Cragmaw Castle
The ruined keep known as Cragmaw Castle is just north of the Tri-Boar Trail, just to the west of Cragmaw canyon. The Tri-Boar Trail in this location runs directly to the east and west sides of the Cragmaw, end in partially-collapsed bridge abutments. There are also the remains of midspan bridge supports on rock outcroppings in the middle of the canyon.
The area around keep has many shrubs, underbrush, and young trees. There are also a number of old stumps of larger trees, indicating that someone in living memory had cleared a swath of trees away from the keep.
The keep itself follows a roughly rectangular planform, about 80 feet wide on the east-west axis, and about 150 feet long on the north-south axis. The main walls are inset about 10 feet from the 15-20 foot wide square turrets, their faces well covered by arrow slits The upper floor(s) of the keep have collapsed outwards, scattering blocks of stone and masonry into the thick forest and underbrush around the keep. All the surviving walls were heavily overgrown with vines.
The main entrance is on the south side, facing the now unused section of the Tri-Boar Trail. It is about 5 feet above the ground level outside the keep, accessed from a raised "porch" reached via two sets of the stairs on the east and west side of the porch. The porch leads to an arched entryway, liberally equipped arrow slits in the walls and murder-holes in the ceiling. The entry way ends in wooden double-doors, reinforced with iron bands.
The postern gate is in the north-east turret of the keep. A short inset in the 5 foot think turret wall next to the main wall concealed a short stair up to the reinforced postern door. Anyone trying to force the postern by running a battering ram up the stair would be shot in the back from the north-west turret's arrow slits.
The interior of the first floor of the keep has 15 foot tall vaulted stone ceilings. A section of the north wall has collapsed, opening the interior to the elements. However, the interior stone walls kept the elements from infiltrating the entire structure. Along the east side of the keep is a small shrine to Kelemvor. A stairway leading down to possible basements is choked with fallen stonework, as is a stairway leading up the now collapsed upper levels.
Purpose / Function
The close proximity of the keep to the remains of the old Tri-Boar Trail bridge over Cragmaw canyon is probably more than a coincidence. The leading theories are that the keep was meant to hold troops to defend the bridge, and/or to collect tolls for use of the bridge.
Alterations
Although the original wooden doors and iron hinges have rotted and rusted away long ago, someone replaced most of them on the first floor about 40 years ago. Some minor repairs to the outer wall stone work also appears in places. In addition, a goblin tribe had rigged he arched entryway at the main entrance to collapse as a deadfall trap, though this has been disarmed by a passing band of adventurers.
Architecture
The remaining outer walls on the first floor are all 5 feet thick stone, punctuated by many narrow windows/arrow-slits. The interior walls are 1 foot thick stone or brick, supplemented by load-bearing columns to support the corbeled arched ceilings.
Although most of the upper stories have collapsed, it appears that the outer walls above the first were only 2-3 feet thick, and had a wooden timber truss supporting the roof. When the wood eventually rotted, the truss failed and the roof splayed outward, pushing the upper walls out.
History
Due to it's obvious age and proximity to the Tri-Boar Trail, most scholars assume that the keep was built before the Shattering, and possible before the God Wars as well.
After being re-discovered during the Wallacian expansion, someone appears to have started repairing the keep. However, it is not known who did this, or why. In any case, the repair work was abandoned around the time that the Ash Mounts erupted, scattering a foul ash over the province which killed many people, and the causing those who died to rise again as zombies.
Type
Ruins
Owning Organization
Related Report (Primary Locations)
Related Report (Secondary Locations)
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