Welcome to Budehuc Castle! Located on a cliffside overlooking a lake and featuring some rather soothing BGM, the castle grounds are an odd fragment of Zexen construction located out in what's otherwise Grassland territory. Though devoid of its usual inhabitants, you might find Meowth, Skitty, Glameow, Litten, or Purrloin wandering the grounds, along with the occasional Growlithe and Rockruff.
Gate and Front Plaza
The entrance to the castle isn't so much a "gate" as a large gap in the crumbling walls, with a mostly-overgrown paved stairs and path. Immediately inside the gate you'll see to your right an odd tent that doesn't match the rest of the architecture at all, followed by a building that based on the signage seems to be some kind of lottery or similar shop? And finally at the end nearest the castle is a small inn consisting of a front entrance room, a small dining room, and a few bedrooms on the upper floor.
In the middle of this front plaza is a small fountain that seems to constantly attract Pidove, and to the left are a few more buildings. Investigating these will show that one is... probably something magic-related (a rune sage shop, to be specific), another is clearly some kind of general shop, and the third is filled with assorted antiques as an appraiser's shop. Past this are stairs to the lower, side level of the grounds, and inbetween the two sets of buildings, straight ahead from the entrance, are stairs up to the main castle.
In front of the castle is another much smaller open space, where you can admire the architecture, or head to your left, past the entrance to a side building with a small doghouse in front, and a narrow set of stairs to the side area below.
Lakeside
Should you continue your explorations outdoors by heading to the side area, there's more to explore. At the far end, at the bottom of the narrow stairs from the front of the main castle building, there's an iron door under the stairs, and to the left when facing it is some kind of open-air diner. It's probably very nicely stocked with foods to make all sorts of combinations of dishes, it's just a pity that the stack of recipes is probably in a language no one visiting knows. Beyond the diner and along the whole edge of this area is a large lake, and... is that a ship out there just behind the castle? There's totally a ship there. Huh.
Anyway, to the right of the door and stairs is another building, this one absolutely filled with all kinds of stuff. Antlers, spices, crystal balls, furs, and other such goods as a trading post might have. Beyond that the hill slopes upwards past nice garden patch with various fruits and vegetables growing, and beyond that is the stairs that lead back up to the front plaza area.
Hillside
Continue on and there's several more buildings. One has training dummies set out in front of it, and the next has what's clearly a forge on the lower level and what appears to be an armory above it. Past this is a tree-lined path to some stables. While they're devoid of horses now, you might find a Mudsdale or Rapidash or two... which is convenient, as there appears to be some kind of racetrack set up in the field beyond. Have fun!
There's also a few Tepig and Grumpig roaming around nearby, and if someone takes the time to really examine the dusty ground of the racetrack, they might find what appear to be giant bird and giant cat prints. Huh. What could possibly have left those?
Castle - Main Level
Returning to the castle by the front, inside the main entrance is a large room with a high ceiling and a grand staircase sweeping up to the second floor. To the right of the door is a small room that was probably once an office but is now filled with a mixture of furniture and... some kind of exercise equipment. One of the tables is laid out for playing a card game of some sort, but naturally (luckily?) no one's there to explain the rules.
Back in the entrance hall, next to the door of the side room is a tall, ornate mirror. Messing it may or may not teleport you somewhere, probably at random due to the lack of anyone present who knows how to use this kind of magic. You have been warned. Beyond that is an old-fashioned elevator, and between the elevator and the main staircase is a set of stairs leading down to a basement level.
To the left of the stairs is, well, a hole in the wall, through which you can see a ship. The same ship you can see from outside, in fact! But more to the left is a large meeting room. The walls of the room feature large, deer-themed tapestries and crossed swords, the floor is covered in thick carpet, and there's what appears to be a small shrine on the far wall. Suits of armor and large red banners featuring a flame-like symbol also ring the room.
Beyond this is a hallway that leads to the back of the castle, where there's more collapsed wall. On the far right of this hallway is a room that was probably originally servants' quarters and appears to have been converted to an infirmary, and to the left is a door to the tavern. The tavern features a nicely-stocked bar and a small stage for entertainment at the far end, as well as a kitchen (also stocked!) in the back.
Castle - Second Floor
Should you go up the stairs to the second floor, right in the middle at the top is what's clearly a suggestion box, with a pen and slips of paper for writing notes readily available! There's also some kind of newsletter posted on the wall, though good luck reading it if you don't know the language. To the right is what's clearly a library absolutely PACKED with books. If you're lucky, you might find an illustrated one featuring monsters or other such interesting things, if you're very lucky (or absurdly persistent) you could even stumble across a particular tome which contains a sketched portrait of a certain one-eyed mercenary. It's clearly a fairly old book, too, some years at minimum, yet the portrait looks identical. Huh. Finally, there's a table set up here for a card game, but nobody around to explain the rules.
To the other side of the stairs is an ornate and moodily-lit room featuring some assorted statues of various shapes and sizes. Down the hall beyond that (again, with a bit of a hole in the far wall...) is first a small bedroom-slash-office, and then the master suite, featuring both a well-furnished office and a comfortable bedroom.
Castle - First Basement and Ship
Down the stairs to the first basement level, there's a... is that a graveyard? That's totally some kind of underground graveyard. There may be signs of someone digging in one corner, and very possibly some Litwick or Lampent hovering around the graves. Oh, and amongst the normal footprints in the soft soil are occasion prints that look like they're from some sort of oversized duck, and others still that, frankly, almost look like they belong to a dinosaur. How very strange indeed.
If that weren't weird enough though, there's again a hole in the wall... and this hole features some planks forming a bridge to a matching hole in the ship in the back. Crossing into the ship you'll find an open space long since stripped of any cargo, with three cabins to one side. One has been decorated with assorted rugs and woven hangings of intricate geometric designs, the second is very neat and tidy with decor that looks like it wouldn't be out of place in the main castle, and the third... the third frankly looks like a tavern at the end of the night, with empty wine bottles, a dartboard, and general untidiness.
If you take the stairs up to the deck above, you'll find a very nice view of the lake, as well as several rows of towels hung out to dry. And the doors to the cabins up there are draped with hangings that wouldn't be out of place at a Japanese-style bathhouse. In fact, if you go in there, it is a bathhouse. Somebody totally took the ruined cabins of the ship and somehow converted them into an open-air, heated bath. Nice.
The rest of the ship is largely, well, a ship. It's clearly not going anywhere given the damage, but it's scenic and quiet, at least! And yes, by "quiet" we mean no background music. At all. Just the sound of the waves.
Back to the castle, at the far end of that basement floor there's a counter decorated with a simple bone-design banner, in front of a door with a similar banner above it. Inside that door is... stuff. Oh somuch stuff. Seriously who even put this here? Partially-used medicines, spell scrolls, miscellaneous armor and equipment, rune crystals, knick-knacks and accessories.... Yeah, it's a mess of a storeroom.
Castle - Second Basement
Further exploration will find there's stairs to another basement level below. Head down there and you'll find a storeroom of a more practical kind, filled with crates of grains, shanks of meat, and assorted other food supplies. It looks like someone spilled something though, to just from the mess of flour on the floor. Further down the hall are several jail cells, one of which features bars bent very out of shape. Who knows the story behind that, but it appears that someone's set up some kind of office of sorts there? There's reference books, various guides, all kinds of notes, and generally the sorts of things one would stereotypically find in a detective's office.
Beyond the jail cells is an iron-clad door to the outside, the same one at the foot of the stairs to the front of the castle.
Castle - ???
There's still, however, one last mystery to be found. Should you at any point decide to take the elevator, and succeed in using it despite its lack of operator, you might discover something interesting. Namely, that despite the castle only having four floors, the elevator actually travels to five. Should you take the elevator to this mysterious fifth level, you'll find yourself underground in a cave of some sort, a tunnel leading away. The tunnel is crawling with monsters Pokémon: Gorebyss, Hattrem, and the occasional Primarina, and after a while splits in two. Don't worry about trying your luck though, as both branches of the tunnel meet up again in a small cavern, from which another tunnel leads away. Follow that tunnel and... you'll find a very nice sitting room. Now who the heck put that all the way down here?
Tablet of Stars
Now, the castle grounds don't really extend beyond the front 'gate' before you're back to wherever you were before. Except that, if you take a sharp turn to the north, you might stumble across a sort of connected area. It's not much, just a small point overlooking the lake with several rocks protruding from the ground, and a carved stone tablet in the middle of them. On that tablet is a list of names. One hundred and eight names, to be precise. None of of which, of course, are likely to be legible to most visitors here... Unless, perhaps, one happened to find a certain book with a certain portrait in the castle library. And then happened to note down the writing captioning that portrait. And then happened to spend enough time looking closely enough at the names marked in the stone tablet to see that one of them, in fact, is indeed a match for the one in that book.
Budehuc Castle
Gate and Front Plaza
The entrance to the castle isn't so much a "gate" as a large gap in the crumbling walls, with a mostly-overgrown paved stairs and path. Immediately inside the gate you'll see to your right an odd tent that doesn't match the rest of the architecture at all, followed by a building that based on the signage seems to be some kind of lottery or similar shop? And finally at the end nearest the castle is a small inn consisting of a front entrance room, a small dining room, and a few bedrooms on the upper floor.
In the middle of this front plaza is a small fountain that seems to constantly attract Pidove, and to the left are a few more buildings. Investigating these will show that one is... probably something magic-related (a rune sage shop, to be specific), another is clearly some kind of general shop, and the third is filled with assorted antiques as an appraiser's shop. Past this are stairs to the lower, side level of the grounds, and inbetween the two sets of buildings, straight ahead from the entrance, are stairs up to the main castle.
In front of the castle is another much smaller open space, where you can admire the architecture, or head to your left, past the entrance to a side building with a small doghouse in front, and a narrow set of stairs to the side area below.
Lakeside
Should you continue your explorations outdoors by heading to the side area, there's more to explore. At the far end, at the bottom of the narrow stairs from the front of the main castle building, there's an iron door under the stairs, and to the left when facing it is some kind of open-air diner. It's probably very nicely stocked with foods to make all sorts of combinations of dishes, it's just a pity that the stack of recipes is probably in a language no one visiting knows. Beyond the diner and along the whole edge of this area is a large lake, and... is that a ship out there just behind the castle? There's totally a ship there. Huh.
Anyway, to the right of the door and stairs is another building, this one absolutely filled with all kinds of stuff. Antlers, spices, crystal balls, furs, and other such goods as a trading post might have. Beyond that the hill slopes upwards past nice garden patch with various fruits and vegetables growing, and beyond that is the stairs that lead back up to the front plaza area.
Hillside
Continue on and there's several more buildings. One has training dummies set out in front of it, and the next has what's clearly a forge on the lower level and what appears to be an armory above it. Past this is a tree-lined path to some stables. While they're devoid of horses now, you might find a Mudsdale or Rapidash or two... which is convenient, as there appears to be some kind of racetrack set up in the field beyond. Have fun!
There's also a few Tepig and Grumpig roaming around nearby, and if someone takes the time to really examine the dusty ground of the racetrack, they might find what appear to be giant bird and giant cat prints. Huh. What could possibly have left those?
Castle - Main Level
Returning to the castle by the front, inside the main entrance is a large room with a high ceiling and a grand staircase sweeping up to the second floor. To the right of the door is a small room that was probably once an office but is now filled with a mixture of furniture and... some kind of exercise equipment. One of the tables is laid out for playing a card game of some sort, but naturally (luckily?) no one's there to explain the rules.
Back in the entrance hall, next to the door of the side room is a tall, ornate mirror. Messing it may or may not teleport you somewhere, probably at random due to the lack of anyone present who knows how to use this kind of magic. You have been warned. Beyond that is an old-fashioned elevator, and between the elevator and the main staircase is a set of stairs leading down to a basement level.
To the left of the stairs is, well, a hole in the wall, through which you can see a ship. The same ship you can see from outside, in fact! But more to the left is a large meeting room. The walls of the room feature large, deer-themed tapestries and crossed swords, the floor is covered in thick carpet, and there's what appears to be a small shrine on the far wall. Suits of armor and large red banners featuring a flame-like symbol also ring the room.
Beyond this is a hallway that leads to the back of the castle, where there's more collapsed wall. On the far right of this hallway is a room that was probably originally servants' quarters and appears to have been converted to an infirmary, and to the left is a door to the tavern. The tavern features a nicely-stocked bar and a small stage for entertainment at the far end, as well as a kitchen (also stocked!) in the back.
Castle - Second Floor
Should you go up the stairs to the second floor, right in the middle at the top is what's clearly a suggestion box, with a pen and slips of paper for writing notes readily available! There's also some kind of newsletter posted on the wall, though good luck reading it if you don't know the language. To the right is what's clearly a library absolutely PACKED with books. If you're lucky, you might find an illustrated one featuring monsters or other such interesting things, if you're very lucky (or absurdly persistent) you could even stumble across a particular tome which contains a sketched portrait of a certain one-eyed mercenary. It's clearly a fairly old book, too, some years at minimum, yet the portrait looks identical. Huh. Finally, there's a table set up here for a card game, but nobody around to explain the rules.
To the other side of the stairs is an ornate and moodily-lit room featuring some assorted statues of various shapes and sizes. Down the hall beyond that (again, with a bit of a hole in the far wall...) is first a small bedroom-slash-office, and then the master suite, featuring both a well-furnished office and a comfortable bedroom.
Castle - First Basement and Ship
Down the stairs to the first basement level, there's a... is that a graveyard? That's totally some kind of underground graveyard. There may be signs of someone digging in one corner, and very possibly some Litwick or Lampent hovering around the graves. Oh, and amongst the normal footprints in the soft soil are occasion prints that look like they're from some sort of oversized duck, and others still that, frankly, almost look like they belong to a dinosaur. How very strange indeed.
If that weren't weird enough though, there's again a hole in the wall... and this hole features some planks forming a bridge to a matching hole in the ship in the back. Crossing into the ship you'll find an open space long since stripped of any cargo, with three cabins to one side. One has been decorated with assorted rugs and woven hangings of intricate geometric designs, the second is very neat and tidy with decor that looks like it wouldn't be out of place in the main castle, and the third... the third frankly looks like a tavern at the end of the night, with empty wine bottles, a dartboard, and general untidiness.
If you take the stairs up to the deck above, you'll find a very nice view of the lake, as well as several rows of towels hung out to dry. And the doors to the cabins up there are draped with hangings that wouldn't be out of place at a Japanese-style bathhouse. In fact, if you go in there, it is a bathhouse. Somebody totally took the ruined cabins of the ship and somehow converted them into an open-air, heated bath. Nice.
The rest of the ship is largely, well, a ship. It's clearly not going anywhere given the damage, but it's scenic and quiet, at least! And yes, by "quiet" we mean no background music. At all. Just the sound of the waves.
Back to the castle, at the far end of that basement floor there's a counter decorated with a simple bone-design banner, in front of a door with a similar banner above it. Inside that door is... stuff. Oh so much stuff. Seriously who even put this here? Partially-used medicines, spell scrolls, miscellaneous armor and equipment, rune crystals, knick-knacks and accessories.... Yeah, it's a mess of a storeroom.
Castle - Second Basement
Further exploration will find there's stairs to another basement level below. Head down there and you'll find a storeroom of a more practical kind, filled with crates of grains, shanks of meat, and assorted other food supplies. It looks like someone spilled something though, to just from the mess of flour on the floor. Further down the hall are several jail cells, one of which features bars bent very out of shape. Who knows the story behind that, but it appears that someone's set up some kind of office of sorts there? There's reference books, various guides, all kinds of notes, and generally the sorts of things one would stereotypically find in a detective's office.
Beyond the jail cells is an iron-clad door to the outside, the same one at the foot of the stairs to the front of the castle.
Castle - ???
There's still, however, one last mystery to be found. Should you at any point decide to take the elevator, and succeed in using it despite its lack of operator, you might discover something interesting. Namely, that despite the castle only having four floors, the elevator actually travels to five. Should you take the elevator to this mysterious fifth level, you'll find yourself underground in a cave of some sort, a tunnel leading away. The tunnel is crawling with
monstersPokémon: Gorebyss, Hattrem, and the occasional Primarina, and after a while splits in two. Don't worry about trying your luck though, as both branches of the tunnel meet up again in a small cavern, from which another tunnel leads away. Follow that tunnel and... you'll find a very nice sitting room. Now who the heck put that all the way down here?Tablet of Stars
Now, the castle grounds don't really extend beyond the front 'gate' before you're back to wherever you were before. Except that, if you take a sharp turn to the north, you might stumble across a sort of connected area. It's not much, just a small point overlooking the lake with several rocks protruding from the ground, and a carved stone tablet in the middle of them. On that tablet is a list of names. One hundred and eight names, to be precise. None of of which, of course, are likely to be legible to most visitors here... Unless, perhaps, one happened to find a certain book with a certain portrait in the castle library. And then happened to note down the writing captioning that portrait. And then happened to spend enough time looking closely enough at the names marked in the stone tablet to see that one of them, in fact, is indeed a match for the one in that book.