Overview
Greifberg is the fortified castle that dominates the skyline above Svartrau, the capital of Vale Sangora. Perched on the crags overlooking the city, the castle is the seat of power for Brencis, the vampire lord who deposed the previous human ruler and installed his vampiric regime. Coen's family is held captive within its walls, making an assault on Greifberg one of the player's core objectives throughout the game.
History
Before Brencis took control, Greifberg belonged to Knyaz Skender Dragosti, a human lord described as tall, handsome, and always richly dressed, but cruel and merciless when displeased. Skender used the proceeds from the Silver Mines to expand the dungeons beneath the castle rather than fund religious institutions. His reign ended when Brencis and the Vrakhiri vampire faction arrived in the valley and overthrew him.
Design Philosophy
Rebel Wolves took inspiration from The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild when designing Greifberg's role in the game. Players can attempt to assault the castle at almost any point, though doing so early will be extremely difficult. This open-ended approach means the game never locks players out of their primary objective, instead letting the difficulty curve serve as a natural gate.
Gameplay Role
The castle's presence on the skyline is a constant visual reminder of the player's goal. Different approaches to Greifberg become available depending on which quests the player completes, which allies they recruit, and how much notoriety they have accumulated. The time mechanic also applies: spending days preparing makes the assault easier but leaves fewer days to complete other objectives before the 30-day deadline.
Assaulting the Castle
Launch guide coverage of the shipped game describes several ways in, and reports that four of the game's ending routes begin with the assault. The routes it lists are Shadowstep over the wall at night, a side door entered in daylight with a password obtained by helping Father Florin, the tunnels and ancient ruins underneath the castle, and an approach opened by the rebellion once an army has been let into the valley. Which of them is available depends on the questlines the player has followed, which is the open-ended structure the design section above describes, now visible in the finished game.
Walkthroughs add a third way to open the side door, with a key carried by a bandit leader at a camp on the eastern side of the map, and note that the castle can be assaulted straight after the prologue. The side entrance lies up a path north-west of the Vedera Shallows shrine. The full endings all begin here or at a parley with Brencis: The Folk Hero alone, The Patricide with Lacra, The Knyazmaker with the rebels, and The Turncoat for a deal. See Endings.
The same coverage reports that the vampire lords Coen has not already dealt with are fought inside the castle rather than skipped, with Ambrus met in the entrance hall and Bakir in the dungeon, that Xanthe's trap remains on the castle route unless she was spared during The Cycle of Love, even if she was killed, and that on the solo route a further boss inside the castle has to be fought even by players who finished the questline that might have removed the need. Coen's family is held in the depths below. A second walkthrough describes the same shape and adds that killing all three lords beforehand makes the assault much easier, since their guards flee without them. The detail is still guide-sourced rather than confirmed by the studio.
Timing matters as much as the route. If the 30-Day Cycle runs out before the assault, the castle can still be entered and the game continues, but the rescue itself is no longer possible.
Surrounding Area
Greifberg sits above the Silberkreis district, the wealthiest part of Svartrau and the area closest to the castle. Below the wealthy quarter lies The Middens, a contrasting zone with its own character and faction presence. The gap between wealthy Silberkreis and neglected Middens mirrors the social divide under Brencis's rule.
Gheorghe and the side gate
The side-gate key is carried by Gheorghe at a bandit camp in the far southeast. The same camp contains the heart associated with the nearby broken Tantari shrine. Looting the key opens a quest leading to Greifberg's side gate. Save before accepting the castle's point-of-no-return warning if unfinished activities still matter to the run.
Escaping Xanthe's trap
The rune-framed room begins a sequence of cursed loops. Clear the first wave, enter the room left of the staircase, and push its bookshelf aside to expose a pit. Jump down. In later loops, defeat the enemies, find the newly opened room and descend through its pit until the curse breaks. Sparing Xanthe during The Cycle of Love disables this trap.
After the trap, Lacra's Midnight Reckoning route includes the Commander of the Bloodguard and two hellhounds. The Crake and solo routes lead through soldiers and a Bloodguard before the throne room.
Gheorghe's key comes from Racovitza's Bandit Camp. It opens the castle's southeastern side gate, one of the approaches that begins A Lone Wolf's Hunt and its point of no return.