Population: 400 (in the palace and surrounding village)
Overview: Brelish royal residence
Key NPCs: Princess Brela ir’Wynarn (female human noble), Cavril “Collar” Blackwood (male human gamekeeper), Mistress Green (female elf steward)
If you’ve harbored dreams of mingling with royalty, you can hold out hope that you’ll be invited to a grand ball at Castle Arakhain. Also known as the Winter Palace, Castle Arakhain is the favored retreat of the Brelish royal family when they choose to leave Wroat. King Boranel himself can typically be found at Arakhain during two periods of the year. He spends the winter month of Vult at the castle, remaining through to the end of Long Shadows (the final days of the year). He also generally heads to the palace at the beginning of Barrakas for the Hunt, the festival of Balinor; Boranel loves to hunt, and the gamekeepers spend most of the year searching for a beast that will prove a worthy opponent. While these are generally the only times you’ll find the King at Arakhain, there’s usually some member of the royal family in residence. Princess Brela—Boranel’s youngest daughter—has been dwelling in the Winter Palace for most of 998 YK. Brela will be turning twenty this year on the 9th of Rhaan—which is also the holiday known as Boldrei’s Feast—and she expects to have the grandest celebration ever seen on the Western Frontier. An adventurer with the Noble background could receive an invitation, while an Entertainer could be engaged to perform; otherwise, the search for exotic supplies could create opportunities for capable adventurers.
Castle Arakhain takes its name from the adjacent Arakhain Hills. The village of Arakhain began as a mining community extracting iron ore from the hills. The mine was tapped out centuries ago, and today the village primarily exists to support the palace, growing grain and maintaining the beasts brought to the region for hunting. Arakhain is a tiny community, but thanks to the presence of the castle it does have a Sivis message station (Stone 65) and a Jorasco healer, Izra d’Jorasco. The local inn is called The Queen’s Rest; thanks to the presence of the castle, it has a remarkably deep cellar and can provide meals of up to wealthy quality. The royal family recently rejected Ghallanda’s proposal to open a Gold Dragon Inn in Arakhain, much to the relief of Queen’s Rest innkeeper Wil Wrighten.
The village of Arakhain exists to support the castle, and everyone has a job related to that role—from the farmers growing fresh vegetables to the launderers, farriers, smiths, and more. It’s a small community and everyone knows everyone; it’s not a place you can just decide to move to. Here are a few particularly noteworthy residents.
Princess Brela ir’Wynarn. Boranel’s youngest daughter, Brela, has inherited her father’s quick wit and love of adventure. She loves to ride and hunt, and prefers Arakhain to Wroat. Many say that she is the best of Boranel’s surviving children, but she has no desire to ever wear the crown. She is fond of spectacles, and expects her upcoming twentieth birthday to be a legendary event.
Cavril “Collar” Blackwood. Collar is the royal gamekeeper at Castle Arakhain—no small job, given the Wynarns’ love of exotic beasts. He’s a Vadalis foundling who chose to serve the crown instead of joining the house, though he works closely with Vadalis to meet the needs of the royal family. Collar is an expert at managing fierce creatures, but he still bears a host of scars from his dangerous work. He’s interested in obtaining some of the monstrosities that dwell in Droaam for the next Hunt, and may hire adventurers to capture unusual creatures or simply to find out just how dangerous they are.
Mistress Green. This elf has served as the steward of Castle Arakhain for at least three hundred years. No one knows exactly how old she is, and most aren’t sure if “Green” is her first or last name. She is a strict taskmaster who makes sure that everything is perfectly in order and maintained in accordance with tradition. She often invokes previous monarchs—“This would never have happened in Wroaan’s day.” She is devoted to Breland and would never gossip… But she undoubtedly knows a trove of interesting stories about both modern and past nobles that visited Arakhain.