Highlands Stand

Highlands Stand is a heavily fortified military bastion positioned along the western frontier of the Illuminated Kingdom. Established in 467 EoIF under King Theodan, the fortress serves as one of the Kingdom’s last major defensive outposts before the untamed western frontier. Highlands Stand is best remembered as the site of the decisive battle that ended the rise of the Mad Sorcerer Morthos Dray, where the Dragonborn rebels turned against their creator.

Highlands Stand is a fortified military bastion maintained by the Illuminated Kingdom as one of its westernmost defensive outposts. More watchtower than settlement, the fortress serves as a staging point for military patrols and supply caravans traveling beyond the Kingdom’s borders. The stronghold is primarily staffed by rotating forces of the Grenchester Army, with soldiers spending most of their service standing watch across the frontier, escorting travelers along King Theodan’s Mile, and monitoring the wilderness stretching westward beyond the Kingdom.
The fortress is best remembered as the site of the decisive battle that ended the rise of the Mad Sorcerer Morthos Dray in 492 EoIF. It was here that Dragonborn rebels of the Storm Phalanx turned against their creator under the command of Razmarn, while Kingdom forces fought desperately to contain the spreading conflict. During the battle, the ancient red dragon Volestrasz, bound into servitude through one of Dray’s soul seals, descended upon Highlands Stand alongside Dray’s armies. The conflict left large portions of the fortress permanently scarred by dragonfire and culminated in the death of Morthos Dray.
Though more than a century has passed since the war, traces of the conflict still shape life within the fortress. A ceremonial watchfire continues to burn nightly atop the wall in memory of those who defended the stronghold. However, most soldiers stationed at Highlands Stand care little for the old legends beyond their duties, viewing the fortress simply as another harsh military posting along the edge of civilization. A small group of scholars and hunters continues to search the surrounding mountains for signs of Volestrasz the Buried Fear, believing the dragon may have survived its wounds and vanished deeper into the Languished Steps after the battle. Officially, the Kingdom considers the dragon dead. Few stationed at Highlands Stand speak with complete confidence on the matter.

Geography

Highlands Stand rests along the far northwestern frontier of the Illuminated Kingdom, where the northern edge of the Languished Steps mountains begins to break into harsh cliffs and exposed stretches of Highland wilderness. The fortress was built atop a rocky rise overlooking the surrounding passes, allowing it to monitor movement for miles in every direction. Strong winds, heavy rain, and dense mountain fog are common throughout much of the year, often reducing visibility and making travel beyond the fortress dangerous even in calm seasons.
The land surrounding Highlands Stand grows increasingly unforgiving farther west. While portions of the Highlands remain patrolled by the Kingdom, much of the wilderness beyond the fortress remains largely unexplored on modern maps. Strange ruins and abandoned war camps have occasionally been discovered throughout the surrounding mountains, particularly in areas linked to the final years of Morthos Dray’s empire.
Despite its isolation, Highlands Stand remains one of the Kingdom’s most strategically important military positions. Any organized force attempting to move eastward into the Kingdom would eventually be funneled toward the mountain routes surrounding the fortress. Likewise, nearly all sanctioned expeditions traveling toward the distant Great Oyudanyi Jungle pass through Highlands Stand before departing the Kingdom entirely. For many travelers, the fortress represents the final place where the authority of the Kingdom still feels absolute before the wilds begin to swallow the road behind them.

Warden Rebecca Lainshaw

Highlands Stand is currently commanded by Warden Rebecca Lainshaw, a Thalorian officer of the Grenchester Army whose family lineage traces back to soldiers who fought during the Battle of Highlands Stand. Though generations removed from the war itself, Rebecca was raised on the stories and sacrifices made to prevent the rise of Morthos Dray. Her appointment to Highlands Stand was initially viewed by some in Grenchester as ceremonial because of her family history, though that perception quickly faded after her arrival at the fortress.

Rebecca has earned a reputation among her soldiers for being unshakably composed under pressure. She maintains strict patrol schedules, personally reviews supply manifests, and regularly joins night inspections atop the fortress walls regardless of weather conditions. Though she openly respects the history tied to the stronghold, she places far greater importance on maintaining readiness for present threats than preserving old stories.
Outside of military life, Rebecca possesses little personal connection to the Kingdom beyond the fortress itself. She has no surviving immediate family and has spent much of her adult life stationed away from civilization. Many within Highlands Stand quietly suspect she requested a permanent assignment to the fortress years ago and simply never chose to leave. While Rebecca rarely speaks openly about the possibility of Volestrasz the Buried Fear surviving the battle, she has continued authorizing limited scouting expeditions into the surrounding mountains whenever resources permit.

Founding Date

467 EoIF

Type

Fortress

Parent Location

Southeastern Lyrathil

Owning Organization

Illuminated Kingdom

by Dean Spencer

Life at Highlands Stand

Life at Highlands Stand is defined by long stretches of uneventful watchfulness. The fortress is staffed primarily by rotating soldiers of the Grenchester Army, many of whom spend months or years stationed there. Most days are spent patrolling King Theodan’s Mile, maintaining supply stores, monitoring the surrounding passes, and standing watch atop the fortress walls for threats that rarely reveal themselves openly. Winters are particularly difficult within the stronghold, as freezing winds descending from the mountains often batter the fortress for days at a time, leaving entire sections of the walls coated in ice.
Despite the fortress’s legendary reputation throughout the Kingdom, many soldiers stationed at Highlands Stand view it less as a glorious posting and more as an exhausting assignment. Superstitions tied to the western frontier remain widespread within the fortress, nonetheless. Many soldiers avoid speaking Volestrasz’s name aloud during night watches, while eclipses and heavy fog are still considered ill omens among the garrison.

King Theodan’s Mile

King Theodan’s Mile is the long military road connecting Highlands Stand to Greendale. Constructed shortly after the founding of Highlands Stand, the road was originally intended to maintain reliable communication and the movement of supplies between Highlands Stand and Paranor city.
Travel along King Theodan’s Mile is rarely casual. The journey between Greendale and Highlands Stand takes nearly a full week under favorable conditions, with long stretches of road exposed to harsh weather and the occasional threat of bandits or wandering creatures descending from the surrounding mountains. Supply wagons and military caravans typically travel with guarded escort while independent travelers are strongly encouraged to avoid the route entirely unless properly equipped for the harsh conditions.
The famous road also carries considerable symbolic importance within the Kingdom. During the rise of Morthos Dray, countless soldiers marched the road during the final years of the war, many never returning eastward after the Battle of Highlands Stand.
Small memorial markers and weathered stone shrines dedicated to fallen defenders can still be found scattered along portions of the route, periodically maintained by soldiers, priests, and surviving descendants of those who fought in the conflict.