Castle Whitestone

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Castle Whitestone is a small castle built on a hill to the north of the city-state of Whitestone. Originally owned by the de Rolo family, the Briarwoods claimed the castle for themselves once the city fell under their rule. After the success of the Whitestone Rebellion, Cassandra de Rolo[1][2] and (in absentia) Percival de Rolo regained ownership. With the establishment of the Chamber of Whitestone, Cassandra and Percival have chosen to share the castle with the council.[3]

Description[edit | edit source]

Prior to the Briarwoods' occupation, there was a circle of teleportation in the castle; however, it appeared to have been destroyed as part of the Briarwoods' efforts to further isolate Whitestone from the rest of the world.[4] Another circle was created during Vox Machina's year-long break from adventuring.[5]

The castle has at least two libraries: Vex's personal library[6][7] and a vast, family library.[8] Since 812 PD[9] and by 836 PD, JB Trickfoot served as the head librarian.[10]

The castle has four rooms that contains baths.[11]

The castle's walls are decorated with hunting trophies and tapestries. There is a beautiful, yet somber emptiness to its halls, serving as a reminder of Percival's sadness, and the Briarwood's reign.[3]

First floor[edit | edit source]

  • Grand entry hall: A pair of massive, 8-foot wide double doors opens to the castle's entry hall. Hallways to the right and left lead to further rooms in the castle. At the back is a grand staircase that leads 15 feet up before splitting to the left and right in a curve that comes to a landing on the second floor.[12]
  • Music room: Located on the southwestern side, this room has seating and instruments to entertain guests, as well as a fireplace. A window here overlooks the city.[13]
  • Dining hall: A large dining room with a table that seats at least a dozen.[14]
  • Secret lab: A room hidden behind a bedroom bookshelf created by Delilah Briarwood. Beyond it is a secret bedroom with Sylas' coffin. The corridors were later bricked off by the de Rolos.[15]

Second floor[edit | edit source]

The eastern wing has several guest rooms, a reading room, and a few studies. Frederick de Rolo's was on the eastern wall of the castle, and Byron Anders' was facing the north side.[16] The western wing has the bedrooms of the de Rolo family.[17] During the Chroma Crisis, Vox Machina stayed in a set of bedrooms on the eastern wing.[18]

  • War room: A meeting room on the south face of the castle used during the Chroma Crisis to discuss plans against the Chroma Conclave, this room has a long table and a large window overlooking the city below.[19]

Third floor[edit | edit source]

  • West tower: Accessed from a flight of spiral stairs on the second floor, the 80 foot tall tower has a wide balcony that overlooks the castle and grounds.[20][21]

Basement floors[edit | edit source]

  • Dungeon: Located down the stairs from the first floor western hallway, the dungeon has several cells. A large statue hides the entrance to a secret escape tunnel that exits at the western base of the hill the castle is built upon.[22] Cassandra and Percy de Rolo notably went through the tunnel to attempt their escape from the Briarwood's assault.
  • Crypt: A set of wooden stairs led to an undercroft where the bodies of previous rulers were entombed.[23] A more recent long tunnel was dug through the back wall of the mausoleum leading outside the castle toward beneath the Sun Tree to an ancient subterranean ziggurat, formerly a temple to Ioun.[24]
  • Workshop:[25] A large windowless chamber hidden behind a concealed door. It has many workstations across the chamber's perimeter and a table located at the center. By 843 PD, the workshop is lit by electric lights.[26]

Grounds[edit | edit source]

  • Courtyard: Home to several gardens, the plants of the courtyard were exposed to acidic fumes vented from the subterranean facility by Anna Ripley and the Briarwoods, which caused them to wither. Keyleth and the castle's groundskeepers helped it begin to recover by early 811 PD.[27] As of 836 PD, the once private gardens are now open to the public.[3]
  • Widow's Garden: A poisonous plant garden was planted around 730 PD by Lady Melanie de Rolo to covertly poison her husband. Like the other gardens, it was left untended and withered during the Briarwoods' rule. By 836 PD, the garden, now renamed the Widow's Garden, has been reestablished and maintained in part by Keyleth.[28][29][3]
  • Barracks and training yard: The barracks for the Pale Guard and Whitestone Rifle Corps are located on the castle grounds.[30] Outside is a training yard and a shooting gallery.[31]

History[edit | edit source]

Before Campaign 1[edit | edit source]

Castle Whitestone was built during the founding of Whitestone circa 600 PD as the home for the de Rolo family, the leaders of an expedition from Wildemount who founded the city. Legend states that the storm that followed the settlers broke when they arrived at the Sun Tree and didn't return until the castle was completed.[32][33] Around the 730s PD, Melanie de Rolo created a garden on the castle grounds to cultivate poisonous plants in order to murder her husband, Wolfe de Rolo.[3]

In 805 PD, Sylas and Delilah Briarwood came to Castle Whitestone and murdered the ruling de Rolos, Lord Frederick de Rolo, his wife Johanna and all of their children, save for two who managed to escape via a secret tunnel in the dungeon, Percival III and Cassandra. The later was captured during their escape and kept as a prisoner, while the Briarwoods established their rule over the city in order to fulfill a ritual for the archlich Vecna.[34][35]

Campaign 1: Vox Machina[edit | edit source]

In Duscar of 810 PD, Vox Machina, of whom Percival is a member, came to Whitestone and enacted a rebellion to retake the city. In the early morning of 6 Duscar, the party infiltrated the castle from the same entrance that Percy escaped from. There they found Anna Ripley, one of the Briarwoods' conspirators, in the dungeon[36] and made a deal with her, though she quickly escaped. Also in the castle the party fought and killed another conspirator, Professor Byron Anders, and rescued Cassandra. The party then went below to the Ziggurat and thwarted the Briarwoods, retaking the city.[37]

During the Chroma Crisis, Vox Machina moved their base from Greyskull Keep outside of the dragon occupied Emon to Castle Whitestone. Here they brought their allies gathered from across Exandria, including Zahra Hydris and Kashaw Vesh, and planned their fight against the Chroma Conclave. During this time the party was also attacked by assassins hired by Hotis, a rakshasa who sought revenge on Vax'ildan.[38] In the war room of the castle is where the green dragon Raishan revealed her intent to betray Thordak and work with the party.[39]

In early 812 PD, a year after the Chroma Conclave was defeated, Vox Machina hosted several members of the Trickfoot family at the castle.[40] After they discovered the Trickfoots, particularly Ogden Trickfoot, had been attempting to scam the party, Pike told them to leave and never come back, save for her cousin JB Trickfoot, who she allowed to stay and was given work in the castle's library.[41]

When Vox Machina retired following the defeat of the newly risen god Vecna, the newly married couple of Percy and Vex'ahlia retired to live in Castle Whitestone and raise their new family.[42]

Campaign 3: Bells Hells[edit | edit source]

Bells Hells first visited Whitestone Castle when they traveled to Whitestone to attempt to resurrect Laudna, and met with Percy there.[43] Following the successful resurrection of Laudna, Percy and Vex invited Bells Hells to dine with them. They did so, though they chose to sleep outside by the Sun Tree instead.[44]

The party returned following their time in the Shattered Teeth in order to meet with Imahara Joe, Verna, and Dancer, whom they had sent to the castle workshops to work on the Quintessence Array.[26] The party attended a war conference with Percy, Ebenold Kai, Vilya, Keyleth, and Allura,[45] before spending the night in the castle. Imogen, Laudna, and Fearne explored the hallways that night so that Laudna could learn more about Delilah, and found the secret laboratory Delilah had used and where Laudna had been kept while a captive of the Briarwoods.[46] They fought three ghosts of deceased servants Delilah had killed, and after Delilah spoke to Laudna about her goals, Laudna took a splinter from the remains of Sylas's coffin, which had decayed considerably.[47] The next day, the party attended another war council regarding their plans to scout on Ruidus, before going down to the ziggurat so that the shard of Rau'shan could be absorbed.[48]

Following Ashton's failed attempt to absorb the shard, Laudna fled through the underground tunnels beneath the castle.[49] Fearne and Chetney broke most of the first floor windows of the castle in an attempt to blow off steam.[50] FCG, Imogen, Chetney, Orym and Ashton all had dinner in the castle, and in the morning went to look for Fearne and Laudna, who had each slept in the surrounding forest of the Parchwood Timberlands.[51] They all reconvened in the library later that day and told Allura they would go to the Fey Realm first before going to Ruidus, after which she transported them and herself to Ligament Manor.[52]

Concept art for The Legend of Vox Machina[edit | edit source]

References[edit | edit source]

  1. "Daring Days" (1x86) at 2:59:19. "Tary, it's a pleasure. This is the castle I live in, this is my sister's castle."
  2. "One Year Later..." (1x95) at 3:26:50. "Technically, it's my sister's castle, but certainly."
  3. 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 Tal'Dorei Campaign Setting Reborn, Chapter 3: "Tal'Dorei Gazetteer", p. 77.
  4. "Winter's Crest in Whitestone" (1x36) at 32:43.
  5. "One Year Later..." (1x95) at 31:52. See also the completion of the circle at 2:35:27.
  6. "One Year Later..." (1x95) at 33:21. During her one year break, Vex started building her book collection.
  7. "Family Matters" (1x96) at 2:20:48.
  8. "Daring Days" (1x86) at 2:18:02.
  9. "Taryon, My Wayward Son" (1x97) at 1:02:40.
  10. Tal'Dorei Campaign Setting Reborn, Chapter 3: "Tal'Dorei Gazetteer", p. 80.
  11. "One Year Later..." (1x95) at 3:17:19.
  12. "Reunions" (1x33), part 1, from 49:24 through 50:36.
  13. "Reunions" (1x33), part 1, at 42:58.
  14. "Duskmeadow" (1x57) at 2:52:26. All seven members of Vox Machina have dinner with Gilmore, Eskil, Cassandra, Allura, and Kima.
  15. "The Promise and the Price" (3x77) at 46:34.
  16. "Reunions" (1x33), part 1, at 51:43.
  17. "Reunions" (1x33), part 1, at 1:02:05.
  18. "A Cycle of Vengeance" (1x58) at 23:21. Matt points west towards the west tower, while Keyleth and Pike's rooms were on the eastern outer wall of the castle. Furthermore at 1:00:13, Keyleth casts Stone Shape to open a hole in the western wall leading out to the castle's courtyard.
  19. "Passed Through Fire" (1x69) at 2:44:56.
  20. "Duskmeadow" (1x57) at 3:39:46.
  21. "A Cycle of Vengeance" (1x58) at 23:21.
  22. "Against the Tide of Bone" (1x32) at 3:08:25.
  23. "Race to the Ziggurat" (1x34) at 11:24.
  24. "Race to the Ziggurat" (1x34) at 2:13:58.
  25. "A Musician's Nostalgia" (1x37) at 14:37.
  26. 26.0 26.1 "A Gathering of Heroes" (3x76) at 23:29.
  27. "Daring Days" (1x86) at 1:25:59.
  28. See "The Legend of Vox Machina Episodes 10-12 Q&A" at 47:50
  29. "Family Matters" (1x96) at 41:02.
  30. "Whispers" (1x29) at 3:55:25.
  31. "Family Matters" (1x96) at 1:18:35.
  32. The Chronicles of Exandria Vol. II: The Legend of Vox Machina, p. 92.
  33. "The Sun Tree" (1x28).
  34. "The Feast" (1x24) at 23:36.
  35. "Talks Machina Special #3: Critical Role Campaign 1 Wrap-up" (TMSx03) at 58:41.
  36. "Against the Tide of Bone" (1x32).
  37. "Reunions" (1x33), part 1.
  38. "A Cycle of Vengeance" (1x58).
  39. "Trust" (1x70) at 14:30.
  40. "Family Matters" (1x96).
  41. "Taryon, My Wayward Son" (1x97).
  42. Tal'Dorei Campaign Setting Reborn, Chapter 2: "Allegiances of Tal'Dorei", p. 52.
  43. "A Desperate Call" (3x36) at 31:10.
  44. "A Dark Balance" (3x38) at 1:31:21.
  45. "A Gathering of Heroes" (3x76) at 1:44:12.
  46. "The Promise and the Price" (3x77) at 52:29.
  47. "The Promise and the Price" (3x77).
  48. "The Promise and the Price" (3x77) at 3:43:40.
  49. "Fractures" (3x78) at 1:01:38.
  50. "Fractures" (3x78) at 1:11:39.
  51. "Fractures" (3x78) at 2:21:26.
  52. "Fractures" (3x78) at 3:13:06.

Art:

  1. Castle Whitestone, by Kent Davis (source). This file is a copyrighted work. Its use in this article is asserted to qualify as fair use of the material under United States copyright law.
  2. Concept art of room layout in Castle Whitestone for Legend of Vox Machina, shown at the second watch party, by Phil Bourassa (source). This file is a copyrighted work. Its use in this article is asserted to qualify as fair use of the material under United States copyright law.
  3. Concept art of castle variations for Castle Whitestone for Legend of Vox Machina, shown at the second watch party, by Phil Bourassa (source). This file is a copyrighted work. Its use in this article is asserted to qualify as fair use of the material under United States copyright law.
  4. Concept art of the throne room of Castle Whitestone for Legend of Vox Machina, shown at the second watch party, by Phil Bourassa (source). This file is a copyrighted work. Its use in this article is asserted to qualify as fair use of the material under United States copyright law.
  5. Concept art of the throne room of Castle Whitestone for Legend of Vox Machina, shown at the second watch party, by Phil Bourassa (source). This file is a copyrighted work. Its use in this article is asserted to qualify as fair use of the material under United States copyright law.