jdnd/sections/13-The Castle with the Steel Door - Sections of Castle Green.md

## Sections of Castle Green


The following is a list of the areas in Castle Green, in the order that
the PCs are likely to encounter them. Each section describes what’s in
that section, and what encounters the PCs will likely have there.

### The Ground Floor

When the PCs first arrive at the castle, they can see that everything
above knee level is gone. All that’s left of the ground floor is the
floor itself, the bottom few stones of the walls, and the stairs that
lead to the basement.

Rennick is here. This might be a good time to reread Rennick’s
description in the introductory chapter. This is the first time that the
PCs will meet Rennick. He is standing at the top of the basement stairs,
shouting, “Is anybody down there?”

The PCs will probably ask Rennick about who he is. Rennick volunteers
he’s a business associate of Green’s. If the PCs probe further, here are
the facts that Rennick is open about and will easily divulge with even
the slightest prompting:

-   Rennick volunteers that he is a member of the Fraternity of Order.
    > He points out the fact that he’s wearing their logo on his lapel.

-   If asked, Rennick is happy to explain the Fraternity of Order, the
    > fact that they make most of the laws in the city of Sigil, and
    > that their real passion is learning the laws that govern the
    > universe.

-   If asked how he knows Green, Rennick says he’s a casino regulator
    > from the City of Sigil, and Green was a casino owner there.

-   If asked, he is happy to explain how casino regulation in Sigil
    > works - about how the Fraternity will sell “certificates of fair
    > play” to any casino that they can verify is legit. Rennick
    > explains that he manages a team of statisticians and undercover
    > investigators to make sure the casino is legit before he is
    > willing to sell a certificate.

-   Rennick loves to talk about his passion, luck research. It doesn’t
    > take much to get him started: for example, if Lada introduces
    > herself as a luck researcher, Rennick is excited to meet another
    > luck researcher. He volunteers that casino regulation is only his
    > day job. He explains his real passion is studying how luck,
    > randomness, and chance work.

-   If the PCs get Rennick to talk about his research, he will
    > eventually volunteer that he’s discovered a way to predict the
    > outcomes of random events, like a die roll.

Eventually, Rennick starts to feel like he’s said too much, and he
starts to clam up. He realizes he shouldn’t be talking about his ability
to predict random events. He also realizes he shouldn’t be talking about
his relationship to the deck. He starts to be much more circumspect.
Here is what he absolutely won’t tell the PCs:

-   He won’t divulge that he has anything to do with the Deck. If asked,
    > he just says, “I prefer not to say.” However, the fact that he
    > suddenly clammed up is a dead giveaway that he does have
    > *something* to do with the Deck.

-   He won’t say why he’s here. He came to St Parnas to ask Green
    > whether or not he’s noticed anything weird happening with the
    > deck. However, because he arrived during the chaos storm, he
    > already has his answer, a definitive *yes*, a chaos storm is
    > definitely weird. He won’t talk about this.

In the light of the fact that there has been a chaos storm, and that it
appeared to be centered on the castle, Rennick is worried about the
safety of Green and his employees. He’s worried that there might be
people trapped in the basement. He is right about that.

He says that earlier, he went to the bottom of the stairs. He says that
at the bottom of the stairs are a bunch of weird labyrinth passages. He
says that when he saw the labyrinth passages, he NOPED out of there: he
says he isn’t an adventurer, he doesn’t want to get lost in a
potentially dangerous dungeon. But he’s hoping somebody will go in. He
encourages the PCs to try to help Green and Green’s employees.

So now the PCs have two reasons to descend the stairs:

-   To find Green so that they can negotiate to purchase the Deck.

-   To help Green’s employees escape from the labyrinth.

### The Basement Landing

When the PCs come down the stairs from outside, they find themselves at
the bottom of the stairs, in the basement landing. There’s nothing in
the landing but a few potted plants. There are three hallways leading in
three different directions - north, west, and east. All three contain
portals, so looking down any of these hallways, you see a few feet of
stone wall, and then the hallway continues onward as wood-paneled
labyrinth walls. The appearance is surprising:

\<IMAGE HERE\>

When the PCs look at the transition, have them make an insight roll: the
transition from stone to wood doesn’t look man-made, it looks like the
artifact of a magical phenomenon of some sort.

Walking down any of the halls leads the PCs into the labyrinth.

### The Labyrinth

The labyrinth itself is a maze of passages, with the walls covered with
decorative wooden paneling (a lot like a Victorian library). The
passages don’t go anywhere except to more passages.

As the PCs walk around the labyrinth, they will unknowingly be passing
through portals that lead to other places in the labyrinth. The portals
in the labyrinth shift around randomly. As a result, it is impossible to
map the labyrinth. The effective layout is constantly changing.

The PCs will probably try strategies like marking the walls with arrows
that point back toward the entrance. If they do, they will discover that
the labyrinth seems to be shifting: they find their own arrows, but
they’re now pointing in scattered directions, even pointing at each
other. The labyrinth itself isn’t shifting, the portals are, but that
has the effect of connecting hallways that weren’t connected before, and
the labyrinth certainly *appears* to have shifted.

When the PCs stop for a bit, let them know that they are feeling a faint
sense of anxiety and dread. Have them make WIS DC15 checks to realize:
it’s not *their own* anxiety/dread: the sensation is coming from
outside, from somebody else. Of course, the sensation is coming from
Omta, but when you talk to your PCs about where the emotions are coming
from, call it “the presence in the labyrinth.”

To get unstuck, the PCs need to first reassure Omta, and then ask him
for help with navigation. See the previous section, “Navigating the
Portals,” for detailed instructions about what is necessary. Once they
do those things, Omta will probably take the PCs to the next basement
area.

The PCs may find interesting things in the hallways of the labyrinth.
Space out the following encounters semi-randomly, throwing in a random
encounter whenever things seem a little slow.

-   The PCs find scraps of Borghan’s fur scraped off on some of the
    > labyrinth woodwork.

-   They find a single stone block from one of the castle walls. This
    > just teleported out of a wall randomly during the chaos storm,
    > leaving a hole in the wall.

-   They encounter ants (see the previous section on ants).

-   With a difficult perception roll, they see an anomaly caused by a
    > portal. Show them the image below. The anomaly is hard to see, but
    > it is there. The reason for the seam in the following image is
    > that there is a portal stitching together two labyrinth hallways:

> ![](media/image10.png){width="2.932292213473316in"
> height="3.9265748031496064in"}

In the labyrinth, it is possible to encounter Borghan himself. This
should not happen until after the PCs have figured out how to move
around. Give them a chance to get their bearings before encountering a
foe. For information on how to run the Borghan encounter, refer to the
previous section, “Borghan: The Caged Beast.”

### The Sparring Room, Armory, and Cells

When Omta finally allows the PCs to leave the labyrinth tunnels, this is
where he takes them if they don’t ask for any place in particular. In
this location, you can find three holding cells. Across from the cells
are the sparring room and the armory.

All the cell doors have small windows that let you see inside. All three
rooms are empty. All three rooms are held shut by bars across the doors,
which are easily removed from the outside of the cell. Two of the cells
are dusty and clearly have not been used recently. The third has had an
occupant who managed to shatter the bar that held the door shut. The bar
is in splinters on the floor, and the occupant is gone. A search of the
smashed cell reveals bits of coarse brown fur. Of course, don’t tell
your players this, but the occupant was Borghan, the “Caged Beast.”
Borghan has been wandering the labyrinth for about a week.

The armory is full of weapon racks that are empty. This room is to equip
an army, and Green doesn’t have an army, so this room is unneeded.
Alyssa Varn has strung a piece of piano wire across the doorframe at
shin-level. The wire has been there for quite some time, nobody tripped
on it because nobody goes into the Armory. The wire is not connected to
a mechanism: it’s just there to trip and slash shins. First person to
enter the room must make a perception check DC 15 to spot the wire in
time. Failing that, take 6HP damage, dex save DC 15 for half. Stuck to
the wall inside the room, next to where the tripwire is anchored, is a
tiny note: “Get the &\^\$ out of my castle! - AV”

The sparring room is actively used by Green and his guards. It is
currently occupied by the two gate guards, Bran and Inya, who are stuck
here. They are glad that somebody has come to get them out of here. They
can explain the basic story of how Green and some of his employees ended
up in the basement-labyrinth. They can also give an accurate inventory
of who’s in the basement, though they don’t know exactly where these
individuals are in the basement.

It is important that Bran and Inya provide a complete list of all the
missing people. That gives the PCs a checklist to follow. Trying to
locate everyone on the checklist is the main mechanism by which the PCs
will find the rest of the areas in the basement.

If asked about people who drew cards, Bran says, “I’ll tell you
everything I know, but I mostly don’t know. Green doesn’t tell us what
cards people drew - privacy, you know? But, I guess I can tell you about
Borghan and Alyssa, I know about them.”

This is what they have to say about Borghan and Alyssa:

-   They know that the castle came into existence when Alyssa Varn drew
    > “bricklayer.” They know Alyssa sold the castle to Green, and they
    > know that Alyssa has “seller’s remorse” and that she’s causing no
    > end of grief for the castle inhabitants.

-   They know that the labyrinth came into existence when Borghan drew
    > “bricklayer.” They know the labyrinth was originally a separate
    > place, but it got all tangled up in the castle basement when the
    > chaos storm hit. They also know that Borghan is in the form of a
    > Grizzly bear, wandering the labyrinth.

Aside from the basic facts above, they don’t know anything else about
Alyssa or Borghan. They can’t tell you what other cards those two drew.

Bran and Inya can also tell the PCs the following tidbit: Green used to
own a Casino in Sigil, and Bran and Inya were guards at the casino. For
this whole deck of many things venture, Green mostly hired people who
used to work for his casino. Bran and Inya both agree that Green is a
decent boss.

When the PCs try to leave the sparring room area, have them make a
perception roll, DC15. If any PC succeeds, they notice a hole in the
wall that leads into the armory. There is nothing interesting on the
other side of the hole. It is just a hole that randomly appeared in the
wall during the chaos storm.

To get Bran and Inya out of the labyrinth, the PCs need to ask the
presence in the labyrinth to take them to the exit of Castle Green.

### The Kitchen, Pantry, and Dining Area

To get to the kitchen, the PCs pretty much have to ask for it
specifically. The most likely reason that they would do so is to find
Zimmi, the cook, who they know about because of Bran’s inventory of
Green’s employees.

The dining room is a longish room containing dining tables and chairs.
There are far more seats than are necessary for Green and his entourage.
It is obvious that only the dining tables closest to the kitchen have
been used recently. The walls are decorated with some colorful scenes of
the outlands. This sort of decorative art is inexpensive in the St
Parnas market square. There are also some potted plants. Despite the
decorations, the room still looks a little sparse.

The only really interesting thing in the dining room is that the wall
that separates the dining room from the hallway is missing a stone
block. This is easily visible: no perception roll necessary. If you’re
small, or very flexible, you can squeeze through. This is not at all
useful, but it does hint at the fact that there may be other similar
passages throughout the castle.

Across the hall from the dining room is the kitchen. The kitchen has
been taken over by ants. They have covered the entire floor with a
spongy bed of rotting plant matter (leaves, wood chips, etc). These are
fungus-farming ants, and this is their new fungus farm.\
\
Inside the kitchen, there are 10 worker ants and 4 soldier ants. When
the PCs open the door to the kitchen, the soldiers immediately cluster
around the door and form a barrier. They do not attack.

This is a good opportunity to get a close look at the ants. Tell the PCs
that the soldiers are considerably larger than the workers. The workers
have mandibles that act like pliers: the tips are flat and can grab onto
things. The soldiers, on the other hand, have mandibles that are sharp.

If the PCs stand and watch for a minute, they will see that the workers
are crushing up bits of food from the kitchen and are kneading it into
the organic matter on the floor. The ants know that human food makes a
good substrate for growing fungus, so they’re taking advantage of the
kitchen’s supplies.

The PCs can hear a voice: “Help! Get me out of here!” The voice is
obviously coming from the pantry, which is a walk-in closet in the back
of the kitchen. The situation is that the cook, Zimmi, has locked
herself in the pantry because she is scared of the ants. She shoved a
doorstop under the door to keep the ants from coming in. The ants, for
their part, don’t seem particularly concerned with Zimmi. They are
leaving the pantry alone: Zimmi is scared, but her life is not actually
in any danger.

If the PCs try to enter the room, a soldier will close his mandibles so
that the points are touching each other, then he will use the “flat of
the blade” of his mandibles to push the PC back toward the door. This
action is clearly designed not to cause damage, but to send a message:
you’re not invited.

One way to earn the trust of the ants is to offer them food rations. If
the PCs do this, a worker ant will scoot right past the soldiers, accept
the rations, and begin kneading the food into the floor. The soldiers,
seeing this, will get out of the way. As long as the PCs are handing
food to the workers, the soldiers will let them move around the room.
However, the soldiers will stay close to the PCs, encircling them.

If the PCs shout to Zimmi, “it’s okay, unlock the door, don’t worry,
these ants aren’t aggressive,” Zimmi will open the door. Zimmi is a
gnome wearing a chef’s apron. If Zimmi sees that the PCs are standing in
the kitchen unharmed, she will emerge. From there, the PCs can escort
her out of the kitchen without difficulty, and from there, she can be
led out of the labyrinth and to safety.

### The Root Cellar, Wine Cellar, and Furniture Storage

The most likely way to reach this area is if the PCs ask Omta about
Alyssa Varn, the woman who drew the bricklayer card. This is the area
where she lives.

The root cellar is a room with an earthen floor. Depending on their
backgrounds, the PCs may know what this is: the soil floor creates a
humid environment, which keeps turnips, parsnips, and other root
vegetables from desiccating.

The root cellar has been emptied out of any vegetables: the ants took it
all. The ground looks like it has been tilled, and there are multiple
ant-sized tunnels coming up out of the soil. This is clearly how the
ants have been getting into the basement. The door to the root cellar
has a soldier-ant sized hole in the bottom of it. It looks like they
chewed their way through.

The door to the wine cellar is open a few inches. Alyssa Varn has set up
a booby trap: she put a bucket of her urine on top of the door. The PCs
must make a perception roll DC15 to spot it before opening the door. If
one of the PCs has a keen sense of smell, they may be able to smell it
instead. If somebody pushes open the door without spotting the bucket,
they have to make a DEX save DC15 to dodge it. If they fail, the PC is
nauseated. The PC will have disadvantage on rolls until they can clean
themselves. The bucket has words written on it: “This is my Castle! Get
the \$%& Out!”

Inside the wine cellar there are several racks of wine. Most of it is
just table wine, but there are a five bottles of the good stuff. The
ants seem to have left this room alone. There is nothing else of
interest here.

The furniture storage room is jam-packed full of unused furniture. When
the castle was conjured, it was fully furnished, but the furniture
wasn’t to Green’s liking, so Green got some better furniture. The cheap
stuff has been shoved into this room. The furniture is piled to the
ceiling. There is a thick layer of dust.

Hidden in the back of the furniture is Alyssa Varn’s hideout. She has
arranged some bookshelves to make a little room within the big room.
Inside her little bookshelf-room is a sleeping bag, a nightstand with a
candle, and two changes of clothing. It is easy to tell from looking at
the clothing that Alyssa is a very petite woman, and quite thin. There
is nothing to indicate the identity of the person who is sleeping here,
but if the PCs have spoken to Bran and Inya, they can probably guess.
Alyssa is not here.

To find the hideout is challenging. The PCs must first ask some
questions along the lines of, “is there anything hidden in the
furniture,” or “does anything look like it’s been disturbed?” If they
ask something like that, have them make a perception roll, DC15. If they
succeed, they notice an area under a table that has less dust. This is
the path that Alyssa takes to get from the door to her hideout. The
dust-free path leads under a table, through a very narrow gap between a
whole bunch of dressers, and from there snakes around until it finally
reaches the hideout. To get through you either have to be small, or you
have to move the furniture (which is not difficult).

Inside of Alyssa’s hideout is another missing block in a wall. Alyssa
has concealed this passage by leaning the nightstand up against it. To
see it, you have to move the nightstand. The opening looks different
than the one in the dining room: in the dining room, the block was
cleanly extracted, and the mortar is still there. This one looks like
the mortar was carved away painstakingly with a sharp tool. To pass
through the opening, you have to be small.

On the other side of the opening is Etienne’s wardrobe - Etienne is one
of Green’s bodyguards. Alyssa has cut a hole in the back of the wardrobe
so she can sneak into it. Again, to pass through the hole, you have to
be small.

This hole in the wall is one of the very few ways that it is possible to
move from one castle region to a different region without passing
through the labyrinth. The portals to the labyrinth are all in the
*hallways*. But if you go through holes in the walls, you bypass all
that.

### The Bedrooms of the Bodyguards

The most likely way the PCs will reach this area is through the hole in
Alyssa Varn’s hiding place.

This region contains the bedrooms of all four of Green’s personal
bodyguards. Each one has his or her own bedroom, and each one has
personalized their space. From looking at the clothing in the wardrobes,
you can pretty easily tell which clothes are male or female, and which
ones are for humans, half-orcs, or dwarves. If the PCs have a good
memory, they may be able to identify which room belongs to which
bodyguard, but it’s not important that they be able to do so.

None of the bodyguards are actually present in the bedrooms, the only
person present is Alyssa Varn, who is lurking.

*Mikhail’s Room:* Mikhail is a male half-orc fighter. Bedroom contains a
wardrobe, a bed, a shelving unit full of decorative tea sets, and a
reading desk with some books about Sigil politics and factions.

*Harkon’s Room:* Harkon is a male dwarf cleric of Helm. Bedroom contains
a wardrobe, a bed, a shrine to Helm, and a writing desk.

*Siduri’s Room:* Siduri is a female high elf duelist. Bedroom contains a
wardrobe, a bed, a nightstand, and a collection of ornate curvy swords
on the wall. On the nightstand is a collection of books containing
diagrams of fencing maneuvers.

*Etienne’s Room:* Etienne is a male tiefling diviner. Bedroom contains a
wardrobe, a bed, a writing desk, and a number of books mainly about
hunting mushrooms in the outlands. The desk has an unsent letter.

Etienne’s unsent letter is as follows:

> Dear Magert,
>
> I hope you’re doing well! As for me, I’m doing fine. Living in St.
> Parnas is quite a change from Sigil: there’s not much of an art scene,
> and the restaurant options are limited. I’m looking forward to
> returning when this is all over.\
> \
> I’m writing to ask your opinions about two people who drew cards from
> the deck. One is named Asatya. She drew the “void” card, and she
> immediately fell into a coma. My divinations tell me there’s nobody in
> there - she’s not “locked in,” she’s just gone. The doctors at the
> local hospital don’t have a clue what to do.\
> \
> The other is a man named Borghan. He drew the “beast” card, which
> turned him into an oversized grizzly bear. I can talk to him using
> “speak with animals,” he’s fully animal intelligence now.
>
> Deck curses don’t respond to simple spells like “restoration.” I’m
> looking for powerful artifacts or individuals, anywhere in the planes,
> that might help these two. Are you aware of anything that might help?
>
> Your dear friend, Etienne

Alyssa Varn has a trap that she is waiting to spring if some of the
weaker party members find themselves in a room with only one exit: she
will jam a doorstop under the door, then she will nail the door shut.
Getting out should be a 10 to 15 minute project, involving finding some
way to get the nails out.

If the PCs enter Mikhail’s bedroom via the hole in the wall of the
furniture storage area, this may result in an opportunity for Alyssa to
pull her little stunt. She won’t try to trap the PCs in Mikhail’s
bedroom, because that bedroom has two exits (the door, and the hole).
Instead, she will wait until a few of the weaker party members are alone
in a room with only one door.

This hallway is a perfect place for a line of worker ants to suddenly
show up, walking through carrying eggs. They ignore the PCs.

### The Barracks of the Castle Staff

TODO: How do people reach the barracks?

There are two barracks: one for the men, one for the women.

The men’s barracks do not contain anything of any great interest. The
men who live here are Tommel, Wim, and Bran. Nobody is present in the
barracks. Feel free to invent personal effects for these men.

The women’s barracks, on the other hand, has been completely taken over
by ants: they are turning it into an incubator for their eggs.

There are many worker and soldier ants present. The worker ants are
busily creating safe little earth pockets for the eggs, and installing
the eggs inside them. The soldier ants are insistent that the PCs cannot
come inside: they will push back any PCs who try to enter.

However, there’s a female teenage tiefling here: Penny. She’s helping
the ants move the eggs around. The ants already trust her. Like Green’s
other employees, she hasn’t figured out how to get out of the labyrinth,
but she is completely safe, the ants have been providing her with food
and water. When the soldier ants try to repel the PCs, Penny raises her
arms above her head and wiggles them around in a manner similar to how
the ants move their antennae. In response to this, the ants make a path
for the PCs to approach Penny.

Penny has already learned the rudiments of ant-language, even though
she’s only been with the ants a few days. This is a clue that Penny is
exceptional at language learning: she is good at helping out with any
task that involves deciphering messages or languages. If asked about
this, Penny downplays it: “Oh, I’ve only learned a few words. I’m
basically at the ‘where is the bathroom’ stage of learning their
language.” Despite this modesty, she is indeed very good at languages.
She can translate, but it is true that she only knows a few words. She
can translate very basic things like “people not dangerous,” but
anything more complex is impossible.

When Penny sees the PCs, she is cheerful and friendly. If the PCs say
they’ve come to rescue Green’s employees, Penny is grateful: she likes
the ants, but she’s tired of being stuck in the basement. She comes with
the PCs willingly. She is a useful resource for deciphering the scrolls.

### The Lounge, and Green and Edric’s Quarters

The lounge contains Omta’s steel door. Because of that, Omta
deliberately keeps the PCs away from this area until Omta has a little
time to get used to the PCs. This is therefore the last area that the
PCs will find by traversing the labyrinth.

This area contains two large sofas, several comfy chairs, and a few
reading tables. All this furniture has been upended during the chaos
storm, and much of it is in a pile in the southeast corner of the room.
The pile is hiding something important: there is a hole in the wall to
Edric’s room. Like the other holes in the wall, it consists of one
missing stone block. To get through, you have to be small in size.

Edric is here. Edric is the bariaur steward of the castle. A “steward”
is responsible for paperwork: he keeps track of the books, he’s
responsible for ordering deliveries of food, he guards the moneybox, and
the like.\
\
To the east of the lounge is a short segment of hallway which is
jam-packed with soldier ants. They are guarding the door to Green’s
bedroom. Green’s bedroom is the largest bedroom in the basement, the ant
queen has taken it as her lair. There is nothing interesting in Green’s
bedroom other than the ant queen.

Directly across from Green’s bedroom is Edric’s bedroom and office.
Edric’s office contains unremarkable items such as a wardrobe, a bed,
and a writing table. It also contains the vault, which contains a
lockbox with 3500 in gems (conjured by the Deck), 500 gp in gold, and a
bunch of ledgers and records which are important to Edric but which
serve no purpose for anyone else. Getting into Edric’s office is
difficult because the soldier ants won’t let anyone come into the
hallway with the doorway. However, it is also possible to enter Edric’s
office through the hole in the wall in the lounge. The vault is
basically a closet with a solid wooden door with a mundane padlock
(lockpick DC 15). It can also be opened (slowly) by bashing. The lockbox
is inside, with its own lock (lockpick DC 13).

Edric isn’t willing to leave the lounge until he has the lockbox. Once
he has it, he’s glad to get out of the basement.

If the PCs steal the gems, Edric will be angry. He will make an
impassioned plea: “When you drew from the Deck, we dealt with you
fairly. We paid you the gold you were owed, and when you went to a
Donjon, we didn’t just keep your money, we made sure it went to your
next-of-kin. We were fair to you. Are you really going to steal from
us?” Doing this will earn the disapproval of all of Green’s employees.
The PCs will get no cooperation on anything if the PCs treat Edric this
way.

The lounge floor has a trapdoor that leads down into the labyrinth. This
is not a portal, it’s a plain old trapdoor, the labyrinth actually is
physically underneath the basement. The trapdoor has been here ever
since the labyrinth was conjured.

If the PCs enter Edric’s bedroom via the hole, then emerge via the door,
they will pop right out in front of the door to Green’s bedroom - the
queen’s chamber. This will annoy the ants, and they will very
aggressively push the PCs back into Edric’s bedroom. Then, they will
form a line barring passage through Edric’s door. The PCs will have to
exit via the hole.

The soldier ants in the lounge are very strict - whereas the soldiers in
other parts of the castle are assertive, but rarely aggressive, these
ones will fight if the PCs push their way into that hallway. They are
quite serious about defending the queen. The only way to get past them
is with Penny’s help: she can ask for permission to see the queen, and
the queen will grant limited access (just one PC, plus Penny). For
information about what the queen says, see the section on the ants.

To the north of the lounge is a hallway that in more normal times led to
the latrine, the laundry room, and the cistern. When Green and his
bodyguards entered the basement to rescue Green’s employees, Green was
carrying the Deck. Omta portaled this group to the laundry room, then
sealed them in by conjuring a big steel barrier in this hallway. Of
course, Omta isn’t really trying to trap these people: he really only
cares about protecting the deck. The people are collateral damage. Of
course, the group tried to escape, but Omta thwarted them.

When the PCs first arrive in the lounge, they see the steel barrier in
this hallway. Later, this barrier will turn into a steel door. See the
upcoming section, “The Steel Barrier becomes a Steel Door.”

###  The Latrine, Cistern, and Laundry

This area of the castle is inaccessible, because of the steel barrier.
We include it for completeness.\
\
The cistern is a big tank where rainwater from the roof is collected. It
is the castle’s supply of fresh water.\
\
The latrine is basically a room with some watertight boxes that you can
use to relieve yourself. When the castle was functioning normally, Zim
(the janitor) would take those boxes outside and dump them in the woods.
Now that the area is sealed, the boxes haven’t been emptied in some
time, and the odor is seeping into the surrounding areas.

The laundry room is an area containing some big steel tubs which are
used for both laundry and bathing. There is a large hearth with a pot
that can be used to heat water. There is a rack full of towels, and a
few tables for folding laundry. This is where Green and his bodyguards
are staying now that they are trapped.