The Brumaska

The Winter Gate

Built after the Wendigo invasions of 4500 SA, the Brumaska has seen many different iterations over the years, of varying levels of success. A massive fortress in the Kirdgash, the Brumaska today is an imposing structure, consisting of three separate gatehouses, over a dozen separate towers, two keeps and three curtain walls that block the entire mountain pass. A pair of smaller forts sit on the mountaintops to either side of the pass, to prevent any hostiles from attacking the fortress from above, and a line of watchtowers dot the mountain peaks surrounding it, each with a special fire beacon to be lit upon notice of an approaching army. Finally the fortress also keeps a nest of ravens to send messages back to the capital whenever necessary.
The fortresses garrison is usually around 2600 soldiers, though in times of war the garrison has occasionally been stripped to bolster the Karthian armies. The garrison itself is made of a mix of professional soldiers and levies, a Karthian knight is not considered to be a proper knight until they have spent at least a year in the Brumaska garrison, and often the richer Knights will bring their own companies of Men-at-Arms to join them in the fortress. Garrison duty in the Brumaska is not however considered an honour, and the garrison is also regularly used as punishment duty by the Karthian kings, usually for knights and royal soldiers who act dishonourably during campaign. Guarding the Brumaska pays reasonably well, but there is little in the way of opportunities for glory or plunder, and the hours are long and cold, even for Wurgos.
Despite its purpose as a military fortress, the Brumaska also has a sizeable civilian population, mostly merchant families who pass through the fortress to trade with the northern Wurgos, or sell foods and other goods tot he soldiers of the Brumaska. A small village called Fjustad (Furtown) by both the garrison and the locals has developed along the road south from Brumaska, with a population that ebbs and flows with the months, usually capping at 1000 people during summer, and then dropping to about 200 during winter.
When northern Wurgos approach the Fortress, they usually aren't there to attack it, most are either traders themselves, or hopeful mercenaries, the Kingdom of Karth has a special division of soldiers, the Glasvrakt, made up entirely of Northern Wurgos mercenaries. Sometimes Wurgos approach the fortress looking to immigrate, hoping to move to warmer southern lands though these are usually turned away, unless they have existing family or intend to join the Glasvrakt.

Defence

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Whenever a Wurgos army attempts to assault the fortress (an increasingly rare occasion) they usually arrive with overwhelming numbers, often driven by starvation and desperation. These attacking armies usually reach numbers of about 8000, though the largest force since the Wurgos invasions of the 4th and 5th centuries was recorded as numbering 14,000 strong, and was the closest any army has come to taking the Brumaska since the new Wurgos monarchs came to power. Because the fortress guards a pass, it cannot be starved out, and so the attackers are always left with no option but to assault the fortress.
During these assaults the garrison uses every trick available, the frontal moat is set ablaze, catapults and crossbow fire will rain down on the attackers, along with boiling water and stones. The garrisons goal is usually just to hold out long enough for reinforcements to arrive, usually in the form of levies from the northern provinces, though sometimes the Garrison will request aid from the royal army. Wherever these reinforcements come from, unless they are led by the king himself, command of the defenders will always remain with the Garrison Commander.
Sometimes however reinforcements are lacking, usually because of either civil strife or southern wars, in these cases the garrison may take desperate measures. Sometimes they will attempt to bribe members of the opposing army to leave, sometimes they'll send small bands of soldiers through hidden passes to launch raids and sorties against the opposing army, the most desperate measure is for the garrisons frost mages to trigger an avalanche, though this is always considered a last resort as there remains a risk of the avalanche burying the fortress itself.

Purpose

The Brumaska guards the Kirdgash, the largest passage through the northern Kusakrad Mountains, as a means of protecting the southern realms (or more specifically the Kingdom of Karth) from northern invasions. Initially built by the Wendigo King's to protect against the northern Wurgos, after the Second Wurgos Invasion, the new Rhiacraes dynasty would rebuild the fortress to keep their fellow Wurgos out of their newly won kingdom. The fortress has also given Karth a means of controlling trade to and from the north, particularly northern furs, a tax on which has made the Karthian kings particularly rich.

History

The Fortress was first built by the second Wendigo King, Bjorik, as a means of protecting his kingdom from northern Wurgos invaders, who had been passing through the Kirdgash to raid and pillage his northern lands. At first the Brumaska was little more than a small wooden fort in the centre of the pass, but over the next few years it would expand into a proper stone fortress, as Wurgos attacks grew more fierce, and as the Karthian's began sending their own raids north in retaliation. However with the rise of the Almerithan Empire these border conflicts died down, the fortress began to decline, as the Karthian kings began to focus less on the northern defences and instead on the new superpower to their south.
By 340 of the Bright Age, the Brumaska was a shell of its former self, much of the fortifications were either out of date or unused, much of the fortress was in disrepair and the garrison had shrunk to just 60 men. This would prove disastrous during the Wurgos invasions, and in 342 BA the first Wurgos army arrived and swiftly overwhelmed the fort, then marching south to ravage Karth with lighting speed before later moving on to the Almerithan Empire. Some tribes from the first invasion would even set up a small kingdom around the Brumaska, successfully driving off a counter attack by Karth in 354 BA. This Brumaskan kingdom would then open the pass for the second Wurgos Invasion under Rexigor, during which one of the Brumaskan tribes, the Rhiacraes would go on to conquer the city and later Kingdom of Karth for themselves.
The new Rhiacraes kings would then turn on their old comrades and launch a successful reconquest of the Brumaska in 428 BA, reconquering it for the Kingdom of Karth. The new kings quickly got to work restoring and improving the fortress, such that when the Orgos arrived in 432, they faced a formidable fortress of stone walls and high tower, and decided to first negotiate rather than immediately assault the fort. Though King Hardola would allow them to pass anyway, he had managed to prevent them from attacking Karthian lands.
Since then the Wurgos kings of Karth have continued to maintain and improve the Fortress, and it has successfully repelled several attempted invasions over the last 300 years, each attempt leading the Karthian's to further improve on the defences. Today it has become something of a tradition for each successive monarch to add their own improvements to the fortress.

Winter Fortress by Ron Ashtiani

The Brumaska during the Drakes War

Founding Date

4529 SA

Alternative Names

The Winter Wall (Horun), The Bloody Gate (Northern Wurgos)

Type

Fortress

Parent Location

The Kirdgash

Owning Organization

Kingdom of Karth

The Kingdom of Brumaska

The Kingdom of Brumaska was a short lived nation built in 342 BA by an alliance of tribes from the first invasion who decided to settle down right there rather than risk marching south. The kingdom would be reinforced by survivors of the first invasion and would spend the next 17 years constantly raiding and pillaging the lands to the south, mostly Karthian lands, and by 358 BA it ruled most of northern Karth. Though called a kingdom, it would be more accurate to refer to the Brumaska realm as a confederation, the role of king was an elected position, and a temporary one as the tribes would elect a new king every four years, with the tribes each retaining their own separate identities and cultures.
During the Second invasion the kingdom would allow Rexigor's army to pass with no resistance and several of the tribes within the kingdom would even join Rexogor's army. One of the tribes, the Rhiacraes, would lead an army to march on the city of Karth itself, capturing in 367 it after a seven year siege, the Rhiacraes under their king Jerdoro would name themselves the new lords of Karth, establishing the Rhiacraes dynasty. The new kings would spend the next thirty years constantly warring to conquer their new realm, and inevitably their gaze turned north to Brumaska.
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