Adlerweg Keep
Adlerweg Keep sits upon a mountain pass that protects Sentinel Fortress from attack from the Wild Reaches. The Keep was built at the base of Sentinel Peak, and is one of the few human and humanoid fortified villages and military forts past Sentinel Fortress. It and its other settlements represent the furthest extent of civilization and the Empire of Fultar.
Demographics
The population of Alderweg Keep is almost entirely Fultonian.
Government
The Keep is ruled by Count Berghof, who is the vassal of Lord Raymond Ilios, Marquess of the Reaches and Lord of Sentinel Fortress.
Defences
The position of the Keep is dominating. Placed on an acute mountain spur, it was thought to be only attacked effectively from the main trackway running below its walls, or from the path which climbs from the track to the upper gate. In either case, attacked would be forced to come very close to the Keep, and occupy a very confined position exposed to fire from the Keep's defenders.
The Keep can be thought of comprising of two main parts: the main defensive structure (the tower), and the underground chambers and passages beneath it (the undercroft).
The undercroft is on the same level as the main track. Its largest chamber (known as the Gateway of Berghof) is well known to those who used the pass, since all traffic was obligated to go through here. The other parts of the undercroft were set aside for use by the Keep's soldiers, called the Guardians.
The tower is a defensive structure consisting of several floors. The lowest floor consists mainly of a battlement platform overlooking the track. The upper gateway, is on the next level up. It is reached by a narrow path, which slopes down to meet the main track. The upper floors of the tower contain living quarters, stores and so forth. The roofs of the tower are made of stone. The roofs turrets are conical and made of stone. The arrow slits of the turrets allow for effective cross-fire over the flat areas of the roof.
Until attack by the necromancer Yarlzedd and his two headed black dragon Calastryx, the Keep had only been taken only once before around a hundred years ago.
History
Adlerweg Keep was founded over three hundred years ago during a period of expansion of Marquess of Sentinel Fortress. The power and reach of Sentinel Fortress into the Wild Reaches ebbs and flows, and it was during one such expansion that the Keep was founded. The original Katheroi settlers were mostly slain a century ago. Since then, it was enfeoffed to and ruled by the Berghof family. The Counts of Adlerweg Keep and the Berghof lands come from a the military order of the eponymous war god Ram Kor, the Knights of Ram Kor. The Berghof family was from the Barony of Bortlan and was one of the few families willing to defend a mountain fort in the Wild Reaches and directly pledge their service to a Katheroi lord. The Berghof family has proven itself to be tolerant of the Katheroi faith and at ease in their dependence upon the rulers of Sentinel Fortress. Over the decades the majority of the inhabitants of the Keep have become Katheroi, which has caused some degree of tension between the Berghof family and Sentinel Fortress.
Geography
Adlerweg Keep blocks a mountain pass that protects against invasion as cork blocks the neck of a bottle. To the west towers the great Sentinel Peak, to the southeast along the Sentinel Road lies Sentinel Fortress, and to the northeast is the town of Grahluk. Grahluk cannot be directly reached, but one must travel back to Sentinel Fortress. A large stream or small river, the Gannaway lies at the bottom of the Keep's steep cliffs.
Berghof Family Coat of Arms
Founding Date
circa YR 600
Type
Outpost / Base
Population
200
Location under
Owning Organization
