Thornhold

Thornhold, also known as Stoneshaft Hold among its dwarven residents, was a fortress located off the southern edge of the Mere of Dead Men.

Location

The keep was situated a short way from the top of a hill whose west side dropped off into a seaside cliff. The hill itself was located to the west of The High Road and just beyond the southern border of the Mere of Dead Men.

Structure

Thornhold was a plain gray stone fort that comprised a central keep and two towers. Its walls featured no decorations, only evenly-spaced arrow slits set upon its façade with battlements set atop.

Interior

Within the outer walls were a number of wood-and-plaster buildings, along with enough space to accommodate camping sites for numerous travelers.

Services

As of the early 1490s DR, the fortress was used as a way stop that aided merchants and adventurers traveling through one of the more dangerous stretches of the Sword Coast North.

Skilled crafts-and-tradespeople offered their services to those that chose to take refuge at Thornhold. Among the talented individuals were skilled gem-cutters, wainwrights, smithies, and even brewers.

History

The earliest records said that Thornhold was the fortress of Brunyundar Margaster, a local warlord of the Waterdhavian Margaster Family. They held the keep until Brunyundar was overthrown by Samular Caradoon shortly after the end of the Second Trollwar in the mid−10th century DR. While Thornhold remained under the ownership of the Margaster Family, it actually functioned as a chapterhouse for the Tyrran Knights of Samular until the mid–14th century DR.

In the Year of the Banner, 1368 DR, Hronrulf Caradoon died and the family keep was briefly seized by the Zhentarim. The malevolent agents traveled through the Underdark, enslaved many dwarves of Clan Stoneshaft, and made their way in through the underground passage beneath Thornhold.

The clan's leader Ebenezer Stoneshaft rallied his kin and allied himself with Hronrulf's daughter and agent of The Harpers, Bronwyn Caradoon. The allies banded together and reclaimed the ancestral Margaster home from the Zhentarim. In an act of benevolence and generosity, Bronwyn gifted the fortress to the Stoneshaft dwarves. The dwarves renamed the keep Stoneshaft Hold and transformed it into a caravan stop for traders about to brave the stretch of The High Road bordering the Mere of Dead Men.

When the Spellplague brought on geological changes to all of Faerûn circa the 1380s DR, the Mere of Dead Men expanded and trade to and from the keep was largely cut off. During that time the Stoneshaft dwarves became increasingly isolated from the surrounding lands.

Rumors & Legends

There were rumors that said that the caves beneath Thornhold held a passageway that led down to the depths of the Underdark. While true, the existence of these caves were largely kept secret by the dwarves of Clan Stoneshaft.

As of the late 15th century, both the Margaster Family and the Knights of Samular both felt they were owed the rights to claim Thornhold for their respective interests.