Castle Torony Piros

Status Standing. Seat of Queen Kiraline and Princess Szeret; site of the masquerade, the dungeon feedings, and the necromantic trellis in the Queen's chamber.

Torony Piros is the Gothic castle that straddles the wall of Kormor Kirak, half inside the city and half hanging over a sheer cliff. Its spires dominate the skyline, its windows are opaque, and its royal residents are intensely private. Above, it hosts debauched masquerades; below, its dungeons hold chained prisoners on whom the Queen and Princess feed. The Castle Guide names it the Red Tower and gives the Veresz dynasty nearly four centuries in residence.

Type: Royal castle and fortress
Controlled by: Queen Kiraline Veresz Eroszakos; guarded by the Red Guard
Location: On the city wall of Kormor Kirak, over a vertical cliff
First seen: Pilot, p. 1 / aerial shot; named p. 16
Known interiors: Ballroom and upper balcony, Queen's bedchamber, Szeret's bedroom, dungeon, Kiraline's chamber

Also: Torony Piros · Torony Castle · the Red Tower · the castle

Hand-colored plan of four castle dungeon levels, showing cells, guard rooms, feeding chambers, storage and Comet Chamber access — The dungeon levels of Torony Piros, floor by floor, down toward the Comet Chamber.

Hand-colored castle ground-floor plan labeling the Throne Room, Grand Ballroom, Dining Hall, barracks, kitchens, administrative areas and Blood Gate — Ground floor of Castle Torony Piros: the Blood Gate, the Grand Ballroom, the Throne Room.

Hand-colored castle cutaway labeling the Grand Ballroom, Queen's Bedchamber, Throne Room, dungeons and Comet Chamber — Torony Piros in section: towers above, court in the middle, dungeons and the Comet Chamber below.

Painted view from below of Castle Torony Piros, its Gothic spires and warm windows rising above a steep misty cliff — Castle Torony Piros from below: half its mass hanging over the cliff, one tower window lit with a cold light.

Painted view of a narrow mountain road with switchbacks, crimson-cloaked guards and a horse-drawn coach beneath the castle — The Cliff Road: switchbacks up to the castle, a watch station at every turn.

Painted view of clothed prisoners behind iron bars along a torchlit vaulted dungeon corridor — The cells, and the old woman who has been in one of them for twenty-seven years.

What the sources establishEstablished

The castle rivals Neuschwanstein and dominates the skyline of Kormor Kirak; its spires reach toward the night sky, light flickers in scattered windows, and the glass is opaque because the royal residents are intensely private. pilot pp. 1, 16
Torony Piros straddles the city wall: half is protected behind the walls of the city and the other half hangs over a vertical cliff. pilot p. 22
The entry court is guarded by Red Guards, lit by torches, and filled with visitors' parked carriages; a pair of Red Guards and a uniformed bouncer control a double door at the entrance, and Barron gains admission by showing a gold medallion with a dragon's head, amber eyes, and blood-drop pupils. pilot pp. 33-34
The ballroom hosts non-traditional masquerades lit by candled sconces and chandeliers, where guests in Gothic-Victorian dress wear masks of animal hide, scale, fur, and bone while aerial gymnasts perform on ropes and wires overhead. pilot p. 34
An upper balcony overlooks the ballroom; when the Queen enters there every guest takes a knee, and she can cross from the balcony to the floor, and from the floor to her bedchamber, by magical means. pilot pp. 35-37
Szeret's bedroom holds a telescope with which she watches the city and the Southern Gate. pilot p. 22
A torch-lit dungeon hallway leads to a locked room where half a dozen masquerade guests are held cowering in chains; Kiraline and Szeret enter it with paranormal speed and the screaming begins. pilot pp. 38-39
Szeret's chamber has a bathtub, and after the Hallaset Fields she sits in it with the water red with gore. pilot p. 53
Kiraline's chamber contains a necromancer's trellis in which the dead Gawky Model hangs while the Queen carves a rune into the corpse. pilot p. 54
The castle is called the Red Tower, Torony Piros in the old tongue, and has served for nearly four centuries as the seat of the Veresz dynasty. Castle Guide, 'Introduction'
The Castle Guide describes four corner towers -- the Tower of the Watch, the Tower of Bells, the vine-covered Tower of Thorns, and the original Red Tower whose upper levels are sealed behind a warded door only Kiraline can open. Castle Guide, 'The Four Towers'
A secret Cliff Passage runs from a concealed opening in the Hallaset Fields up through a rune-carved cave into the castle's lower levels. Castle Guide, 'The Cliff Passage'
The Castle Guide places dungeons, a Necromantic Level, and a region called the Deep beneath the ground floor, with the Deep reachable only by spiral stairs in the castle's oldest tower. Castle Guide, 'Hidden Connections Between Levels'

Said, believed, or contradicted between sourcesRumored or disputed

Rozito calls Kiraline a 'terrifying queen' whose subjects have nightmares about her, and the townsfolk cheer Szeret only while she is passing. pilot pp. 16-17
The Castle Guide says the castle's deeper levels have angles that do not obey mortal geometry and that the building itself can become an adversary; the Campaign World Guide says Kiraline's private chamber occupies a geometrically impossible space. Castle Guide, 'Introduction'; Campaign World Guide, 'Torony Piros: The Castle'
In-world broadsheets report a new tower rising on the eastern shoulder of Torony Piros for the coming of the Crimson Comet; this is later material and not in the pilot. courant_desk/issues/no01_the_tower_rises.md
The grounding sheet lists a Throne Room with a throne of black iron inlaid with bone, a Blood Gate, and a Feeding Chamber; none appear in the pilot. EC_GROUNDING_SHEET.md, section 2

What no source settlesUnestablished

Who built the original Red Tower, and why, is not established in any source; the Castle Guide says explicitly that no explanation survives.
How the Queen crosses rooms instantaneously is not established in any source; the Campaign World Guide leaves open whether it is teleportation or something else.
The size of the castle's household and garrison is not established in any source.

Reign of Blood, ICM first draft, 2022Scenes set here

Szeret gallops out of the castle gate at night (p. 16).
Szeret's bedroom: telescope on Olivia at the Southern Gate (p. 22).
Entry court and path: Barron and Koss arrive by steam carriage (pp. 33-34).
Ballroom masquerade: Szeret drops from the wires; Kiraline enters (pp. 34-35).
Upper balcony and Queen's bedchamber: the kiss, the offer, the unhinged jaw (pp. 36-37).
Dungeon hallway and feeding room (pp. 38-39).
Szeret's chamber: bathtub and calculator; Kiraline's chamber: the Gawky Model in the trellis (pp. 53-54).

Who and what this record touchesConnections

Kormor Kiraksits on the city wall and rules the city The Comet Chamberlies in the Deep beneath the castle, per the Castle Guide Queen Kiraline Veresz Eroszakosits sovereign and resident Princess Szeret Vereszkeeps a bedroom and telescope in the upper reaches Barron Whitehallowadmitted by the Queen's dragon medallion; kissed and threatened in her bedchamber Devorlen Kossattends the masquerade with an invitation

Every story, issue and quest where the name appearsAppearances

BloodletterTHE SECOND BIRDALBION QUARTER
BloodletterWHAT THE WATER KEEPSERDO POOLS
BloodletterTHE FULL CUPTHE GRAND BALLROOM
CourantTHE TOWER RISESThe 17th of April, 1793

Canon, in priority orderSources

The pilot script: Reign of Blood, ICM first draft 2022, pp. 1, 16, 22, 33-39, 53-54
Castle Guide (Torony Piros: The Red Tower), 'Introduction', 'The Walls', 'The Four Towers', 'The Cliff Passage', 'The Red Tower', 'Hidden Connections Between Levels'
Campaign World Guide, 'Torony Piros: The Castle'
_publications/EC_GROUNDING_SHEET.md, section 2

Notes. The pilot's slug lines call it 'Torony Castle' and Olivia's arrival scene calls it 'Torony Piros'; the guides use Torony Piros and translate it as the Red Tower.