Ensellus War Barracks (common design)

Steel Realms
Ensellus War Barracks

Learning About the Barracks Design

Knowing A Common History of the Guard Barracks Ruins:
[ i ] DC 15 Intelligence/History (Sea King)

This is the M’nare Hoetl Ensellus design, named after the first discovered ruins which had a masons name attributed to it. The Gwinninsh folk have theri own name for the design, going back into their far history, though it is popularized by the name the Merchant Cities of the north gave the ones found near the Beyne River where they had many enclaves.

[i] Major Result 20+

You can expect to find a common layout if the indicators are correct. No more than a dozen rooms and areas, well constructed, decorated with scenes from long bygone days (if time and erosion have not removed them), and a self contained habitat. They were meant as both barracks and a hold out place – expect there to be a few places in corridors designed for ambushes.

[i] Extraordinary Result 25+

Most were situated below the water line/table of any given area… they have access to fresh water through an internal mechanism… and to be able to flood the place. There was supposed to be a “safe room” for this, though all other areas would be flooded quickly and the inhabitants drowned – probably becoming servants to the priests of Elancil afterwards! The entrance and walls were lined with Hammarin Black Stone, who’s mortar was made from a form of Dark Vein pulled from a mine under the Temple of Apshai. It prevented mystical scrying and detection in many cases.

There is a common area/layout that includes many of the same elements.

  • A elevated room for dry stores (sometimes water would come in anyway, though no more than a few inches).
  • A shrine to the Sea-Queen Elancil
  • Multiple common barracks
  • A separate officer barracks
  • A mess area

Knowledge of Features Inside the Ruins

Requires: Major Result – Each area knowledge can be checked. It is a summary of what scholars know about the ruins.

Decorative (“Fake”) Portals

{i} DC 15 History Intelligence/History (Sea King) check >

There are portals that look like archways. Inside them are histories of events and people involved from the barracks and names of the fallen and odes to them. There is a shelf in each to allow offerings to their spirits.

Rooms

{i} DC 16 History Intelligence/History (Sea King) check >

The room insides are covered with relief carvings. There were typically made by water elementals with extreme precision all over the room walls, just like most corridors. It is said it made it even more difficult to distinguish what might be a trap or concealed passage. After all this time, unless someone has figured how to reset the traps, these would all be dead. Likely filled with gunk, and/or the more delicate pressure plates and wire lines disabled through the advent of time and wear. The relief carvings are severely worn and weathered from time and silty water wear (ironically). The reliefs inside the rooms are in slightly better shape, and although they may once have been gorgeous, with what is left you can also see the terror they may have inspired visitors.

@Encounter = 1-4 on d6 for a Fake Portal in any given room.

Halls/Corridors

{i} DC 17 History Intelligence/History (Sea King) check >

The corners that lead into rooms or other corridors are rounded. Now especially they are worn by an eternity of muck and water flows. There were typically relief carvings made by water elementals with extreme precision all over the corridor walls, just like most rooms. It is said it made it even more difficult to distinguish what might be a trap or concealed passage. After all this time, unless someone has figured how to reset the traps, these would all be dead. Likely filled with gunk, and/or the more delicate pressure plates and wire lines disabled through the advent of time and wear. The relief carvings are severely worn and weathered from time and silty water wear (ironically).

@Encounter = 1-2 on d6 for a Fake Portal in any given stretch of a corridor.

Room Entryways

{i} DC 18 History Intelligence/History (Sea King) check >

These are beautifully framed arches, typically with unusually shaped doorways that resemble the outline of a wriggling fish or tentacle. It gives the place a very unique and organic feel, breaking up the typically uniform passages. Over many is the broken stump of what once was a fearsome eel looking down upon those going through the entry. The eyes of the eel are said to follow all movement.


Realm's Aptitude Powers: Divine, Occult, and Psychic