   This monster of Castle Grey that had been tearing apart the Grey family for generations at last found what it had been waiting for.  

The creature pushed Amandra into her bed,  it's hands at her throat still and pressed itself against her but there was no sound Amandra could make as one of the creature's arms pushed its way down her throat,  suffocating her and filling her with this tar-like substance.  Great was her pain as she felt her insides burn and tear until the creature gripped her heart.  Still,  she did not die.  It withdrew it's arm pressed it's face against hers,  it's hands locking on hers and it's legs wrapped around her own.  Amandra's flesh burned as it entered her,  the black thing melting through her over the course of an hour.   When it was gone,  light returned and the moon was higher up in the sky though a thick black fog obscured the land.  The candles were unlit but the moonlight was enough to make the room feel blinding.   She sat up in the bed,  it's white sheets were unstained.   She checked herself,  and there was no pain,  no stain.   

What there was was a glow,  she could see it coming from behind her but when she turned it moved with her.   Naturally after her ordeal she sought after her mother-  too frightened of what she was certain was no hallucination or nightmare.   Instead,  what she found was a corpse with a black handprint over her throat.   She called out for guards,  for the servants,  there was no one to respond.  Throughout the Castle Grey all had been slain with the same black stain around their throats.  

Panicked she tried to flee the castle,  but the way was shut.   The door would not open.  The raspy voice of the creature echoed through her mind,  but it spoke no words.   It touched her heart and she could only feel.   She knew what it meant,  she understood the situation she was in.  The creature wanted her,  but it could not force her to accept,  but it could bring ruin to all of High Moor if she refused it.   It would not hurt her,  it needed her,  but it would destroy everything else in her life.  It could keep her trapped here,  in this dark castle,  for all eternity.   She accepted.   Relevant.

Amandra resumed consciousness in the light of the morning,  hazy memories of a dark castle haunting her dreams.  A brief moment of panic welled as she couldn't remember her name,  then she remembered.   Elen.



Description. 
Castle Grey is a gloomy castle without much ground.  It resides floating on a great pile of debris with the whole construction turning in place in a great empty space closed in with dark stormclouds and lit by the occasional flash of lightning and the light of the big planet in the sky,  as a moon with ocean and landmass.  

Inside,  the only light comes from the light that leeks in from the windows on the outer areas of the castle,  which isn't always much.  The halls of this place are heavily haunted with shadowy figures and poltergeists.  Such haunting occasionally light candles,  or blow out candles lit by others.  Some move chairs,  some light fires only for the fires to burn out within minutes and the damage reverted.   Naturally,  candles or torches can be lit.  All light sources fade after 3 posts,  and all light spells have their duration halved.

Such haunting can be violent,  some can be peaceful,  but most all at least fill the heart with fear.   The most dangerous however is the appearance of a creature who's appearance is as though it as composed of tar.   This creature will often kill, but it enjoys tormenting it's prey and will reward clever thinking with more time before it moves to kill.  Sometimes it will get at one's throat only to vanish.  Othertimes it will chase one until they hide.

The halls of the castle itself are cold,  damp,  and stained with black spots or blood.   Corpses in various stages of decomposition can frequently be found,   and Memory Shards can be recovered that take memories of some of the victims and place them in written form on scraps of paper or journals throughout the castle.


To enter Castle Grey,  it is a simple thing.   In a lightless room or in a grove or ruin on a moonless night with the stars obscured with dark clouds one only has to slit their wrist or burn a black candle.  In either case whether or not it was intentional or willing is not a factor.  Then the blackness will fade or increase to the point of total blackness then fade until they find themselves in a room in Castle Grey.   Elen herself can enter Castle Grey by willing it,  without the black candle or cutting herself,  but she must meet the other requirements.

Exiting Castle Grey is not as simple.  To exit Castle Grey the person in question has to play the tar-creature's game and win (Not likely),  which varies widely and is always nearly impossible.   Alternatively,  they can seek out Elen if she is in the castle to have her save them.  Elen herself can always exit Castle Grey at any time,  command the spirits in the castle except for the Tar-creature who only ignores her,  and eject others from the castle returning them to where they entered or with Elen to where she entered.  
If Elen is not in the castle,  they can forcibly summon her to the Castle by finding a Glyph or learning about the Glyph and drawing it themselves in blood.  Info on the Glyph can be found in a memory shard,  though such shards are usually placed in hard to reach places.  Glyphs can be found in similarly hard to reach places but touching it can eject them from the castle.

Castle Grey is not in Earthland,  but in it's own pocket-realm.   However,  a secret exit is there available to anyone capable of shadow or storm based flight,  in which flying towards the planet-moon in the sky will eventually allow them to escape. However,  flying off course or in any other direction except straight at the moon causes them to be swallowed by storm clouds and appearing to enter into the area from the opposite side of the little sphere of influence flying towards the castle.

Every time someone enters, and every hour, Castle Grey regenerates all damage, save for that which it chooses to leave for more randomization. Rooms move, halls shift. Some rooms vanish, new rooms grow. Sometimes places in Castle Grey remains completely blacked out and ungenerated, only accessible after some condition is met and then it generates becoming a new hall or room. This also means that any havoc caused by entrees mends itself. Large scale deliberate damage can be seen repairing itself immediately as the damage happens.