Northwind Keep

Northwind Keep was a lookout tower built in the Moonwood sometime around the Year of the Child's Trinket, 970 DR. It was destroyed about a hundred years later.

Location

The tower was located about 50 miles (80 kilometers) almost directly north of the Hunter's Gate out of Silverymoon. It was nestled in the forest approximately another mile (1.6 km) into the trees in a glade with a pond of drinkable water. The pond was named Starfall Pool and became famous throughout the Silver Marches because of a popular ballad of the same name.

Structure

When it was intact, Northwind Keep had at least two or three stories and a shallow root cellar. As of the Year of Wild Magic, 1372 DR, all that remained was a broken circle of sixteen large-chest–sized stones from the foundation, and the cellar lined with smaller stones. Dozens of broken blocks, usually about one or two human fists in size, were scattered about the glade.

Interior

StarfallPool-Cellar The cellar with beams of a makeshift roof fallen in. Northwind Keep guarded a portal in its upper floors. After the tower collapsed, the portal remained. It hovered about 30 ft (9.1 m) above the ground near the tall oak tree that dominated the glade.[note 1] The cellar was a square hole about four feet (1.2 meters) deep and six feet (1.8 meters) on a side. The portal had at least three known destinations: a Harper-owned residence in the oldest section of Silverymoon; the Stone Bridge near Red Larch; and a wind-swept hilltop a short ride north of Secomber.

Activities

The tower was originally used as a lookout and a shelter from orc raiding parties. The portal allowed escape to Silverymoon or for reinforcements to muster quickly in the Moonwood. After the tower was destroyed, Harpers still came to the glade for rest, relaxation, and to leave messages for each other by scraping symbols, words, or sentences onto one of the many rocks that littered the ground. Some came to dance and converse with the dryad, Olsheirie, that lived in the giant oak.

Defenses

There was not enough of the tower left to deduce what defenses it had before it was destroyed. Olsheirie did not protect the ruins unless her tree, pond, or glade were also threatened. She had a magical device, given to her by the Harpers, that allowed her to summon help via a sending spell.

Rumors & Legends

Tavern tales told of a small coffer of coins once found behind a loose stone in the cellar wall. As a result of this persistent rumor, every part of the cellar was excavated multiple times by treasure seekers, but nothing was ever found. The Harpers rebuilt the cellar after each act of vandalism, which gave rise to another rumor about the cellar being haunted or magical.