The castle was besieged 32 times before the Otherhands 'acquired' it from the Deffreeques. No one knows why they succeeded where the others failed. (...) That was all a long time ago, and it's a peaceful place now, by and large, but remnants remain from those troubled days, here and there. The armoury is still sharp and shiny, there are iron pots which once contained hot oil on the battlements and murder holes in various passageways still wink at you as you flap by. (...) The castle has about a half acre of bedrooms, almost as many bathrooms, the Great Hall, the Library, the Ballroom, the Kitchens and Scullery. There's the Rotunda, the 'lost' South Wing, the High Terrace, the i East Tower, and then there are the bits which people don't like to talk about. (...) Then, underneath the cellars, are the caves, and they are ancient and dark places (...). It shall suffice to say that the whole castle was built on the side of a mountain riddled with holes. There have been one or two !'incidents' over the years, things involving talons and tentacles, for example. ! Lord Otherhand keeps promising Minty that he will have every passage and opening into the Ann caves bricked up one of these days, but somehow he never gets round to it, preferring to spend his time on his ludicrous inventions.
1 Who does the Castel belong to now​