Libertad
Legend
Serving as the effective "end-game dungeon" of Dungeons of Drakkenheim, Castle Drakken has a recommended level of 11th for parties, who can be expected to go as high as 13th when tackling its dangers. Characters interested in determining the kingdom's next ruler will need to go here in order to obtain the Crown of Westemär, while those seeking to unite the Relics of Saint Vitruvio and awaken Argonath will need to gain the Shield of the Sacred Flame and possibly the Diamond of Mount Kadath as a resurrection component. Additionally, the vaunted wealth of the von Kessels can be a significant draw all its own.
An extraplanar rift linked to the Space Between Worlds sits in Castle Drakken's throne room, anchored in place thanks to the efforts of an entity known as an Amalgamation. Already a frighteningly powerful aberration, it's actually part of a much larger eldritch abomination beyond mortal comprehension. This monster absorbed the former ruler of Westemär, King Ulrich IV, into its form, and the real King's mind and soul have since been utterly destroyed. But the Crown of Westemär, still dangles in the monster's growing mass.
Much like Temple Gate or Saint Vitruvio's Cathedral, one or more factions will be willing to help retake Castle Drakken. First, the PCs must have proven themselves via a set of various open-ended tasks. For example, this might involve securing earlier areas in Drakkenheim such as the Inscrutable Tower, defeating/making an alliance with one other faction, and obtaining all Six Seals of Drakkenheim as several possibilities. Second, the PCs must scout ahead by venturing within and reporting back on the Castle's layout and dangers. Once that's done, the faction Leaders can put together Strike Teams and possibly some Rival Adventurers to work together in clearing out the monsters. Every faction Leader has some kind of mundane or magical aid of providing information about the Castle's layout and defenses, along with leading their respective Strike Team. Theodore Marshal is the exception when it comes to Castle-related information, where he can instead provide griffon mounts for an aerial insertion.
To help spur things on, the book suggests using Castle Drakken as a means of resolving loose ends. For example, if the PCs were unable to find one of the six Seals, a Rival Adventuring party may have found it, while enemy factions which are still around may send their own Strike Teams to kill the party while exploring the Castle.
Castle Drakken is home to some of the strongest opposition in the adventure. It not only has your expected aberrant horrors along with Tower Dragons and Wall Gargoyles who watch the walls, there's one insane ancient bronze dragon by the name of Minazorond who believes that the monsters in the Castle are its legitimate inhabitants and everyone else as invaders. Minazorond was once a bound protector of the Castle, and he cannot be cured save by a Wish spell, but if he is then he becomes a loyal asset. Another, more reliable, warden is the Royal Steward, a man by the name of Johaan Eisner who's been fused to a pillar in a crypt beneath the castle as a result of the meteor's fall. While this makes him immortal and grants him the ability to magically sense about the Castle, deliver long-distance communication, and remotely cast spells, every waking moment is agony for Eisner. He is still lucid and can be reasoned with, and can become an ally to the PCs if he judges them appropriately, and suggest a possible means of closing the rift. Once again, it requires a Wish spell to free him while alive, otherwise death is the only alternative via destroying the pillar. Freeing Eisnar from the pillar while the rift remains open will cause the Castle to be destroyed by the rift in 24 hours.
Two other peculiar groups are separate teams of devils and demons who are in the Castle for their own agendas. The devils are looking for either a Seal of Drakkenheim or mortal souls in order to end their involuntary exile from Hell, while the demons are looking for a way to take control of the dimensional rift to instead transport more of their kind into the mortal realm. The demons believe that the Relics of Saint Vitruvio can help them with this. Both fiends will lie in order to get the PCs on their side, feeding them false information about the Castle, how to close the Rift, and where the lost von Kessel heirs are supposedly. Giving a Seal to the devils will effectively take that item out of the campaign entirely, or until they're retrieved from an adventure into Hell of the DM's own creation.
For the Castle's most valuable treasures, there's the Crown of Westemär which remains in the Amalgamation's clutches, but the Shield of the Sacred Flame can be found in one of the Royal Apartment penthouses. The latter item has 3 charges that can be used to cast Counterspell as a reaction; not too shabby! The room containing the Shield is the personal lair of the leader of the demonic forces scouring the Castle, a nalfeshnee known as the Regent. The Royal Vaults are accessed through the Castle's lowest levels, heavily guarded by magical defenses (Private Sanctum, Arcane Lock) and the doors are immune to all damage. They will only open up for at least 3 people bearing Seals of Drakkenheim or the Crown of Westemär. The Vaults contain plenty of gold and silver bullions along with jewelry and records of deeds, bonds, and financial agreements with foreign powers. One of the jewels is the Diamond of Mount Kadath, while for magic items we have Scroll of Resurrection and one very rare and one rare magic item each of the DM's choice. The Diamond doesn't have any special powers on its own, but it can be used as a material component for resurrecting Argonath.
The Amalgamation is a CR 23 monster, who has the expected Legendary Resistance and Actions plus stellar saving throws in everything but Charisma, which is still an appreciable +5 bonus. The monster has immunity to a broad number of conditions along with involuntary planar banishment, teleportation, and form-altering effects, and it can cast Dispel Magic at will. Its primary methods of attack are a bite and tentacles which can swallow, grapple, and restrain respectively, and the tentacles have 50 foot reach allowing them to hit even far-away targets keeping their distance. Not only that, the Amalgamation can emit a Contaminating Presence which can impose said condition along with Necrotic Damage, and Mind-Breaking Whispers which can deal psychic damage and impose a uniquely debilitating insanity debuff: it renders one incapable of taking Actions along with effective communication and understanding. It lasts until a Long Rest or Greater Restoration spell is cast, so it's pretty much a Save or Lose effect. Not only can those Whispers be used as 2 Legendary Actions, the Amalgamation can summon 5 Gibbering Mouthers at once (maximum 10) by spending 3 such Legendary Actions.
Defeating the Amalgamation is not enough to close the interdimensional rift. In order to do so, a Wish spell must be cast, or the Seals of Drakkenheim and Crown of Westemär are melded into Eisner's pillar to make him close it. or travel into the rift and defeat the Amalgamation again on the other side. The first and third results can permanently close the Rift, while the second result lasts until Eisner dies or another creature attunes to the Crown. Venturing into the Space Between Worlds subjects the PCs to a journey through alien realms that feel like they take eons, but only take 1d10 minutes in the Material Plane before they find the Amalgamation.
Should the PCs manage to obtain the Crown of Westemär and all six Seals of Drakkenheim, a special ceremony can be undertaken for attuning the Crown to a designated heir. It's a 2-hour process that requires seven participants: six attuned to the Seals and the seventh as the heir who must sit on the throne the entire time. Each Seal-bearer makes a DC 20 ability check corresponding to the appropriate seal. The heir must then make that same ability check in turn, and 8 such checks must be successful in order to attune to the Crown. Each failed check causes the heir to take psychic damage plus possible Contamination and necrotic damage on a failed Constitution save due to the throne being Contaminated. If the heir dies or is transformed into a monster, they become another Amalgamation.
The Crown of Westemär is a legendary wondrous item that has 3 charges, each of which can be used to cast Wish and it takes 10 years for the Crown to gain back 1 charge. Additionally, Minazorand, the Tower Dragons, and Wall Gargoyles are all loyal to the Crown-bearer, who can spend an action to telepathically communicate with and perceive through the senses of one dragon or up to 12 gargoyles up to 100 miles from the Castle. Additionally, the Crown-bearer gains access to a variety of mostly-defensive spells when sitting upon Castle Drakken's throne.
The book mentions that it's beyond the means of a Wish spell to cleanse Drakkenheim, much less the world, of Haze, delerium, and Contamination. The most it can do is undo a single monstrous transformation of a creature.
Thoughts So Far: Castle Drakken has a fair amount of high-level opposition that can give even 13th-level PCs a run for their money. Gaining the aid of NPC allies is practically required, as clearing out the dungeon on their own will take many, many battles. Although it is appropriate that the final dungeon of the adventure path involves the party's allies uniting together for one last siege, it's also the kind of thing that can be very hard to run and keep track of given all the moving pieces. The Amalgamation's save-or-suck attack in particular feels like it's designed with the expectation that the PCs will have lots of NPC allies to pick up the slack; or for a player to take control should their PC be rendered unplayable.
I like how there's a variety of ways to close the rift and what to do regarding the Crown of Westemär. I do feel that 12 DC 20 ability checks is a bit much to ask. As even the faction Leaders have +5 to +7 for their greatest scores, there's a fair chance that a momentous occasion in the campaign can be screwed over by bad die rolls. I'm also not as fond of the idea of fighting the Amalgamation a second time; while it plays against the idea of the typical RPG ending of defeating the big bad bringing about a satisfying resolution, it can feel a bit anti-climactic or tiring to go through the same battle again.
Join us next time as we finish up this review in Chapter 10: Fate of Drakkenheim and the rest of the Appendices!
