Chapter 9 - Introduction

For as long as giants have walked the world, cloud giants have been one step below storm giants in power and influence. Now, with the ordning dissolved, a few cloud giant nobles have seized the opportunity to rise above the storm giants and thereby fulfill their lifelong dream of becoming the true, undisputed aristocrats among giants.

One such noble is Countess Sansuri, who believes that her destiny lies buried in the past, waiting for her to unearth it. Sansuri’s ancient ancestors, anticipating the fall of their great empire, reportedly hid their magical knowledge and wealth in vaults and left markers for future generations to find them. The greatest of these troves was a cache of “dragon magic”-spells and artifacts plundered from the lairs of powerful wyrms. Sansuri wants to find this cache and use her newfound power to destroy her ambitious rivals and convince the rest of giantkind to kneel before her. Sansuri believes the gods will reward her appropriately for doing so. When that day comes, all other cloud giants will thank her for doing what they could only dream of.

After using telescopes to scour the land below for clues, Sansuri has come to the realization that her maps are woefully out of date. She hasn’t found a single marker pointing the way to the trove she seeks. When a curious and danger-prone bronze dragon named adult bronze dragon paid her a visit some weeks ago, Sansuri played the role of benevolent host. She tricked the dragon into helping her and, when its guard was down, captured and imprisoned it. When the adventurers come knocking, Sansuri is in the midst of torturing the bronze dragon for information, hoping it knows where one of the ancient Ostorian markers might be. The dragon’s roars of pain can be heard for miles.

In this part of their mission, the characters travel to Lyn Armaal, Sansuri’s cloud castle, and meet the countess and her family. The countess shares the place with her castellan and consort, Cressaro; her younger brother, Count Thullen; and her twin children, Alastrah and Kaaltar. The castle can be anywhere you want it to be. If you have no particular location in mind, assume that it’s hovering one mile above the Evermoors (its default location).

The characters' primary goal is to find the conch of teleportation that King Hekaton gave to Sansuri, so that they can use it to travel to Maelstrom, Hekaton’s undersea citadel (see chapter 10, “Hold of the Storm Giants”). There’s a catch: the conch is hidden inside a Leomund’s secret chest created by the countess, and only she can summon it.

Cloud Giants

Before running this part of the adventure, review the information on cloud giants in the Monster Manual. It will help you roleplay the cloud giants in this chapter. One important point to remember is that some cloud giants are good, and some are evil.

Lady of Masks

Countess Sansuri is a greedy and vainglorious giant who lives in the clouds, untethered from reality, convinced that she is the victim of a great injustice and surrounded by jealous enemies who yearn to topple her.

As a powerful wizard and noble, Sansuri believes it is her duty to rule over others and command their respect. Even so, she has been forced to bow to the will of King Hekaton and the storm giants her whole life. She resents Hekaton for stifling her ambitions, and she lives for the day when the gods finally elevate her kind above storm giants. Internally, Sansuri is fraught with envy and scorn, but she tries to hide those feelings behind a calm, unassuming facade.

Like many cloud giant nobles, Sansuri keeps a collection of masks. She dons whichever mask best reflects her current mood and switches masks as her mood changes. Her inability to pry useful information out of the bronze dragon has made her very unhappy, so she’s wearing her sad mask when the characters arrive.

Sansuri has little regard for “puny folk” and doesn’t consider them a threat. How she reacts to the characters depends on the manner in which they approach her castle:

• If the characters attack her castle without provocation or are caught trying to sneak into her home, Sansuri brings her castle’s defenses to bear and tries to crush them, capturing those who surrender.
• If the characters approach her castle in a nonthreatening manner, Sansuri instructs her castellan, Cressaro, to escort them to her audience chamber (area 1), where she greets them formally.

In a noncombat situation, Sansuri plays the part of the proud hostess but can’t quite hide her impatience. She has no time to entertain unexpected visitors and would prefer to see them quickly on their way. If the characters ask to borrow or use her conch of teleportation, she demands to know why but ultimately refuses to help them, even if they offer to buy it or trade for it. Simply put, she doesn’t trust “puny folk” and won’t lower herself to negotiate with them, nor will she give them the means to reach Maelstrom.

If the characters pry into her business, she tells them that she’s conducting an extensive survey to update her maps of the lands below. If the characters ask about the dragon, Sansuri replies coldly, “It’s not your concern.” Clever characters might claim to possess knowledge useful to Sansuri, such as the locations of ancient Ostorian way-markers that point the way to long-lost treasures. Sansuri regards any such claims with great suspicion, and ability checks made to deceive her have disadvantage.

Sansuri attacks characters who are clearly being disrespectful or deceptive. She also turns on those who seem intent on robbing her. If she loses more than half her hit points, Sansuri casts a fly spell on herself, retreats to her tower (areas 31-33), and leaves the castle’s other denizens to fend for themselves. If her defeat seems inevitable, Sansuri bargains for her life and, under such circumstances, is willing to relinquish her conch of teleportation (see area 33). She also gives up the conch to protect the lives of her children (see areas 22-23).

If the characters are defeated in combat, Sansuri has them stripped of their armor, weapons, and other equipment. Such items are stored in area 2 until Sansuri has the time and wherewithal to inspect them more thoroughly with the aid of detect magic spells. Dead characters are unceremoniously dropped through the hole in the audience chamber floor. Living captives are confined to cages in the dungeon (area 8) and left unguarded. Unless the prisoners manage to escape, Sansuri feeds them to her griffons in area 7 the next day.

Aarakocra Simulacra

Years ago, a wounded aarakocra named Jakka landed on Sansuri’s cloud castle. Sansuri was struck by the beauty and color of the noble creature, but rather than befriend Jakka, she locked him in a cage and imprisoned him for months while she used simulacrum spells to create effigies of him out of ice and snow. (Sansuri’s version of the spell allows her to have multiple simulacra of the same creature.) After creating a host of Jakka simulacra, she killed the original, then (in typical noble fashion) had his body stuffed and mounted above the fireplace in her lounge.

The countess uses the simulacra as guards and castle decorations. Their poise and striking plumage are the envy of the cloud giant nobility, and they obey their mistress’s commands without question. An aarakocra simulacrum has the statistics of an aarakocra, with the following changes:

• Each simulacrum has 6 hit points and a challenge rating of 1/8 (25 XP).
• When a simulacrum drops to 0 hit points or is subjected to a successful dispel magic spell (DC 17), it reverts to ice and snow and is destroyed.

Felgolos’s Torment

Sansuri knows that adult bronze dragon has roamed the North for decades. She is torturing him for information that might point her in the direction of the treasure she seeks. Unfortunately for both of them, Felgolos knows nothing that can help her, other than the names and likely whereabouts of other dragons much older and wiser than he.

Felgolos’s intermittent roars of pain can be heard for miles, and characters who approach Lyn Armaal can’t help but hear them.

Lyn Armaal

Countess Sansuri’s castle consists of three conjoined towers with a protruding gatehouse, all made of smoothly mortared stone. The central tower constitutes the main keep and has a more slender tower rising from its top that serves as Sansuri’s personal quarters. See the “Lyn Armaal: General Features” sidebar for more information on the castle’s features.

Reaching Lyn Armaal

Lyn Armaal (shown on maps 9.1 and 9.2) hangs in the sky, rarely coming within a mile of the ground. To reach it, characters need an airship, flying mounts, or spells and magic items that grant flight. They can also ask one or more helpful metallic dragons to fly them to Sansuri’s castle, although there’s rarely a dragon around when they need one (see “Metallic Dragons”).

If the characters attempt to conceal their aerial approach, either by hiding among the neighboring clouds or traveling under the cloak of night, they can reach the castle undetected without having to make any sort of check. If they don’t take such simple precautions, the giants and the aarakocra spot them and sound the alarm.

Airship

Characters can approach the castle in the dragon cultists' airship (see the “Airship of a Cult” section in chapter 4), but given the airship’s size, there are only a few places on Lyn Armaal that can accommodate the vessel and bear its weight:

• The courtyard of the aft battery (area 6)
• The cloud by the stairs leading up to the gatehouse (area 9)
• The gatehouse’s arrival platform (area 10)
• Any of the tower rooftop lawns (area 26, 27, or 29)

Flying Mounts

Characters can secure griffon mounts in Fireshear or hippogriff mounts in Hawk’s Nest. Those mounted on hippogriffs can travel 54 miles per day (three 3-hour flights with 1-hour rests in between), while those mounted on griffons can travel 72 miles in the same amount of time. Hippogriffs and griffons are capable of landing in any outdoor area. They can also fly through the openings in the wall of the griffon aviary (area 7). Any NPCs who accompany the characters on this excursion remain with the mounts, protecting them while waiting for the characters to return.

Metallic Dragons

Characters who befriended a metallic dragon earlier in the adventure might be able to bribe it or persuade it to transport them to Sansuri’s castle. Dragons of the North don’t like serving as mounts, however, so characters who aren’t extremely persuasive or flattering will need to offer a dragon treasure before it commits to helping them. A young dragon can transport one Medium character, while an adult dragon can transport four Medium characters. Two Small characters can take the place of one Medium character. The dragon can be further bribed into joining the assault on Lyn Armaal, though it expects to receive as its reward the castle itself and all the treasure in it (not counting the conch of teleportation that the characters need to continue their mission).

Denizens

Despite its grandeur and immense proportions, the castle is fairly self-contained, and loud sounds in one area can easily be heard in other locations. Any adult giant who yells really loud can be heard throughout the castle.

The Lyn Armaal Roster table summarizes the locations of the inhabitants when the characters approach and indicates how those creatures react when intruders are detected.

Lyn Armaal Roster

Lyn Armaal Roster

Any cloud giant or aarakocra simulacrum can place the castle on alert. A cloud giant does this by bellowing “To arms!” at the end of its first turn in combat. An aarakocra simulacrum does it by shrieking loudly at the end of its first turn. Other creatures in the castle have no means to sound an alarm or don’t bother doing so.

When the alarm sounds, the screams of the bronze dragon cease as Countess Sansuri is drawn away from her interrogation of adult bronze dragon. Sansuri moves to a place where she can use a telescope to get a closer look at those who might threaten her. “Puny folk” pique her curiosity. Sansuri permits them to land unmolested and instructs Cressaro to escort her “guests” to the audience chamber (area 1), where she can greet them formally and determine their true intentions. If the characters turn hostile before this meeting can occur, Sansuri dispenses with the formal greeting and helps defend her castle until such time as it’s no longer in her best interest to do so (see the “Lady of Masks” section near the start of this chapter for more information on Sansuri’s tactics).

Lyn Armaal: General Features

A magical cloud supports the tremendous weight of Sansuri’s castle, the altitude and movement of which is controlled using a navigation orb located in area 30. The general features of the castle and the cloud are summarized here.

Ceilings and Floors

Ceilings throughout the castle are 40 feet high. The floors on level 1 are made of tightly fitted stone, while the interior floors on levels 2-6 are made of thick, varnished wooden planks supported underneath with heavy crossbeams. The grass lawns on the tower rooftops (areas 26, 27, and 29) grow atop 2 feet of packed earth, beneath which are stone floors.

Cloud

The cloud upon which the castle rests is opaque, buoyant, and semisolid, with the consistency and coldness of slush. One can sculpt the cloud to form stairs and other features, and a creature that falls onto the cloud sinks into it without taking damage. Any creature that tries to pass through the cloud can do so, treating it as difficult terrain. Inside the cloud, visibility is reduced to zero. The cloud doesn’t block sound, however.

Defenses

The castle’s crenellated battlements are 10 feet tall and 5 feet wide. Arrow slits are 10 feet tall, 10 feet above the floor, and 5 feet wide, narrowing to 2 feet wide on the outside of the wall. Wooden ballistae (see the “Siege Equipment” section in chapter 8 of the Dungeon Master’s Guide) are positioned behind several of the arrow slits, angled to fire bolts at flying creatures outside. A giant can aim and fire a ballista with a single action.

Doors

Each of Lyn Armaal’s doors is 27 feet high and made of ornately carved, 6-inch-thick wood with polished bronze fittings. Door handles are 12 feet above the floor. A Huge giant has no trouble opening a door. A smaller creature can attempt to open a door, provided that creature or some other helpful creature can reach the door’s handle and unlatch it. While the handle is unlatched, a creature must use an action to push or pull on the heavy door, opening it with a successful DC 14 Strength (Athletics) check. On a failed check, the door doesn’t open.

Illumination

All indoor areas are brightly lit, either by sunlight filtered through windows or arrow slits, or by magical flames (created by continual flame spells) that blaze in golden sconces along the walls. A golden sconce is worth 250 gp and weighs 25 pounds. Outdoor areas have natural lighting.

Oversized Furnishings and Objects

Most of the furnishings and other items in Lyn Armaal are sized for cloud giants. Exceptions are noted in the text. Tables, beds, and other room fixtures are typically three times as high, long, and wide as their human-sized equivalents and roughly twenty-seven times the weight. Small and Medium creatures can scuttle under and clamber over giant-sized furniture, treating the spaces they occupy as difficult terrain.

Stairs

Staircases within the castle are sized for cloud giants. Each step is 4 feet tall by 4 feet deep. Large and smaller creatures treat the staircases as difficult terrain.

Telescopes

Bolted to the battlements are several telescopes that the cloud giants use to spy on the lands below. Each telescope weighs 750 pounds and consists of a 20-foot-long bronze body fitted with transparent crystal magnifying lenses. The telescopes are mounted on steel braces and can be turned and angled to look in different directions, including up or down at a 60-degree angle. The eyepiece of a horizontally level telescope is 20 feet above the floor. Characters who are flying or standing on the shoulders of other characters can use the telescopes to clearly see prominent terrain features and objects hundreds of miles away.

1. Audience Chamber

This opulent hall features lapis lazuli tile work and murals depicting castles in the clouds as well as cloud giants chasing silver dragons while riding rocs and golden sky-chariots drawn by griffons. Marble bleachers hug the walls near the entrance, across from which stands an ornate alabaster throne inlaid with gemstones (see “Treasure”). “Guarding” the throne on either side are two life-size statues of cloud giants-one male, one female-standing at attention, wearing tall helmets with feather plumage, and clutching mithral-tipped spears. The statues are harmless sculptures.

Set into the floor in front of the throne is a 10-foot-diameter circular hole surrounded by decorative tiles of gold marble, white alabaster, and blue lapis lazuli. Standing at attention with their backs to the hole are four aarakocra simulacra (see the “Aarakocra Simulacra” section earlier in this chapter). The aarakocra are alert but remain perfectly still; they do nothing other than defend themselves and obey Sansuri’s commands. Any creature that jumps or falls into the hole plummets to the ground far below unless it can fly.

Treasure

Seventy-two gemstones decorate Sansuri’s throne. There are thirty 50 gp gemstones, twenty 100 gp gemstones, fifteen 500 gp gemstones, and six 1,000 gp gemstones, plus a black sapphire (worth 5,000 gp) set into the top of the throne, in the middle of a sun-shaped marble fitting engraved with runes. A character can use an action to pry loose a gemstone. Removing the black sapphire triggers a glyph of warding (explosive runes) spell placed on the throne. The effect deals 36 (8d8) cold damage to all creatures in the spell’s area.

2. Workshop and Meeting Room

Sansuri uses this room as a magical workshop and private meeting room. A stone table dominates the room, and tall wooden cabinets stand against opposite walls. Other decor includes potted plants (one on the floor and others hanging from the ceiling above the table) and a large wooden waste barrel (currently empty). Next to the door, hanging from a stone hook mounted to the wall 20 feet above the floor, is a 2-foot-long iron key that weighs 25 pounds. This key unlocks the cages in area 8.

The cabinets contain all manner of spell components and trinkets accumulated by Sansuri over the years. Characters can find the material component for any wizard spell of 6th level or lower that has no cost in gold pieces associated with it. To determine what trinkets are here, roll twelve times on the Trinkets table in chapter 5 of the Player’s Handbook, or simply choose twelve different trinkets from the table.

Development

If the characters are captured, their equipment is placed atop the table in this room, where it remains until Sansuri finds time to examine it with the aid of her detect magic spell. Any magic items found in the party’s gear are stored in one of the cabinets, which Sansuri then secures with an arcane lock spell.

3. Guest Room

The furniture in this room is scaled for giant-sized guests and includes two soft beds, a handsomely carved wooden table, and an empty wooden chest. A spacious closet at the back of the room has some giant-sized cloaks and sleeping garments hanging from bronze hooks on the wall, as well as a giant barrel of wine.

Treasure

Atop the wooden table are a 5-foot-tall brass decanter (worth 250 gp and weighing 75 pounds) and two 3-foot-tall matching goblets with inlaid gemstones and platinum filigree (each worth 750 gp and weighing 50 pounds).

4. Armory

Stored in wooden racks along the walls are dozens of spears and javelins, each one exquisitely crafted and well balanced, as well as tools for repairing armor and weaponry. Two full suits of cloud giant-sized plate armor hang from giant bronze mannequins that stand at attention, their backs against the outer wall. A wooden table rests between two doors, and a rug embroidered with an image of the night sky lies on the floor.

5. Barracks

This room is set aside for Sansuri’s cloud giant guards. Five beds are spaced along the outer wall, with a barrel of wine and a crate of food stashed in one corner. Three cloaks hang from bronze hooks on one wall, and resting by the door is a large chest (see “Treasure”).

Five cloud giant sleep here, their morningstars lying on the floor by their bedsides. On a typical day, these guards and the ones on active duty operate on alternating shifts. When the castellan decides that a shift is done, he rousts these guards from their slumber and orders them to replace the guards in areas 16, 17, 18, and 24. Relieved guards return here to rest. When an alarm sounds, the sleeping giants awaken, grab their morningstars, and move to area 6. If there are no enemies to fight in that area, four of them head upstairs to operate ballistae; two head to area 16, and two to area 18. The fifth one remains on guard in area 6.

Treasure

The large chest near the door is unlocked and contains ten fat sacks, no two exactly alike in appearance but each one containing loot belonging to a particular cloud giant. Each sack holds 3d6 × 100 sp, 2d6 × 100 gp, and 1d4 mundane items, determined by rolling on the Items in a Giant’s Bag table in the introduction. If the characters seize all this treasure, don’t bother rolling to determine the exact contents of each sack; instead, assume that the entire hoard consists of 10,000 sp, 7,000 gp, and twenty items selected from the table.

6. Aft Battery

A 30-foot-high curtain wall with an overhanging rampart (area 17) encloses this stone-tiled courtyard, which contains a few puddles of rainwater here and there. The cloud giants standing watch atop the rampart can see and hear anyone entering the courtyard who isn’t trying to stay hidden.

Three ballistae face arrow slits in the outer wall, and two iron grates cover 10-foot-square holes in the floor. The grates are held in place with stone and cement. A Small character can fit through the gaps between the crisscrossing iron bars, and a Medium character can squeeze through. Any creatures that slip or fall through a grate plummet to the ground below unless they can fly.

7. Griffon Aviary

Haphazardly arranged about this untidy room are five tall wooden cages. Five griffon are kept here, one locked in each cage. The griffons peck and scratch at their cages, and the floor around them is littered with bits of broken wood. The griffons can’t attack creatures outside of their cages, but they make a ruckus when intruders enter-so loud that Countess Sansuri can hear them in area 8. She investigates any such disturbance.

The griffons are trained to obey Sansuri and no one else. If an alarm sounds, Sansuri emerges from area 8, uses an action to unlock each cage, and commands the griffons to take flight and circle the castle, attacking intruders on sight and returning here when she calls them off. A simple clasp mechanism, 10 feet above the floor, secures each door. The griffons come and go through wide windows in the outer wall.

A few barrels and crates stashed in one corner of the room contain dried horse and mule meat (griffon treats).

8. Dungeon

Felgolos, an adult bronze dragon, is chained to the back wall and floor of this spacious, windowless cell. Two locked manacles bind the dragon’s hind legs, preventing him from moving more than a few feet in any direction. He has a locked collar around his neck and a locked iron muzzle covering his snout. The muzzle, the collar, and the manacles are all designed to hold a dragon of his size and aren’t useful on creatures of other shapes and sizes. The bonds are strengthened by magic, and as such they can’t be broken by physical force. The magic on Felgolos’s collar prevents him from using his Change Shape ability, and he can’t use his Frightful Presence ability while chained up. While he is muzzled, Felgolos can speak with some difficulty, but the range of his breath weapons is reduced to 5 feet. The dragon is bleeding from multiple wounds and has 160 hit points when the characters find him.

A knock spell can unlock the shackles around one of the dragon’s legs or unlock the dragon’s muzzle or collar. Any of these locks can be picked open using thieves' tools, though it requires an action to do so and a successful DC 20 Dexterity check.

Across from the dragon, stashed in a corner of the room, are three empty iron cages sized for humanoid prisoners. The cages have bars that are 1 inch thick with 4-inch gaps between them. Any party members captured by the cloud giants are stripped of their gear and locked in the cages. The oversized padlock on each cage door is too big to be picked using thieves' tools, but a character outside a cage can use an action to reach into the locking mechanism of the cage’s padlock and manually pick the lock, doing so with a successful DC 20 Dexterity check. Sansuri keeps the key to the padlocks in her workshop (area 2).

The Countess

Sansuri carries a large ring of keys that unlock the dragon’s bonds. She uses a mithral-tipped spear to torture the dragon during her interrogation, thrusting the spear’s tip between the dragon’s scales at various “soft points” to cause maximum pain. If an alarm sounds in another part of the castle, Sansuri ends the interrogation, frees the griffons from their cages in area 7, and makes her way to area 6. Unless he is delayed for some reason, Cressaro (see area 14) meets her there. See the “Lady of Masks” section earlier in this chapter for more information on how Sansuri interacts with unexpected guests.

Countess Sansuri wears a mask (see “Treasure”) and is a cloud giant, with the following changes:

• Sansuri’s alignment is neutral evil.
• She speaks Auran, Common, and Giant.
• She wields a spear instead of a morningstar. In melee, she uses the weapon with both hands, dealing the same damage as a morningstar.
• She has an Intelligence score of 16 (+3) and gains the Spellcasting feature described below.
• She has a challenge rating of 11 (7,200 XP).

Spellcasting

Sansuri is a 13th-level spellcaster. Her spellcasting ability is Intelligence (spell save DC 15; +7 to hit with spell attacks). She has the following wizard spells prepared:

• Cantrips (at will): mage hand, mending, message, prestidigitation, ray of frost
• 1st level (4 slots): identify, magic missile, shield, unseen servant
• 2nd level (3 slots): arcane lock, gust of wind, invisibility
• 3rd level (3 slots): haste, hypnotic pattern, lightning bolt
• 4th level (3 slots): ice storm, stoneskin
• 5th level (2 slots): Bigby’s hand, wall of force
• 6th level (1 slot): globe of invulnerability
• 7th level (1 slot): Mordenkainen’s sword

Treasure

Sansuri’s mask bears an unhappy expression and is worth 250 gp as an art object.

Development

If the characters free adult bronze dragon, they earn a friend for life. Known to his friends as “The Flying Misfortune,” Felgolos has an uncanny and seemingly effortless ability to imperil himself and others around him with his recklessness. He’s also quite clumsy and a bit awkward socially. He means well, however. When he uses his Change Shape ability, he prefers to assume the form of a ruddy-skinned halfling with curly, bronze-colored hair or a young human lad with blond hair and sun-bronzed skin.

Felgolos is no friend of the Black Network. Any party member affiliated with the Zhentarim can, with a successful DC 10 Intelligence (History) check, recall tales of a dragon that matches Felgolos’s description attacking Zhentarim caravans and snatching their wagons, beasts of burden and all. In fact, Felgolos has a large collection of Zhentarim wagons and isn’t afraid to admit it. He won’t part with any of them, however, because he considers the wagons and their cargo as his treasure. He targets Zhentarim caravans specifically because he knows the Black Network’s sinister reputation and delights in frustrating the Zhents' plans.

Once he is freed, adult bronze dragon offers to remain with the party for the remainder of this part of the adventure but chooses not to accompany them to Maelstrom (see chapter 10, “Hold of the Storm Giants”), saying that he doesn’t want to rile up any more giants for a while. Instead, he returns to one of his many dens-a cave overlooking a river that cuts through the western Starmetal Hills. If the characters require the dragon’s assistance at some later time, they can search for him there. But, considering his personality, Felgolos might be away when the characters come looking for him, swept up in yet another of his misadventures.

9. Cloud Stair

This staircase has been sculpted from the clouds, with steps that are 3 feet high and 6 feet deep. At the top of the staircase is a door in the wall of the gatehouse (area 10). This door is similar to others found throughout Lyn Armaal (see the “Lyn Armaal: General Features” sidebar).

10. Gatehouse

Built atop a separate cloud and connected to the main keep by a stone bridge, the gatehouse is where Sansuri’s castellan customarily greets visitors before leading them to the countess’s audience chamber (area 1). Battlements surround the gatehouse’s arrival platform and the bridge. On either side of the door, a short flight of steps leads up to a stone enclosure that contains an unmanned ballista.

Two air elemental guard the gatehouse at all times, attacking creatures that attempt to move unescorted across the bridge. The elementals are visible as swirling masses of air with dark areas resembling eyespots. They try to fling enemies off the bridge using their Whirlwind action. A creature flung from atop the bridge must make a successful DC 10 Dexterity saving throw to stop its fall by grabbing hold of the battlements.

Development

The aarakocra simulacra standing guard in area 11 come to the elementals' aid if a battle erupts here.

11. Main Gate

The door at the end of the bridge is the main entrance to the keep, through which all guests are expected to pass. The door is decorated in a cloud motif and guarded by two regal-looking aarakocra simulacra (see the “Aarakocra Simulacra” section earlier in this chapter) that stand aside as visitors approach. They attack only if Countess Sansuri commands them to do so or if a fight breaks out in area 10.

Opening the door triggers a permanent alarm spell that alerts the castellan in area 14 and the cloud giant guard in area 24. If he’s not already aware of visitors, the castellan confronts them in the hall beyond the doors, demands to know their business, and escorts them to area 1 if he deems them worthy of a meeting with Countess Sansuri. If the visitors are threatening or insulting, the castellan attacks them and sounds the alarm. Murder holes in the ceiling above the door allow the giant in area 24 to rain acid down upon intruders who try to breach the castle by this route.

The door can be barred shut from the inside, though the giants do this only when expecting a major attack. A wooden bar hangs on the wall next to the door. The bar weighs 800 pounds, and the braces that hold it in place are mounted 15 feet above the floor. While the door is barred, it can’t be opened from the outside without the aid of a battering ram or a siege engine. A Huge or larger creature acting in such a capacity can break down the door with a successful DC 30 Strength check.

12. Servants' Quarters

The front room of this area contains a spiral staircase made of decorative wrought iron that climbs to area 19. Three large beds are crammed into a plainly furnished side room. A closet contains an empty crate and a couple of moth-eaten cloaks sized for ogres.

13. Kitchen

The kitchen smells of pumpkin. Three ogre named Drat, Drek, and Krob work here, and a permanent unseen servant cleans on a regular basis. The ogres are docile and shun combat, fighting only in self-defense. Each one is trained to prepare a specific kind of meal: one handles appetizers, another entrées, and the third desserts. Evidence of the unseen servant’s presence is obvious from time to time: a broom seemingly sweeping the floor of its own accord, plates and mugs drifting through the air, and utensils being hung on hooks above the center worktable.

Cabinets and cupboards hold dishware and utensils. A fireplace built into the wall across from the door usually has a large pot of stew bubbling above a fire in it. A pantry holds the ingredients the ogres need to prepare meals for the cloud giants. On the table in the middle of the kitchen are a half dozen freshly baked pumpkin pies that the countess eats the way a human might eat cupcakes.

14. Castellan’s Quarters

Sansuri employs a cloud giant castellan named Cressaro to oversee the guards and see to the castle’s defense. He is resting here when the characters first arrive at Lyn Armaal, doing his best to ignore the tiresome roars of the bronze dragon. Cressaro is blindly loyal to Sansuri and follows her orders to the letter. He responds to an alarm by seeking out the countess to make sure she is safe. He heads downstairs to area 6 and meets Sansuri there, assuming that neither of them is waylaid by intruders. Cressaro is a cloud giant, with the following changes:

• Cressaro’s alignment is neutral evil.
• Cressaro wears bracers of defense, giving him AC 16.

Cressaro is a fit young cloud giant in his prime, and, not surprisingly, he also serves the countess as a consort and personal bodyguard. His magical bracers were a gift from the countess, and his private bedchamber is handsomely appointed. A fine cloak hangs from a bronze hook high on one wall, near a shelf that holds a dozen books about dragons, warfare, and the history of the conflict between giants and dragons that led to the fall of the empire of Ostoria. Other furnishings include a handsome rug and a small palm tree growing out of an alabaster vase in one corner of the room. The vase is 7 feet tall, weighs 750 pounds, and has images of armored cloud giant warriors carved into it.

Treasure

Cressaro’s bracers of defense magically resize to fit whoever attunes to them.

Each book in Cressaro’s collection is worth 500 gp to an interested buyer and weighs 100 pounds. Many historians and sages in Waterdeep would pay for them.

Close inspection of the vase accompanied by a successful DC 10 Wisdom (Perception) check reveals a seam, suggesting that the top half of the vase can be separated from the bottom half. The top half of the vase holds the palm tree and the earth around it. Cressaro conceals his treasure in the bottom half of the vase. The top half can be lifted away or knocked off with a successful DC 18 Strength check, or characters can smash a hole in the bottom of the vase. Either act exposes a hollow compartment containing 1,200 ep, 3,500 gp, seven 500 gp gems, and a figurine of wondrous power (serpentine owl).

15. Stores

This room is packed with oversized crates of bread, dried meat and fish, fruits, and vegetables as well as oversized barrels of water and wine.

16. Port Battery

Three ballistae face arrow slits in the outer wall, with a few tall crates of ammunition here and there. Two stone pillars support the ceiling. One staircase climbs to a landing outside area 24, and another curls down to area 6.

A cloud giant armed with a morningstar stands guard in this room. Five rounds after an alarm has sounded, two more cloud giants from area 5 arrive here, assuming nothing delays them. The three giants load and fire the ballistae as needed. Characters who enter this area and aren’t traveling with a cloud giant escort are attacked on sight.

17. Rampart

Two cloud giant stand guard atop this rampart, which is equipped with two large telescopes. Each giant keeps a sack nearby that holds a dozen rocks, which the giants hurl at enemies beyond their reach. Characters who enter this area and aren’t traveling with a cloud giant escort are attacked on sight.

18. Starboard Battery

Three ballistae face arrow slits in the outer wall, with a few tall crates of ammunition here and there. Two stone pillars support the ceiling. A staircase curls down to area 6.

A cloud giant armed with a morningstar stands guard in this room. Six rounds after an alarm has sounded, two more cloud giants from area 5 arrive here, assuming that nothing delays them. The three giants load and fire the ballistae as needed. Characters who enter this area and aren’t traveling with a cloud giant escort are attacked on sight.

19. Gallery

A decorative, wrought iron staircase in one corner of this room leads down to the servants' quarters (area 12) and up to the castle roof (area 29). Colorful rugs decorate the floor, while the walls are festooned with partitions forming niches that display all the objets d’art that the countess has collected over the years. The centerpiece of her collection is a stuffed young silver dragon suspended by chains from the ceiling. It isn’t valuable, but many other items on display are.

Treasure

The countess’s collection of art objects includes paintings, statues, ceremonial weapons and costumes, human-sized sarcophagi, vases and other pottery from ancient Ostoria, and well-preserved (nonmagical) scrolls with imperial decrees and divine edicts written in Dethek, the Dwarvish script. Ten of the art objects are nonmagical treasures worth 750 gp each. Use the Art Objects table in chapter 7 of the Dungeon Master’s Guide to determine what each treasure looks like. Two magic items are displayed here as well.

Anstruth Harp

An exquisitely crafted harp sized for a human rests on a shelf. This instrument of the bards was acquired from a human bard who counseled Sansuri for a few months. She had him hurled from the battlements for joking about her quick temper and kept his harp as a memento.

Banner of the Krig Rune

This magical war banner hangs from a varnished wooden rod bolted to the door. The rod is mounted 20 feet above the floor, and the banner is 9 feet long.

20. Thullen’s Bedroom

Sansuri’s younger brother, Count Thullen, sleeps in his bedroom at odd hours and spends much of his waking time in the greenhouse (area 28). When he isn’t tending to his plants, he sometimes looks after Sansuri’s two children in his room. Some of their toys lie strewn on the floor, including a chariot big enough for a halfling to ride in and a stuffed, silk-skinned doll as big as a human. Thullen keeps his quarters tidy otherwise. Furnishings include a soft bed, a rug, a bookshelf, and a large, compartmentalized chest containing folded clothing and ordinary personal effects.

21. Library

Like most wizards, Sansuri has acquired books covering a broad range of subjects. Six of the tomes in her library are of considerable worth (see “Treasure”). These valuable tomes are kept on the highest shelves, 25 feet above floor level, and are enormous, with metal covers that are 5 feet tall, 4 feet wide, and 1 inch thick. Each book weighs 150 pounds.

A large wooden table, its legs carved to look like rearing pegasi, dominates the room. An ornate bronze lantern hanging above the table has a continual flame spell cast within it.

Treasure

Among Sansuri’s collection of books are four historical texts chronicling the rise and fall of Ostoria (worth 500 gp each and weighing 50 pounds each) and a one-of-a-kind book of original plays written in Dethek, the Dwarvish script, with Common translations, by a legendary and long-deceased cloud giant poet named Delevarius (worth 750 gp and weighing 50 pounds).

A thorough search of the library yields Sansuri’s enormous spellbook, which is 5 feet tall, 4 feet wide, and 2 feet thick. It has bronze covers inlaid with sixty gemstones worth 10 gp each and weighs 250 pounds. The book contains the following spells:

1st level: alarm, identify, magic missile, shield, thunderwave, unseen servant

2nd level: arcane lock, continual flame, gust of wind, invisibility, knock, mirror image

3rd level: dispel magic, glyph of warding, haste, hypnotic pattern, lightning bolt, sending

4th level: fabricate, ice storm, Leomund’s secret chest, Mordenkainen’s faithful hound, stoneskin

5th level: Bigby’s hand, cloudkill, geas, wall of force

6th level: globe of invulnerability, guards and wards, true seeing

7th level: Mordenkainen’s sword, reverse gravity, simulacrum

Sansuri’s version of the simulacrum spell allows her to create multiple duplicates of the same creature-but it requires powdered diamond worth 5,000 gp as an additional material component. The powdered diamond, like the powdered ruby also needed to cast the spell, must be sprinkled over the duplicate and is consumed by the spell.

22. Nursery

This room contains two cribs and a couple of wall shelves with large stuffed toys perched precariously atop them. At night, Sansuri’s children (see area 23) sleep here.

23. Playroom

Sansuri has twin children who play here unsupervised during the day. Characters who listen at the door can hear the children’s laughter beyond. The boy is named Kaaltar, the girl Alastrah. Standing 6½ feet tall and weighing 250 pounds, each is as big as a powerfully built male human. They have the statistics of commoner, with the following changes:

• The children are Medium giants of neutral alignment.
• Each child has a Strength score of 14 (+2).
• They speak Giant, though their vocabulary is limited.
• They wield wooden toys as clubs, gaining a +4 bonus to hit on their melee weapon attack rolls and dealing 4 (1d4+2) bludgeoning damage on a hit.

Their uncle, Thullen (see area 28), checks on them occasionally, but they receive little attention from their mother, since they are too young to be schooled. Emotionally, each child is the giant equivalent of a four-year-old human.

The floor of this room is covered with toys, balls, blocks, dolls, and stuffed animals. A stuffed yeti mounted on a wooden base stands in a corner by the door; it is part of the room’s decor, not a toy.

Development

If the characters capture one or both children and use them as leverage to obtain Sansuri’s conch of teleportation, she gives them what they want, even though bowing to their demands infuriates her. She must retrieve the conch from the Leomund’s secret chest in her bedchamber (area 33). If the characters get greedy and ask for more than the conch, Sansuri is willing to part with just about anything else except her spellbook (see area 21), her castle, and the navigation orb (see area 30). She would even agree to release adult bronze dragon from custody. She has no honor, however, and will break her word or attempt to reclaim what’s hers as soon as the children are safely returned to her.

If any harm befalls either child, Sansuri won’t rest until those responsible are crushed to a pulp. The same is true for Thullen (see area 28), who loves the children even more than his sister does.

24. Guard Room

A cloud giant stands guard here at all times, peering out the arrow slit toward the gatehouse (area 10) and watching for trouble. This giant doesn’t have any rocks to hurl but can substitute five-gallon flasks of acid (range 30/120 ft.), hurling one as an action and dealing 22 (4d10) acid damage on a hit. Each flask weighs 50 pounds, and there are twelve such flasks on wooden shelves about the room.

Cut into the floor in one corner of the room are six murder holes, each one big enough for a Small character to squeeze through. Next to the murder holes is a glass vat holding 30 gallons of acid. The vat weighs 400 pounds when full. If enemies enter the castle through the main door (area 11), the giant can use an action to dump the contents of the vat over the murder holes, allowing the acid to rain down on intruders in the hallway below. Any creature caught in the acid shower must make a DC 15 Dexterity saving throw, taking 44 (8d10) acid damage on a failed save, or half as much damage on a successful one. Once the vat is used, it can’t be used again until it has been refilled. It takes six flasks of acid to refill the vat, and an action to pour out each flask’s contents.

25. Lounge

Sansuri retires to this opulent chamber when she needs to relax and clear her mind. A 5-foot-tall table of varnished wood stands in the middle of the room. Arranged atop it are several items: a hookah, a blue crystal decanter filled with fine wine, and a wooden plate covered with a mountain of figs. Blue crystal flute glasses are stored on shelves on either side of a door that leads to the library (area 21). Two padded chairs covered in yeti hide with blue-dyed seat cushions are turned to face the table. The chairs flank a marble fireplace carved with images of birds. Above the mantelpiece is a stuffed and mounted aarakocra with blue plumage. This poor creature is the remains of Jakka (see the “Aarakocra Simulacra” section earlier in this chapter).

A detect magic spell reveals a faint aura of conjuration magic surrounding the fireplace. Any creature that points at the fireplace and speaks the word “ild” causes a magical, crackling fire to erupt within it. The fire lasts for 1 hour before it dies out. This property can be activated at will. Casting an identify spell on the fireplace reveals both its property and the command word needed to activate it.

26. Port Lawn

A healthy grass lawn covers this rooftop, which is enclosed by 10-foot-high battlements. The soil beneath the grass is 2 feet deep. Unless they are drawn elsewhere,six aarakocra simulacra (see the “Aarakocra Simulacra” section earlier in this chapter) perch atop these battlements, half of them facing outward and half facing inward. The aarakocra have instructions to attack intruders who disturb the water in the pool (see below). They also come to the aid of the guards in area 29. They otherwise attack only in self-defense or if Sansuri commands them to.

Looking out over the battlements are three telescopes. Piles of rocks, which the giants use for ammunition, are next to two of the telescopes.

A fountain with a spout shaped like a silver dragon bound in chains feeds water into a 40-foot-diameter, 5-foot-deep pool near the western wall. Water from the spout is collected in the pool and recycled through the fountain. A water elemental lives in the pool and emerges to attack any intruder that disturbs the water. If the elemental is attacked, the aarakocra simulacra join the fray, coming to its defense.

Fruit trees grow in a few places, and a pumpkin patch dominates one large area. The pumpkins that grow here weigh 300 pounds each. A cloud giant can hurl a big pumpkin as far as it can throw a rock and deal as much damage.

27. Starboard Lawn

This rooftop garden has a lush green lawn dotted with trees and piles of rocks that cloud giants use to make ranged attacks. The soil beneath the grass is 2 feet deep. A hedge divides the yard, and inside the smaller area is a black-and-white marble chessboard. The chess pieces are all human-sized and look like decorative suits of armor, their helms sporting designs that differentiate them; for example, the kings and queens wear crowns for helms, and the knights have helms resembling griffon heads. The pawns, rooks, bishops, knights, and kings are suits of animated armor, thirty in all. The queens are helmed horror. Since no game is in progress, all of the pieces are in their starting locations.

The constructs don’t attack unless one of them is attacked first, or unless they are commanded to do so by Sansuri or Thullen. A chess piece otherwise remains still, unless Sansuri or Thullen commands it to move to a new position on the board.

28. Greenhouse

The door to Lyn Armaal’s dome-shaped greenhouse has a delicate mithral frame set with panes of stained glass that don’t hold up well to damage. A riot of flowering plants and herbs grow within the greenhouse. The plants are tended by Sansuri’s younger brother, Count Thullen. If he’s not here, Thullen is either in his quarters (area 20) or checking on his niece and nephew in area 23. Lurking among the flora are seven awakened shrub that guard the greenhouse and protect the other plants. If an alarm sounds, Thullen heads to area 23 to make sure the children are okay, and the shrubs stay behind.

Thullen is the opposite of his sister in many ways-gentle, soft-spoken, and not easily moved to violence. Only those who harm his plants or his sister’s children stir the deep-seated rage inside him. Unlike other cloud giant nobles, Thullen doesn’t wear a mask to illustrate his mood. He is a cloud giant, with the following changes:

• Thullen’s alignment is neutral good.
• When Thullen casts barkskin on himself, his AC improves to 16.
• He has an Intelligence score of 18 (+4) and gains the Spellcasting feature described below.
• He speaks Common, Draconic, Druidic, and Giant.
• He has a challenge rating of 10 (5,900 XP).

Spellcasting

Thullen is a 9th-level spellcaster. His spellcasting ability is Wisdom (spell save DC 15; +7 to hit with spell attacks). He has the following druid spells prepared:

• Cantrips (at will): druidcraft, mending, produce flame
• 1st level (4 slots): cure wounds, entangle, thunderwave
• 2nd level (3 slots): animal messenger, barkskin, gust of wind
• 3rd level (3 slots): call lightning, conjure animals, speak with plants
• 4th level (3 slots): freedom of movement, grasping vine
• 5th level (1 slot): conjure elemental

Development

Thullen isn’t driven like his sister to gain and flaunt wealth and power, and thus he is lower in the cloud giant ordning and must follow her orders. However, he swore an oath to his parents to advise and protect his sister. He doesn’t like making enemies, so he tries to reason with adventurers who cross his path. If all they want is Sansuri’s conch of teleportation, he will divulge that Sansuri keeps the conch in her tower bedchamber (area 33), though he doesn’t know exactly where.

If the characters seem intent on running amok, Thullen tries to defeat them quickly for the good of his family, calling on the constructs in area 27 to assist. If one or more characters surrender after causing harm to him or his family, he spares their lives but commands them to leave Lyn Armaal at once. If they refuse, or if they leave only to return at a later time, Thullen turns hostile and attacks them.

29. High Lawn

The roof of the main keep has a lush green lawn surrounding a squat stone building (area 30). The soil beneath the grass is 2 feet deep. A three-story tower with a conical rooftop (areas 31-33) juts upward and outward from the southeastern part of the wall, rising another 120 feet into the air. Trees and shrubs sprout from the ground here and there, and three telescopes are mounted to the battlements. A wrought iron spiral staircase descends through a hole in the ground, leading down to area 19. Near the staircase is a pile of rocks that cloud giants can use to make ranged attacks.

Perched on the battlements are six aarakocra simulacra (see the “Aarakocra Simulacra” section earlier in this chapter), half of them facing outward and half facing inward. They attack anyone other than Sansuri or Thullen who attempts to enter the navigation dome or Sansuri’s tower. They also fight to protect themselves and one another. Two rounds after battle is joined here, the aarakocra simulacra in area 26 arrive to assist.

30. Navigation Dome

Sansuri has cast an arcane lock spell on the door to this stone building, which has no other entrances or windows. Floating 10 feet above the floor in the middle of this circular room is the castle’s navigation orb, which Sansuri uses to control the movement of Lyn Armaal. The inside wall of the room is painted with a lavish mural of a cloud giant city made up of dozens of joined cloud castles. The domed ceiling is made up of overlapping shells of thin, black metal with glowing shards of crystal set into star-shaped sockets. The crystals represent the stars in the night sky, and the overlapping shells magically reposition themselves so that the artificial sky inside the dome exactly matches the night sky wherever the castle happens to be.

31. Hall of Masks

Masks are popular collectibles among cloud giant nobles, who wear them to reflect their moods. A cloud giant noble typically owns several, each one a valuable art object and each one’s expression capturing a particular emotion, be it joy, melancholy, sorrow, anger, or something more subtle. Sansuri’s collection of masks is displayed here.

This room forms the bottom floor of Sansuri’s tower, with a door providing access from the rooftop lawn. If Sansuri is forced to retreat to her tower, she casts an arcane lock spell on the door after moving through it. A central pillar supports the roof, and an ornate, wooden spiral staircase curls up to area 32.

Treasure

The walls of this room are festooned with masks, fifty in all, each one worth 250 gp. These nonmagical masks are sized and molded to fit Sansuri’s face, and each captures a specific mood or emotion. No single artist crafted more than one mask for the countess, so each mask has a unique style. The masks rest atop narrow shelves set into the walls 10, 15, and 20 feet above the floor. A few shelves are empty, indicating that the countess has room to expand her collection.

32. Study

Sansuri researches new spells and hones her wizardly craft here. Furnishings include a table and a 25-foot tall wooden cabinet with an arcane lock spell cast on its doors. A staircase descends to area 31 and ascends to area 33.

Two invisible stalker lurk here silently and attack any creature other than a cloud giant that crosses the room.

Treasure

The magically locked cabinet is divided into shelves and cubbyholes holding Sansuri’s collection of potions and scrolls, as well as magic items obtained from adventurers who crossed paths with her and paid the ultimate price. A search of the cabinet’s interior yields the following items.

• Six giant-sized potions (potion of clairvoyance, potion of diminution, potion of fire resistance, potion of lightning resistance, potion of storm giant strength, and potion of supreme healing). Each potion is contained in a 1-foot-tall crystal flask that weighs 15 pounds while full, or 5 pounds when empty. A giant potion must be consumed in its entirety to gain its effect, and it takes a Medium or Small character 1 minute to chug one down.
• Five spell scrolls (animate objects, chain lightning, dominate monster, legend lore, and phantasmal killer). Each scroll is written on a 12-foot-long, 5-foot-wide rolled sheet of vellum. Normal-sized characters can use the scrolls despite their size.
• Three normal-sized magic items. Roll on Magic Item Table F in chapter 7 of the Dungeon Master’s Guide for the first two items and on Magic Item Table G for the third.

33. Master Bedchamber

Sansuri has adorned her bedchamber with decorations befitting her noble status. Her mattress is filled with the softest down, and her bed’s wooden frame is inlaid with gold tracery and gemstones. (These and other precious items are described in the “Treasure” section that follows.) The chamber’s conical roof reaches its apex 60 feet overhead. Hanging from the rafters is Sansuri’s bizarre “merry-go-round,” which is made up of seven stuffed pegasi hanging from a ring-shaped “track” made of steel. The ring magically turns so that the winged horses “glide” overhead continually in a counterclockwise direction.

Hidden in the bed’s headboard is a secret compartment that can be found with a DC 15 Wisdom (Perception) check. It contains a small, bejeweled chest made of gold with platinum filigree. This chest is a miniature replica of a much larger chest that Sansuri uses as the main component of a Leomund’s secret chest spell. By touching the replica, Sansuri can recall the larger chest (see “Treasure”), causing it to appear within 5 feet of her. No other creature can summon the full-sized chest in this manner, which means the characters must persuade Sansuri to summon it for them if they want to obtain its contents (see “Development”).

Treasure

The gold tracery that adorns Sansuri’s bed, if it is all pried loose, is worth only 100 gp, but the fifty gemstones embedded in the bed frame are worth 100 gp each. Prying out a single gem requires an action. Six goldspun tapestries (each worth 2,500 gp and weighing 750 pounds) adorn the walls. Sansuri also has a freestanding mirror with an electrum frame (worth 1,500 gp and weighing 500 pounds) and a three-fold wooden privacy screen carved to look like trees with blowing leaves made of thinly pressed gold and platinum (worth 2,500 gp and weighing 500 pounds).

The full-sized Leomund’s secret chest is worth 5,000 gp. Its smaller replica is worth 50 gp. Inside the full-sized chest are Sansuri’s conch of teleportation, 500 pp, and six pieces of jewelry: four platinum bracelets (worth 750 gp each), a gold pendant necklace set with a fist-sized amethyst (worth 7,500 gp), and a diamond-encrusted diadem (worth 7,500 gp).

Development

The characters need some kind of influence to make Sansuri use the replica chest to summon the full-size Leomund’s secret chest. They can use a suggestion spell or similar magic to compel Sansuri to summon the chest. They can also hold one or both of her children hostage and use them as leverage to get what they want. If the characters defeat Sansuri in combat but keep her alive, she agrees to summon the chest and give up its contents in exchange for her life.

If the characters kill Sansuri before realizing that they need her help to obtain the conch of teleportation, they must either restore her to life, seek out another conch of teleportation, or find some other way to reach Maelstrom.

Conquering the Castle

If Countess Sansuri dies, rightful ownership of Lyn Armaal falls to her children, but neither is old enough to rule in her stead. Their uncle, Count Thullen, assumes command of the castle if he’s still alive. If the characters oppose him, Thullen tries to convince them to leave by allowing the characters to keep whatever treasures they have amassed. If they still refuse to give up control of the castle, he attacks them unless they have Sansuri’s children in custody, in which case Thullen cedes control of the castle in exchange for their safe return. Thullen can use the constructs in area 27 to help him rid the castle of “small folk,” should it come to that.

If the characters defeat all the cloud giants and the aarakocra simulacra, there’s nothing stopping them from claiming the castle once they rid it of any remaining hostile creatures, such as the griffons in area 7 and the elementals in areas 10, 26, and 31. The dim-witted ogres in area 13 serve the characters as readily as they served the cloud giants, and the constructs in area 27 are no threat as long as they remain deactivated.

How long the characters remain in control of the castle is up to them and up to you. The characters might lose interest in it once they come to realize how inconveniently large the doors and staircases are. There are certainly other creatures in the North that might try to take it from them, including rival cloud giants and ancient dragons. Klauth, in particular, might try to seize the castle as “payment” for helping the characters earlier in the adventure; see the “Klauthen Vale” section in chapter 3 for more information on this sly old wyrm.

Character Advancement

Once the characters obtain Sansuri’s conch of teleportation, a character can attune to it and use it to transport the party to Maelstrom. The characters might decide not to use the conch right away, perhaps because they intend to free adult bronze dragon but have not yet done so or because they want to clear out the castle and claim it as their own. Make sure the characters advance to 9th level before moving on to chapter 10, “Hold of the Storm Giants.”