Caislen Campaign Notes

Castle Caislen is a thus far a castle only hinted at inside of this campaign setting. The Party have no real concept of who lives in it since none of their backstories link to it. They have a vague idea that it exists somewhere on “Continent One”, the same continent that the familiar town of Goldvale exits on. The real explanation however is that the Dungeon Master bought this domain name back in 2010 and needed something to use it for so it doesn't go to waste. Thus we're naming a major castle and a campaign after it, while keeping the game organized here on the domain too.

• Early in the campaign a random NPC by the name of Tod Fuzzybutt appeared, a noble who could have connected to Castle Caislen's affairs. This NPC however was gone in just a few sessions and no one took interest in learning much about him. He remains a potential future association with Castle Caislen.
• While Player Characters were exploring the Hylund region of the campaign setting they came across a serpent's lair. Hidden down a narrow hole in a plateau where it lived they found 300 gold pieces. Most gold pieces in the game are not given any special description and thought to be generic. But these were shiny, untarnished gold pieces, minted at Castle Caislen with a picture of a castle on one side. This particular bit of treasure was added to see if they'd take any interest in the concept of a castle or seat of power that actually has minted gold.

A “caislen” is an old Gaelic word referring to a motte-and-bailey style castle. This typically means a motte which is a raised fortification such as a stone castle on a hill or intentionally raised area of land, which is then enclosed by a walled area below such as a large fortified walled courtyard, likely with an additional ditch, moat or other barrier beyond that. This whole lower area is known as a bailey. Go look it up for yourself elsewhere, there are many historical forms of them to learn about, and a lot of variations of the spelling.