Draft:Rampart Castle

Omega 0.90.4

Rampart Castle is the Duke's seat in southwestern Rampart. Its quests offer a path from commoner to Duke, with substantial experience rewards and eventual access to the castle treasury. This is the city castle, separate from the Archmage's castle in the countryside.

City location

@ highlights this facility within its surrounding city streets.

These are spoiler maps. Coordinates are (column, row), starting at zero. Letters and highlighted symbols are article keys for sites and initial placements, not a literal game screenshot or a promise that a creature remains there.

000000000111111111122222222223333

123456789012345678901234567890123

51 """""""""""""""""""""""""""......

52 .####~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~####......

53 .####:#####################......

54 .###:###:#^################......

55 .##:###:#^#v#!!!!!!########......

56 ..#:##:####D#!!!!!!####@.........

57 ..#^#!#####V!!!!!!!####@.........

58 .###:######!!!!!!!!########......

59 .##########################......

60 .##########################......

61 .####..................####......

62 .................................

63 #################################

Map key

Key	Meaning
!	Concealed alarm and treasure
"	Hedge
#	Wall
.	Floor or open ground
:	Concealed passage
:	Concealed passage
@	Rampart Castle entrance or principal site
D	Time-lock barrier, initially a wall
V	Inner vault and treasure
^	Concealed trap
v	Vault approach
~	Ordinary water

Coordinates retain their positions on the full Rampart map. The diagram shows the initial city; doors, alarms and other state can change.

Visiting the Duke

The castle has two adjoining entrances on the south side of the moat. castle is a known city-travel destination. You must reach character level 3 before the guards admit you to the Duke's audience; the audience has no opening-hour or alignment requirement.

At the first audience, the Duke asks whether you will undertake a quest. Accepting makes you a Commoner. Refusing earns 25 unavoidable damage followed by prosecution under Rampart's law. It is worth deciding before entering: this is not a harmless opportunity to decline a quest.

Nobility quests

Return to the castle with the requested object. Each visit advances at most one rank.

Current rank	Bring to the Duke	Result	Experience
Unranked	Accept the first quest	Commoner	None
Commoner	The Goblin King's corpse	Esquire; corpse surrendered	100
Esquire	Defender	Knight; sword surrendered	1,000
Knight	Dragonscale armor	Lord; armor surrendered	10,000
Lord	The Orb of Mastery	Duke; Orb retained	10,000

The Goblin King is found in the Goblin Caves; his axe is separate from the corpse requested here. The Great Wyrm at the bottom of the sewers carries Defender. Dragonscale armor can also be obtained through Ambrosias' corpse transformations. The Elemental Master carries the Orb of Mastery.

Although the dialogue calls the sword the Holy Defender, the Duke accepts Defender without requiring a particular blessing or enchantment. Likewise, the quest checks for dragonscale armor, not proof that you personally slew a dragon. Nobility does not require abandoning a guild, and its promotions do not impose an incumbent-level contest.

Becoming Duke

The old Duke abdicates and your name becomes the recorded Duke for future games sharing that history file, unless the game is marked as cheated. Unlike Legion and Arena succession, this leaves the old Duke's recorded character level unchanged. The Duke article explains the consequences for later encounters. The castle grants no further quest after this promotion.

Within the castle, the succession disables the treasury's alarm traps, reveals hidden tiles in the inner castle and opens the central passage. It does not remove every trap in the outer secret passages. The vault's time lock also remains relevant; a Duke who fails to crack it receives a harmless admonition instead of prosecution.

Strategy

Accept the first quest once eligible, and keep the Goblin King's corpse for the Duke if pursuing nobility. Selling or transforming a requested object can delay the next promotion. Defender is a useful weapon in its own right: surrendering it trades that equipment for progress, so have a replacement ready.

The final promotion is particularly attractive because you keep the Orb. It also offers a legitimate route to the treasure behind the castle's alarms. Earlier robbery is possible, but the moat, concealed traps and time lock make it a separate undertaking from an ordinary audience.