History Literature / BeneathNightmareCastle

You are an adventurer and a mercenary, on the way to Neuburg, a city in Khul, intending to pay a visit to your old friend, Baron Tholdur, the Margrave of Neuburg Keep. However, as you approach the town, a pack of southern swordsmen attacks you and takes you prisoner. After freeing yourself, you find out that something strange is going on in Neuburg: foreign warriors patrols the streets, the natives look scared and pale and shapeless horrors prowls the city by night. Something terrible happened to Neuburg Keep and Baron Tholdur, an eldritch threat from a half-forgotten past has returned. It's up to you to find a way into the infested keep, investigate the source of this corruption and eradicate it before it extends its tendrils beyond Neuburg, all without losing your life or your mind to the skulking horrors infesting the dungeons.

Much like ''Literature/HouseOfHell'', ''Beneath Nightmare Castle'' takes an approach closer to a horror story than a fantasy one; namely the grotesque alien madness of the [[Creator/HPLovecraft Lovecraftian Horror]] such found in horror classics like ''Literature/TheCallOfCthulhu'' and ''Literature/AtTheMountainsOfMadness''. Along with the usual scores of Skill, Stamina and Luck, you also start with a score of Willpower, which determines your sanity and will, which slowly decreases each time you have to roll a Willpower Test or you see something really disturbing or creepy. If your Willpower drops below 6 and you fail a test, you [[NonStandardGameOver go insane from the ordeal and your quest is over]].

* AndIMustScream: The Baron's daughter, pictured above, is very lucid and aware of her situation, but she cannot do anything for her predicament as the cursed armor she wears forces her to attack anyone who comes near.
* ApologeticAttacker: The Spiked Maiden is compelled to attack anyone who comes near, and she profusely apologize for it as she attacks.
* BackFromTheDead: Xakhaz was thought dead and long defeated, his carcass sealed under the Keep. "Thought" being the keyword here...

* TheBerserker: People possessed by the Runic Axe or the Armor of Spikes are compelled to attack and fight blindly with no rest. On the good side, Oiden, God of Battle and Madness, is on your side and his priest will give you a Berserk Potion that increases your Skill of 4 for a single combat.
* BigBad: Xakhaz the evil, revenant sorcerer sealed under Neuburg Keep.
* BlackEyesOfEvil: The Tentacle Woman. It's not mentioned in the text, but can be seen in the removed illustration.

** Subverted with the Spiked Maiden, she is aware of what's going on but she cannot do anything about it.

* CoversAlwaysLie: While you do meet the Spiked Maiden, she's encountered inside the castle. Second, Neuburg Keep is on a hill in the middle of the city itself. Also, the cover implies she's some kind of assassin for the villains, but she's actually an innocent victim, and will plead with you to run away while she's attacking you.

* DemBones: You fight a skeleton rising out of a coffin. Its notable that this skeleton has a ridiculously low SKILL of 4, but a surprisingly high STAMINA of 10, unusual stats compared to skeleton enemies from other entries.
* DistractedByTheSexy: One room in the dungeon reveal three beautiful girls that entertain you with a captivating dance, [[spoiler:who're actually Senyakhaz and two illusions, trying to mesmerize you enough to lure you into a trap.]]

** While most of the Southern Swordsmen have relatively low SKILL and STAMINA in the single digits, you might get into a fight with an elite swordsman (accompanying a dwarf) which has surprisingly high stats of '''SKILL 9 STAMINA 18'''.
** You can find another Swordsman with SKILL 11 later on, though he only has STAMINA 6.

* InfinityPlusOneSword: The Trident of Skarlos, if you manage to find both its components (and the spearhead is mandatory to find the handle): it was made to kill undead and sorcerous creatures, which means it gives you more Skill, deals extra damage to those foes and restores some of your Willpower and Luck upon finding it. [[spoiler:It also ''really'' enjoys ripping Xakhaz's undead body apart, doing lots of extra damage to the FinalBoss.]]

* LuckBasedMission: If you find yourself in the Baron's wine cellar, your gluttony gets the better of you and you decide to tap one of the casks, which is determined by a random die roll. One of the possible results of this is you drinking a potion the Baron had made that's supposed to inhibit his appetite so he can lose weight, and means you can't eat Provisions anymore.

* MagicPotion: The Potion of Berserk Rage boosts your SKILL by four points. However, it can only be used in one combat, and players who drink this potion must fight an enemy to the finish, even if an option to escape or stop fighting is available.

* NiceJobBreakingItHero: You can end up killing people who were out to help you, and you ''will'' end up if you wield the Runic Axe. [[spoiler:You can also get a second-rate ending if you smash the portal machine in Senyakhaz's room, which means that you won't be able to reach Xakhaz.]]
* NinjaPirateZombieRobot: Xakhaz is an evil sorcerous mad-scientist revenant cultist with a body made of spare bodyparts and tentacles. [[spoiler:Plays against him, as he's both undead and a sorcerous creation, which means that the Trident of Skarlos will butcher him like there's no tomorrow.]]
* NonStandardGameOver: Going insane if your Willpower is under 6 and you fail a test, regardless of the situation.
* PoisonMushroom: One of the potions you can drink is a diet concoction for the Baron, which will render you unable to consume food and rations for the rest of the adventure (so, no more healing).
* PressXToDie: In paragraph 1, you're free to ignore the unseen man who's trying to cut your ropes to help you escape. If you do, you will die horribly two paragraphs later. TooDumbToLive defined...

* RedHerring: A Downplayed example, [[spoiler: despite the insistence of Oidan's clerics, the Talisman of Loth only gives you a minor combat bonus against Xakhaz, while the unmentioned Trident of Skarlos is far more useful.]]

* SanityMeter: Willpower, which decreases as you're faced by the nightmarish beasts dwelling Neuburg.

* SpikesOfVillainy: The Spiked Maiden. Zigzagged in that she's the sweetest girl ever, but it's the armor itself that controls her.

* SurvivalHorror: While it may not play all the tropes of the genre right, this book seems a hybrid of this and the standard heroic fantasy story. The Willpower points probably help.

* WeaponOfXSlaying: The Trident of Skarlos was made to destroy the undead and abomination created through sorcery.

* LaserBlade: You can find a wand which projects a blade of freezing light. Unfortunately this weapon is powered with some of your life force.

* InfinityPlusOneSword: The Trident of Skarlos, if you manage to find both its components (and the spearhead is mandatory to find the handle): it was made to kill undead and sorcerous creatures, which means it gives you more Skill, deals extra damage to those foes and restores some of your Willpower and Luck upon finding it. [[spoiler:It also ''really'' enjoys ripping Xakhaz's undead body apart.]]

* CoversAlwaysLie: While you do meet the Spiked Maiden, she's encountered inside the castle. Second, Neuburg Keep is on a hill in the middle of the city itself.

* AndIMustScream: The Baron's daughter is very lucid and aware of her situation, but she cannot do anything for her predicament as the cursed armor she wears forces her to attack anyone who comes near.

* BittersweetVictory: You can destroy the portal that Xakhaz's main minion uses to report to him, but it's acknowledged in the ending that this has delayed, but not stopped, his plans.

* ExcaliburInTheRust: [[spoiler: The "broken fork" you can find in the stall of an old, seemingly demented Goblin merchant is actually the spearhead of the Trident of Skarlos, the most useful item in the story.]]

* ExcaliburInTheRust: The "broken fork" you can find in the stall of an old Goblin merchant is actually the spearhead of the Trident of Skarlos, the most useful item in the story.