The Ashen Castle

In a run-down end of town is a squat and ugly ruin. The Ashen Castle was once a prison – when the city had more law and order and the means to maintain a prison and prison population. But that was two centuries ago – now prisoners are kept in the dungeons or the pillory, and most crimes that would see someone sent to the Ashen Castle for years now results in either death or exile from the city walls.

Two centuries of wear and tear without maintenance has left portions of the castle (particularly exterior walls and courtyards) collapsing and ruined, with the pale grey stone from whence the prison got its moniker fallen into the streets and into the ruins themselves.

Many of the cells in the prison had no outside light and were perpetually dark – however those with windows were constantly hot in the summer and freezing in the winter.

The prison is broken up into several general areas. To the north of the main courtyard is the administrative wing, with the warden’s chambers, the kitchen and the scullery / laundry. To the east of the main courtyard are the larger cells and the day room and a small courtyard with a grate over the top (with the wall now partially collapsed) for prisoners with a tendency to climb their way out. The south wing is made up mostly of much smaller cells, a few larger group cells, and a second courtyard for outdoor activities and work.

The Ashen Castle was drawn based on a request by Riley Vann. Every now and then I ask all patrons at the $2.50 level and above for ideas for maps over at the Patreon Campaign page. His request was for “An abandoned prison complex.”

The end map was based in part on some old British debtor’s prisons as well as smaller one-building asylums. To get the “abandoned” feel across I added the collapsed walls and watch tower.

You can download the Ashen Castle map at 300dpi both with and without grid from the blog post at https://rpgcharacters.wordpress.com/2016/03/08/the-ashen-castle/