Ker Bazainn

This grim fortress has guarded the land passage between the hills, south to Idee, for more than two centuries. Now it is a vital strategic guard against the forces of the Scarlet Brotherhood, and around the castle two keeps and curtain walls are being constructed by Reydrich to form a defensive bastion.

Ker Bazainn is a six-towered castle which is both evil and magical in itself. During its construction, the blood and ichor of many creatures—human, humanoid, magical monsters and (so it is said) fiends—saturated the limestone blocks used for building. Certainly, the castle has powerful defenses against fire, acid, impacting siege weapons and the like. One tale tells of a powerful priest of Beory using an earthquake spell to afflict the castle after a deranged noble there had sacrificed hundreds of souls on its grim stones, only to find that the castle levitated and then resettled on safe ground. This is probably another tall story, but the brooding fortress surely has many secrets within it.

What is known for certain is that 2,000 troops are stationed here, though at any one time probably a third of that number patrol the lands around. There are also fiends in Ker Bazainn said to have been summoned by Reydrich himself. To date, only abishai and barbazu have been seen, but recent reports of a creature very like a gelugon have filtered back to distant lands.

One of Reydrich's apprentices, Tarrak, lives full-time at Ker Bazainn and has clearly been at work tapping the magic of the place. Broiling acidic mists and fetid stinking clouds have been seen rolling southward, but stopping short of penetrating too far into Idee. Tarrak's true nature is unknown to most, for the mage enjoys using alteration spells to appear as a drow, an orc, a male human, or even as an ogre. She is known to have captive charmed monster companions, including a pair of leucrotta which she uses as hunting animals—usually to pursue human or demihuman quarry.

Ker Bazainn is further defended by a pack of 40 or so wolfhound/worg crosses with the statistics of worgs. These animals are superbly well-trained and utterly ferocious (Morale 15). The strength of this place is testimony to how deeply Reydrich fears the Scarlet Brother hood. It is also a prison. Reydrich generally does not execute those who oppose him, considering that they might be useful as hostages, for ransom, or that their loyalty might after all be gained through "encouragement" in the dungeons of this place.