The Lost Island of Castanamir

Greyhawk Source

The Lost Island of Castanamir
Cover of C3, art by Jeff Easley {1984).
Type:	Adventure
Author(s):	Ken Rolston
Editor(s):	Marlene Weigel
Cover Artist(s):	Jeff Easley
Interior Artist(s):	Jeff Easley, Elizabeth Riedel (Graphic Design), David S. "Diesel" Laforce (Cartography)
Series:	C 'Competition' Series
Publisher:	TSR
First Published:	1984
Pages:	32
ISBN:	0-88038-189-2

C3: The Lost Island of Castanamir is an adventure for first edition AD&D, for 5 to 8 players of levels 1 to 4.

C3 was not originally set in the Greyhawk Campaign Setting but was a generic adventure. It was later added into the Greyhawk setting by a few references:

The lost island of Castanamir (the geographical location) was brought into Greyhawk properly in 2000, Living Greyhawk Journal #05, under Beit Castan:

"Once considered part of the Bakhoury Coast, this town came fully under Zeifan administration following the self-exile of its famed Last Amir two centuries ago (...) At least one visiting sage believed the inscriptions that he read foretold the reappearance of the Last Amir's island lair."

This is a reference to the lore in this adventure, and the "Lost Island of Castanamir".

Castanamir himself was first referenced in a Greyhawk-specific sourcebook in 1990, WGR1 Greyhawk Ruins, in connection to summoning gingwatzim. It stated, "the Lost Spells of Castanamir ... are probably at least 7th level," This aligned with his original appearance in C3 The Lost Island of Castanamir, which was not explicitly set in Greyhawk.

This was later confirmed to be the same person as the 'Last Amir', in Living Greyhawk Journal #11 (in Dragon Magazine #295)—"the gingwatzim were first bound by the legendary Last Amir of Beit Castan" and "the legendary Last Amir of the Zeifan city of Biet Castan first discovered the means by which gingwatzim can be summoned and bound." Thus, the "last Amir of Beit Castan" is the "Castan Amir", or Castanamir.

Blurb

"It is terribly cold. You swam for your life to this mysterious island, losing most of your provisions in the process, only to find it barren of all but grass. A biting wind from the north drives through your wet clothes, chilling you to the bone. Night is falling and promises even colder temperatures; you wish this place had even a bush to burn as firewood. Your stomach has just begun to complain about the lack of dinner, when one of your companions calls, and you rush to his side, hoping he's found a way to turn grass into a sandwich. Instead, he points to the ground in front of him. "Look there."

Set in a shallow depression in the ground is a stone door. Your friend reaches down and gives a tug, and the door swings slowly open on creaking hinges, revealing a descending stair. The first thought that crosses your mind is whether it would be better to freeze to death up here in the wind or fall into the hands of Castanamir the Mad, the unpredictable."

Plot summary

In this scenario, the adventurers pass through magical portals into a series of interlinked chambers.

The characters are encouraged by a young scholarly mage to voyage into the Sea of Pastures, to explore a mysterious island connected with a number of recent shipwrecks and disappearances. The island is grassy and windblasted, but eventually the characters discover a stone door leading into a subterranean complex. There, they discover 18 rooms linked by secret passages and magical portals. Most of these rooms have been ransacked by a variety of other survivors, human and monstrous. These survivors are likewise trapped within the labyrinth and are either eking out a miserable existence there or else desperately searching for a means of escape.

Also within the building are a number of extraplanar creatures, collectively known as gingwatzim, who can shift between various forms: an energy form (glowing ball of light), an inanimate form (usually a magical weapon), and an animate form (an animal or monster). Eventually the characters may find the exit and are once again deposited on the dreary islands to await rescue.

In Living Greyhawk

As mentioned above. the Living Greyhawk campaign drew C3 into GH lore. A Guide to the Ethereal Plane and Dragon #295 described the gingwatzim being bound by the Last Amir of Beit Castan, who was Castanamir. Living Greyhawk Journal #5 went on to correlate the Last Amir also being the former ruler of Beit Castan on the Bakhoury Coast.

Publication history

C3 The Lost Island of Castanamir was written by Ken Rolston, with art by Jeff Easley, and was published by TSR in 1984 as a 32-page booklet with an outer folder.

The "C" in the adventure code represents the first letter in the word "competition," the name of C1 - C6 adventure series.

Reception

Chris Hunter reviewed the adventure in Imagine magazine, giving it a mixed review. He wrote that, as a competition adventure, it is "so tough that not everyone survives" and thus when used with regular characters Hunter suggested the use of higher level characters. He described the adventure as disjointed and difficult to DM, as many encounters were not fully thought through by the designers. As this adventure introduces an "interesting class of creatures", it could also have major long-term consequences for a campaign. According to Hunter, C3 is "good buy" for those looking for a competition adventure. However, he did not recommend it for an ongoing campaign.

Lawrence Schick, in his 1991 book Heroic Worlds, called The Lost Island of Castanamir "a tricky competition adventure".

Contents

Art

• Jeff Easley: Adventurers finding the way down^(p3), The Game Room^(p.7), The Fantasy Room^(p.8), Gingwatzim Room^(p.10), The Library^(p.12), Eight Character Portraits^(p.13-20), The Trophy Room^(p.24), Feral Slasher^(p.30), Fremlin^(p.30), Iron Man^(p.30)

Characters

• Arriflex Mordel- a blind magic user who uses his crow familiar to see^(p.25).
• Bradvig (Simulacrum)- a Chaotic evil and powerful mage brought to justice by Castanamir, who then made a simulacrum of Bradvig to serve as a library assistant^(p.21).
• Castanamir- a level 18 wizard of the Eleventh Circle in the Magicians' Guild^(p.2). He was a hero of the Goblin Wars^(p.4) and led the council of twelve. However, he grew more and more eccentric and reclusive, building a strange island sanctuary that then disappeared^(p.4). He discovered how to bind the Gingwatzim.
  • Monne and Kleko- two dead goblin servants of Castanamir.^(p.11)
• Doblin and Joblo- Two human thieves trapped in the tower.^(p.5)
• Shadrakir, a seer who has sealed himself into a magical stasis, to await the end of the world. If the players ever manage to get him to speak he answers questions with prophetic statements, such as; "Fire and plague will come in a month of moonless nights" or "Two Brothers will unite four great nations; the one shall slay the ther, and the four nations will fall in a single hour" ^(p.23-24). Shadrakir is also mentioned in the Living Greyhawk Journal #05, during a description of a garden The Last Amir built in his honor^(p.18).

Pregenerated Player Characters^(p.31):

These characters reappear throughout the art work in the series. The cover art pictures Porall Frehouse, Gro Mekadet and Relek Noshouse, along with one companion having been turned into a poodle by the Naranzim.

• Abnir Mremhouse, human male magic user.^(p.13-14)
• Relek Noshouse, human male magic user. ^(p.13-14)
• Genton Stlindhouse, human male cleric. ^(p.15-16)
• "Beetle" Farhills, male halfling thief. ^(p.15-16)
• Watim Berestane, dwarven male thief. ^(p.17-18)
• Porall Frehouse, elven male fighter. ^(p.17-18)
• Gro Mekadet, dwarven male fighter. ^(p.19-20)
• Paterno Stlindhouse, human male paladin.^(p.19-20)

Creatures

Creatures in bold made their first appearance in this adventure.

• Feral Slasher (p.6,30)
• Fremlin (p.9,30)
• Ghoul (p.25)
• Gingwatzim, Eoluzim (p.25, 28-29)
• Gingwatzim, Graegzim (p.9,28-29)
• Gingwatzim, maronzim (p.7,9, 28-29)
• Gingwatzim, Naranzim (p.22,28-29)
• Gingwatzim, Pakim (p.9,27-29)
• Gingwatzim, Tim (p.9,28-29)
• Golem, Cleaning(p.4)
• Golem, Flesh (p.23)
• Hippogriff (p.23)
• Hobgoblin (p.6)
• Human (p.5,6,23,25)
• Iron Men (p.26,30)
• Leprechaun (p.5)
• Lizardmen (p.11)
• Ogre (p.6)
• Rat, Giant (p.6)
• Simulacrum (p.21)
• Wolverine, Giant (p.23)

Events

The adventure mentions that 200 years prior, the 'Goblin Wars' happened. It also mentions that the island was first seen reappearing five years prior to the adventure start.^(p.4)

Living Greyhawk Journal #05 is set in 591 CY, and mentions the Last Amir disappeared two centuries before.^(p.17). It also mentions a sage 'several years ago' set out to find the island and never returned. These are references to Castanamir.

Locations

• Sea of Pastures (Bakhoury Coast)

External Links

• Drivethrurpg
• RPGGeek
• RPG.net
• RPGnet review
• Acaeum.
• Canonfire discussion on Competition adventures in Greyhawk

References

Bibliography

• Mobley, Blake and Timothy B. Brown. WGR1 Greyhawk Ruins. Lake Geneva, WI: TSR, 1990. Item code TSR9292. ISBN 0-88038-860-9
• Reynolds, Sean K.. "Enchiridion of the Fiend-Sage (Seventh Report)". Living Greyhawk Journal #11. Renton, WA: Wizards of the Coast, May 2002.
• Weining, Fred. "Zeif: Rock of the West". Living Greyhawk Journal #5. Renton, WA: Wizards of the Coast, Jul 2001.

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Encyclopedia Greyhawkania Index

The Encyclopedia Greyhawkania Index (EGI) is based on previous work of Jason Zavoda through '08, continued by numerous other fans. The EGI article has a list of sources, product names, abbreviations, and a link to the full, downloadable index.

Topic	Type	Description	Product	Page/Card/Image
C3 The Lost Island of Castanamir	Adventure	Located in: Spindrift Islands,