Shanjiu Castle

Shanjiu Keep

Exterior view of Shanjiu Keep

Stained glass window in the Great Hall of Shanjiu Keep.

Formerly known as Cragmaw Keep (see Game-Summaries:4/14 Recollections), Shanjiu Keep was purchased by The Eternal Order on 9/21/346 and renovations on the partially ruined structure began. The Keep, when completed, will serve as a Sanctuary and Training Ground for novices and monks of The Order of Shan Sua, an unofficial headquarters for The Eternal Order, 245th initiate class of The Magistery, and as a memorial to one of The Eternal Order's fallen members, Jorg un'Dal. An plaque and eternal flame marks the place Jorg fell in service of the Magistery and in defense of his companions.

Shanjiu Keep is named both in remembrance of Jorg and in honor of the home of The Order of Shan Sua. In Yanji, the philosophy and language of the monks of Shan Sua, "Shanjiu" means "Mountain's Rest." The keep features three interior floors, a fourth floor with Battlements and Servant's Quarters and four Towers on two levels. The original keep and it's renovation is done in a style typical to Eomas, however the servants quarters and Towers, added during renovations by The Eternal Order, were completed in the style of the monks of Shan Sua. Indeed, craftsmen from the Temple of Shan Sua were imported specifically for their construction.

Memorial to Jorg un'Dal

Layout and Rooms

Food is served to all occupants of the keep throughout the day in the great hall of the keep. All eat together - visitors, guests, dignitaries - in the style of the Monks of Shan Sua. Once a week a grand meal is served, quite different from the simple fare served during the week. Monks read from the Book of the Mountain, an honored Yanji text, and other visitors are encouraged to share tales and stories from their own faiths or travels. Visitors to these banquets, report feeling uncommonly inspired by these weekly gatherings.

The center of the Great Hall features an Eternal Flame and small plaque which serve as a memorial to Jorg un'Dal, the Mountain.

• On the first floor of Shanjiu keep there exists:
  • Grand Hall (Dining area and entrance)
  • The Kitchens
  • A memorial to our fallen ally, Jorg of house Dal
  • The Forge
    • Shanjiu Keep features an Armory to store and maintain arms and armor for a small host of defenders. When under attack, this allows serving persons, workmen, as a well as visitors in the keep to mount a competent defense.
  • The Library
  • A teleportation circle (Formerly a permanent gate)
    • Shanjiu Keep is permanently connected to the Magistery through a magical gate, made possible by the Magistery's use of the Ley-line Infuser.
  • Artificery
  • Alchemist's Laboratory
  • Non-denominational Chapel
• On the second floor:
  • War Room
  • Personal Bedrooms for the Eternal Order
    • Each member of The Eternal Order keeps a room at the keep for their own use. Many of these rooms have been personalized to reflect the whims of their owners. The monk Ci lives in the keep nearly full time, when not on assignment for the Magistery. He keeps a room in the base of the North West tower where he meditates and practices, and directs the day-to-day operations of the Keep and the chapel, as well as the training of novice monks.
• On the third floor:
  • House staff quarters
  • Tower entrances
• The fourth floor comprises the general roof and four towers
  • Tower 1 (NW)
  • Tower 2 (NE)
  • Tower 3 (SW)
  • Tower 4 (SE)
• Additionally, outside of the keep but within the castle confines:
  • Caravansary
  • Training Grounds

Skilled Artisans

• Alchemist: Morwen keeps the alchemy lab in chaotic, but well working order and can assist with lorecrafting and potion brewing. Using Morwen's laboratory provides a 50% discount on time and cost for any alchemical crafting including most wondrous items and potions.
• Blacksmith: Dain, the blacksmith, and forge can be employed to craft specific items, otherwise Dain simply maintains the keep, armory, and provides assistance to those who need it. Using Dain's forge provides a 50% discount on time and cost for any smith-related work.
• Mason: Bleth Thorsson keeps the keep in good repair, though her tools are limited she provides 250gp worth of repairs per week and decreases the cost of stonework upgrades by 10% thanks to a quarry discovered locally. Also, she's Jeroy's mom.
• Miner: Zoran Steeleye works a nearby mine discovered during the excavation of Gramph's lair to provide raw materials to Dain for forging new armors and weaponry.
• Sage: Brianna Trewarthen keeps the library maintained and tidy although most of her personal work remains somewhat secret, a condition of her free service, she is willing to assist in research as needed. Tasking her with research can provide advantage on your next encounter, or help you negate a creatures' resistance.
• Scribe: Bouncing between the laboratory, library and artificery, Havarseth Bluefingers maintains a small tannery within the artificery for creating magical scrolls. Her assistance provides a 50% discount in both cost and time when scribing scrolls in the artificery. Hav also loves crafting protection scrolls and if you present her with the heart of a beast she will return a protection against that type of monster within a few days.

Keep Bonuses

Domain Effects

Domain Effects for all who live and work in the region presided over by Shanjiu Keep (an 80 mile swath of land, also known as a hex) include:

• Creatures age more slowly within the domain, nobody is certain how much more slowly but we know that the aging process has slowed
• The temperature in this region is always temperate, year round, all day long
• Ale within the domain is particularly refreshing, bringing good cheer with no hangovers the next day no matter how much is consumed
• Clerics and Paladins can hear the prayers of those living in their domain who are in concordance with their deity
• Violence of any kind in the domain has a chance of summoning an axiom of law who immediately ends the violence, only Ci can reverse these effects

Stronghold Actions

The stronghold has specific lair actions (in combat they can be used each once per round, and reset after an hour's time)

• For 6 seconds, or until the end of the next round, the regent's skin becomes diamond, for the duration they are immune to all but psychic damage
• The regent may make eight unarmed attacks against an adjacent enemy
• The regent regains all ki, as though they had finished a long rest