The Castle of Frost

 The Forbidden Mountains are a formidable barrier between Bélar and The Winter Wastes, and no place a sane person would wish to go in the dead of winter. Yet there are some who do call this place home.
Besides the dwarves who have made a home in the westernmost Forbidden Mountains, no one but the exiled and the kingdom's unwanted live within the labyrinth of stones. It is only feasible to live there due to the abundance of game and the fact that enough variety of mountain herbs that provide enough vitamin C to those who are forced to live there.
And amongst all that, there is a castle. A rime-rimmed castle whose halls occasionally echo with the sound of sad humming of old Bélaran folksongs.
It is apparent that this castle once bustled with some sort of life, but now it lies nearly abandoned, manned only by a skeleton guard that really wish that they didn't have to be there. It was once home to a forlorn princess who was forced to live there until she mysteriously disappeared along with her captain of the guard, never to be heard from again.
The guards forced to be stationed there have not been able to find her, and no one from Bélar wants to seek out what exactly happened to her.

Purpose / Function

The Castle of Frost used to be the "Hunting Lodge" of the Frost Princess' great-great-great grandfather. It was first built to be a backup in case the citadel of the capital was taken by the enemy, giving the king and his family a refuge whilst they try and regain their home and their footing. But while there was no siege or war, it was the king's base for hunting.
Now, it is the home, refuge, and prison of the Frost Princess. This is where the king brought her to protect her from the ire of the commonfolk.

Alterations

After the Frost Princess was brought to this castle, the guards helped her build a sunroom so that she could grow a garden amongst the hostile peaks of the Forbidden Mountains. The vegetables that she was able to grow there she used to make special meals for the guards and suppliment the kitchen pantries between deliveries. This helped stave off scurvey during the winter months.

Architecture

The castle is made nearly completely of stone in a style that helps is blend in with the mountain it is built up against. It sports three towers with flat tops trimmed with square parapets.

Defenses

The Castle of Frost sports an impressive five-walled defence-system. Each wall has a gatehouse equipped with porticullises, arrow slits and many, many vantage points for the guards to aim from. The castle would have had moats at every wall and drawbridges too since there is a powerful mountain river nearby, but the moats would never thaw completely in spring due to the location and the altitude, rendering them useless. The three towers of the palace part of the castle also double as vantage points for the guards due to their flat roofs and parapets.
Each wall is trimmed with parapets as well, and is reinforced by guard towers along their lengths. Not that there are enough guards to man everything...

Alternative Names

The Hunting Lodge, The Rime-rimmed Palace

Type

Castle

Parent Location

Bélar

Owner

The King of Bélar

Additional Rulers/Owners

• The Frost Princess

Owning Organization

Kingdom of Bélar