TVC - Fortresses and Lairs

[Trevy the Great]

About this RP there have been a number of very extravagant castles and fortresses in which Councils or vicious battles have been fought, good examples being Nexeternus and the Violet Citadel. To aid in the visualization of these great places I have started this thread to describe the look, inhabitants and defenses of any fortresses, castles, lairs or halls we may encounter along the Council's journey to their ultimate goal of the destruction of Nagash.

I guess I'll start:

The Violet Citadel
Location
Atop the great mount Karnhak within the dreaded and cursed mountains of Sylvania, surrounded by taller peaks that protect it from the worst of the elements and the sight of prying eyes stands the Violet Citadel.
Appearance
Built atop the very summit of the mountain, the Violet Citadel itself it a great bastion of dark stone that stands hundreds of feet tall. Buffeting winds and the force of gravity should have toppled it long ago yet it endures. Along it's smooth, weathered surface are studded great doors of iron, behind which sit ornate, ancient cannons facing every direction and crewed by eternally vigilant skeletal crews. Around these great doors are smaller windows, each looking into a spartan hall, armory or chamber of one of Vekarin's living servants.
At the top of the tower sit the studies of Vekarin's necromancers, where the deranged men carry out all manner of magical experiments and repair damaged soldiers. Also there sit the chambers of Vekarin himself, dusty, spartan chambers that are rarely used.
Near the base of the citadel stand two great, iron doors that grant entrance into this inner sanctum. Within those is a great passage, with doors leading leading to various halls and rooms within the citadel. At the end of this hall are two more iron doors that lead to the Great Hall, a room furnished with chairs and en enormous long table at which Vekarin's various lieutenants and aides sit when he calls them.
Around the citadel, further down the bare summit of the rock mountain stands a great, stone wall of immense height and thickness. Atop it sit crenelations for Vekarin's guards to fire various bolt throwers, light catapults and smaller guns upon an attacking enemy. The wall is breached only by a tall iron gate the opens to a thin, winding road, the only safe way up the rocky mountain to the citadel.
Within the walls and placed near the Citadel stand the stables that house the many Nightmares and great beasts within Vekarin's army. This stone building almost always flickers with unearthly light generated from the beasts within.
Below the citadel and carved into the mountain itself are great excavations used to mine minerals to be smote in Vekarin's forges into weapons and armor for his unliving hordes, but also new soldiers are to be found there. Eons ago, ancient men of the land found this mountain to be rich in copper and iron and used it as a mine and place of refuge in case of danger, and the skeletons of those who died mining are still found, bolstering Vekarin's armies.
Defenses
Besides the great cannons of the keep and defensive weaponry upon the walls, the Violet Citadel is protected by magic as well. Woven by Zosz the Forsaken, an intracate set of runes used to nullify and absorb nearby magical power covers every stone and wall in the citadel. They can only be activated at Zosz' command, and too much energy will burn them out entirely.

 

[Ghouly]

Sorry if I miss-spelled any places names.



Graveclaws cave


Graveclaws Cave is located in southern Sylvania, the entrance is hard to find,But reeks of decaying flesh the Main chamber is large and oval in shape and branches off into many smaller tunnles.The floor is littered with bones both human and animal. In the center of the Main chamber is Graveclaws throne (Its a old chair Graveclaws Ghouls found for him) the rest of the chambers are home to many Ghouls.

 

[Count Feldenhaus]

Castle Gor'Drok
Location: In the ruined town of Dorgya in North-Eastern Sylvania, in the Sylvanian Mountains, Gor'Drok sits on a high, steep mountain, with a small, twisting path leading up to it. The Castle and town itself is surrounded by dense forests, and constant dark clouds hang over the place.

Appearance: Gor'Drok is built out of ancient stone, and appears to be still under construction. When Dorgya was taken over by the Vampires, the former keep, Staunch Bastion, was rebuilt and fortified by Glyre Feldenhaus, he continues to add to it, until it fits his idea perfectly. The castle has a main gate, which leads into a square courtyard, in the couryard are many banners, bearing the black rose of the Feldenhaus's. In the courtyard are battlements, from which crossbowmen can shoot arrows at attackers.
Past the courtyard lies another great door which leads into a main room. from there, the Castle is a mess of corriders, doors, and many sculptures and paintings. At the Castle's tower, sit the Feldenhaus's room, the guestroom for honored guests, and at the very top, Glyre's personal lair, wair only his elite inner-circle are allowed. Surrounding the castle and Dorgya is a massive wall, covered with skeletons and wights. In the Castl's lowest level lies a basement and cellar, in it are the Feldenhaus's stores, and all manner of undead beasts, which are in the Crypts.

Defenses: Atop the wall surrounding Dorgya and the wall surrounding the castle it self stand tireless regiments of skeletons and graveguard, while many are armed with hand weapons and crossbows, some man massive catapults and ballistae, which are always very useful in castle defense. As well as this, at well spaced intervals on the walls sit lodestones with great braziers of balefire mounted on top of them. Corpse Carts are also known to regularly patrol the town and surrounding areas. Being VonCarsteins at the roots, the Feldenhaus's also attract Dire Wolves to patrol their borders and rodes, as well as swarms of ravenous fell bats, As well as this, in the mountains surrounding Dorgya lies Ghoul Cave, and ancient labyrinth home to hundreds of ghouls, which have access to Dorgya via a gate in the outer wall. The Castle is also known to have a secret weapon of some sort, the likes of which only the Feldenhaus's, and possibly Kerel, know.

 

[Simon von Carstein]

The kingdom of Ikaana named after the ancient city which used to be its capital is a relatively small state bordered by a river on the south, SE, SW and NE and the Black Mountains to the north and NW. The only crossing point is at a Ford which is the only point where the river is shallow this area is guarded by a Stone Fort manned by Simon's Sylvanian levies and mercenary ogres. The next line of defence is the forest which is haunted by thousands of spirits placed there to pick armies to pieces by Simon. Beyond the forest is the vast rolling plains which make up most of the Kingdom these are farmed by Simon's serfs whose only job is to provide food for the sylvanians and act as a workforce. Within all this lies the only walled town in the region it is inhabited by the Sylvanians who act as a sort of middle class they protect the serfs and act as a sort of police and militia in return they get fed.

Beyond all of this lies Nexeternus it stands in a box valley or canyon. The only entrance to this valley is fortified by a pair of gates and two towers these are manned at all times by Simon's undead forces the valley itself is filled with mines, pits and forges and is large enough to house tens of thousands of troops. The tower of Nexeternus stands on a high plateau overlooking the valley it is said to be cursed because Simon walled the corpses of dead workers within the structure fragments of bone and skull can be seen sticking out amongst the stone. In front of the tower lies the great hall which has a tower in each corner built like a cathedral all of this surrounded by a wall. A bridge links the plateau to a natural column of rock which contains stairs leading to the ground this is also protected by a wall and towers.

This system of defences ensures that there is always somewhere to fall back too.

 

[Arion]

Name: Castle Icekeel

Location: A mountain range in Brettonia, near Marienburg.

Description: Castle Icekeel is situated on a high mountain in Brettonia. The shape of the mountain is such that it takes on the appearance of a ships keel on one side, and the castle on its peak complements this giving the impression of a ships keel, with the Castle as figurehead (perhaps nostalgia for the sea?) . The mountain is steep, craggy and virtually impassable for anything other than a single determined individual, armies would move so slowly as to be literal sitting ducks. There is a single, wide winding road that continues up the mountain. Near the top spanning a great rockfall with a great stone covered steel bridge.

The castle is surrounded by two high walls containing a central Keep that is made of a nest of elegant towers rising from the slope. Upon the apex of the mountain is a single tower, no bigger than the others, but separate, a lonely sentinel. The castle guards over the main village of the Duchy.

A large evergreen forest covers much of the rear of the mountain, cut down near the Castle for strategic means, it is unknown whether Varghulfs and the like dwell here, but it is a generally avoided place by locals.

The climate ranges from rainy and cold to snowy and cold, it is a place where harsh summer never touches. A fast wide river flows down the mountain, barge trade takes place here and it is the source of most of the Castle and associated towns food. It is fed by melting snow and underground water.

Inside the castle it is spacious and airy, but parts are built into the mountain, meaning there are a veritable rabbit warren of passageways a secret rooms. Draithons private quarters are situated in a wide tower, connected to here is a great domed library tower, as a extremely knowledgeable scholar he has a wide variety of books here. From history and magic to the nature of Chaos and tactical treatises. In perhaps a remenis to Druchii style this tower is connected to others by sky bridges. It is mainly inside the mountain that his magic apparatus is kept, one noteworthy room is a great circular chamber with glowing green runes inscribed along its sides and obsidian nihilators, it acts as a channel for power.

All servants are living . He maintains his own guards peasant and knight guards. Sometimes he is followed by six masked and cloaked figures, obviously darkelves by their weapons.

The castle walls are warded by powerful magics and guarded by well equipped soldiers and seige weapons. Many traps can be activated to confuse the enemy, including activateable pits and weapons built into the wall. The soldiers are each equipped with leather boots and cloth trousers. They wear plate upper body armour in combat or high-risk situations, in more casual wear boiled leather usually suffices, tabards with livery are also worn under the armour. They each wear a masked helmet or none at all, the helmets are lighter and more open, but similar in style to knight helmets unlike the usual skull-cap. Each carries a bow, longsword and shield. They work in units of five for general work, and in each there are two normal soldiers, one sergeant , one axeman (for smashing obstacles) and one broadswordman.

Surrounding the castle with its own wall is a large town, with something resembling a port for barges traversing the river. It is a semi-prosperous town, as a cross roads connects at the base of the mountain with the barge keep, and the town is an ideal stopping off point. Due to its proximity to Marienburg, traders may take their goods up by barge through an overland river. This is if they wish to avoid Corsairs and black arks roaming the Brettonian coast, Icekeel exports unique river trout and recent achealogical discoveries add to wealth, namely an elven ruin buried under ground for an unknown reason, holding a small collection of valuable artefacts .

Placed in strategic positions above the bridge are enourmous seige weapons and attack wards, these include many trebuchet loaded with pestilential cows or stones, oil throwing fireball launchers and bolt throwers . This combination of hail upon hail of arrows, explosions and great bolts make the mountain fairly unassailable to anything but a large force, anything smaller will be decimated before they reach the walls but a large force is unlikely to even be able to reach them due to logistics. If they breach the castle walls, they should expect a gruelling guierilla battle amongst the well defended towers. Weapons can also be mounted on mobile barges. If the enemy try to go through the forest, they will be cut down by a plentitude of dark horrifying beasts. The only road up the mountain is guarded by a well defended fort. The Road's bridge can be targeted raised, and in dire situations, shot down by trebuchet. This is however a last resort.


NB: It must be noted that Draithon maintains a fairly powerful illusion upon himself, to everyone that seems him he is a Brettonian noble, this deception of the hapless humans has its uses.