The Moathouse
A scrub of thorns, thistles, weeds, and shrubs grows thickly along the edge of the track which leads to the ruins. Even the track is mostly overgrown and cluttered with fallen branches and trees. Here and there it is washed out, in other places a mire.
Some game evidently still follows the pathway, however, for after a mile or so faint traces can be seen. But even considering this, going is slow, and it takes over an hour to reach the place on horseback, or two to trudge along on foot. Considerable hacking and clearing is necessary to make the way passable, so double the time required for the first trip. After two miles, as the track turns more northerly, the land begins to sink and become boggy. Tall marsh plants grow thickly where cattails and tamaracks do not. Off to the left can be seen the jagged silhouette of the moathouse.
A side path, banked high to cross over the wetland to either side, just north to the entrance of the ruin. The track here is only about 15 feet wide or so, with crumbling embankments making travel near the edge dangerous. The bogs stink. The vegetation appears dense and prolific, but somehow sickly and unhealthy, creepers and vines throwing their strangling loops over the skeletons of dead saplings and living bushes alike. The rushes and cattails rustle and bend even to a slight zephyr, and weird birdcalls, croakings, and other unwholesome sounds come faintly across the fen
Architecture
Stone fortification
History
This place was once the outpost of The Temple of Elemental Evil, its watchtower and an advance base for raids, looting, and destruction. From this area, servants of The Temple were to bring Karja Tal into subjection. The conquered folk were then to be used as slaves to construct yet another fortress further west, spreading the evil power of The Temple in ever-growing rings to encompass all of the land around its base.
This outpost was ignored during the destruction of The Temple, for the army of good which came against the wicked hordes was so strong as to be totally immune to any pinpricking from the garrison of the moathouse. Only after the end of the battle which destroyed the main armies of The Temple of Elemental Evil was attention turned to this place. A detachment of horse and foot with a small siege train then came to the marshlands, to lay the castle low. The Common folk from miles around came to help, and the moathouse was surrounded, cut off, and battered into extinction. The place is now shunned by the people of Karja Tal, who hate its former evil and the memory of the terror brought to them by the black lord of the fortress—a vile cleric of damnation—and his evil men and humanoid troops.
The Moathouse
RUINED STRUCTURE
2924 RJ
2924 RJ
Founding Date
2501 RJ
Type
Military base / complex
Parent Location
Owning Organization
Related Report (Primary Locations)
Related Report (Secondary Locations)
