Yllaldo Castle

Yllaldo Castle is a keep built atop a maze of tunnels in southern Xopatl. It is named for the legendary Arcadian hero-god Yllaldo the Manifester, who lived out the last of his years diligently guarding the keep until the end of the Age of Darkness.

Structure

The castle is located near the town of Tapláche on Xopatl's southern border.

A sprawling complex of tunnels, rooms, and caves was also constructed beneath the now run-down castle, and much of this complex has not been explored in millennia. The Order of Yllaldo, the keep's most recent occupants, attempt to maintain the above-ground portion of the castle while also keeping the most heavily trafficked parts of the subterranean areas clear of monsters.

The Order has also built out parts of the tunnels beneath the keep to serve as storage rooms, living quarters, libraries, burial chambers, and other functions.

History

The castle was built by the hero-god Yllaldo the Manifester during the Age of Darkness on Xopatl's southern border, ostensibly to guard the nation against any attack from the neighboring kingdom of Nalmeras.

This page contains spoilers for the following products: plot points of "A Song of Making and Unmaking".
You can disable this banner in your personal preferences.

The true purpose of the keep, and of the maze of tunnels beneath it, was to hide the magically sealed chamber of the jawbone of Nolimarthos, a demon lord whom Yllaldo had slain. Nolimarthos' jawbone had continued to emit a note from his Unmaking Song after his death that threatened to cause widespread damage across the Great Beyond, and after Yllaldo and his fellow hero-gods failed to destroy it, they decided to seal it away and wait for the note to become weak enough to destroy the jaw.

Yllaldo guarded the keep for centuries while also keeling watch for threats from Nalmeras, a duty he served until he died near the end of the Age of Darkness. After his death, citizens of Xopatl moved into the keep and renamed it Yllaldo Castle.

Ownership changed hands repeatedly over the centuries, with the monastic Order of Yllaldo most recently taking control in 4608 AR. The original purpose of the tunnels and keep, and the existence of Nolimarthos' jawbone, have since been forgotten.

Recent events

At some point ca. 4722 AR, a bulette attack collapsed one of the sealed chamber's walls and exposed the unmaking note of Nolimarthos' jawbone to the world, degrading the magical wards that secured it and empowering those who lived near the keep, with some dying from their inability to control these supernatural forces. This led to the Order activating a beacon to signal for aid from the Dark Archive of the Pathfinder Society.

References

For additional as-yet unincorporated sources about this subject, see the Meta page.