Skywatch: A Castle in the Clouds (Patreon)

Skywatch is a little unusual as castles go, for a few reasons. The obvious one is that it's on a rock in the sky. Historically speaking, the most common place to build a castle is on the ground. I'm told that's where over 50% of castles are.

The less-obvious quirk is the castle's defenses. Most castles rely on the idea that the lower parts are easier to get to than the higher parts. So there's a curtain wall. And there's a big, strong gate at the bottom. That doesn't work here, since, presumably, anyone attacking Skywatch can fly. Any door is, more or less, as easy to get to as any other. And a wall? The only thing that does is block the view.

Another special necessity for Skywatch is the observation platform and arrow embrasures at the bottom, which prevent the sky beneath the castle from becoming a blind spot.

So how do you defend a castle in three dimensions? I suppose that depends on the wider setting. Are there airships? Dragons? Griffon riders? Aarakocra? In any case, I'd imagine that the main thing is to handle them at a distance, since the usual plan of setting up a height advantage for the defenders isn't going to work out very well.

Thanks to Roose, who proposed this map to the Cartographic Congress! Next up is Brazenthrone's Opaline Grotto, one of the more interesting residential areas of the city.

There's an annotated version of this map and DM notes available to patrons.