Main Gate
Strangers approaching Darmshall who reach the end of the path find a drawbridge blocking entry into the fortress. Two towers flank the gate; the drawbridge is controlled from the northernmost tower, the portcullis behind it from the southernmost tower.
The fissure that serves as a moat is sixty feet deep; water fills the bottom ten feet, and a layer of flammable oil floats upon the water. In the face of a serious assault, the entire surface of the moat can be set alight. The drawbridge is very solidly built and well maintained. Naturally, anyone attempting such an unfriendly act would spout arrows like a porcupine and be doused in hot tar, boiling oil, and the like.
Gatehouse Towers
These towers jut only a few feet above the curtain wall; a single guard keeps watch atop each at all times, day or night, rain or shine. As soon as anyone comes within forty feet of the gate, the lookout on the right-hand tower (Laurl or Charl) calls out: "Halt! Who goes there?
Visitors to the keep must first provide names, professions, and business in the keep to the guards. Only after hearing satisfactory answers do the guards lower the drawbridge. Security is a matter of life and death here. Flippant responses draw stony silence and a tightly shut drawbridge.
There is a 2 gp per person charge for entering Darmshall for all non-residents, and the guards tell all visitors that mounts must be stabled. The guards know everyone who lives in the keep.
Those adventurers granted access to Darmshall are escorted by guards to the entry yard beyond the gatehouse.
Entrance Courtyard
The portcullis slowly rises, creaking, clearing the way for you to step off the drawbridge and between the towers. About ten feet ahead waits the final barrier barring your entry: a set of sturdy double doors made of thick wood reinforced with iron bands. The shutter at the back of a barred window in the right-hand door opens and a woman's face scrutinizing you with calm deliberation. "Welcome to Darmshall" she says.
She looks you up and down, her eyes resting thoughtfully on your exposed weaponry. "I'm Sabine, Captain of the Outer Bailey" she goes on. "This is a peaceable place. We don't like brawling in the streets, folks stabbed in the tavern, or anything like that. Keep your weapons sheathed within the walls and stay out of trouble, and you'll find Darmshall a home away from home. Stir up trouble and you'll wish you'd never come here. I guarantee it."
Sabine will not admit the strangers until they have put away any unsheathed weapons (slipped a sword into its scabbard, unstrung a bow, and so forth). She suggest they show their good intentions by "peace-bonding" each weapon—that is, tying its hilt to the sheath or their belt—but does not insist. Naturally, such restrictions do not apply to a wizard's staff, but the character should be holding it loosely like a walking stick, not grasping it in both hands like a quarterstaff. Once she is satisfied that they understand the rules and pose no immediate threat, she disappears from the window; a minute later they hear the sound of a bolt being drawn back and a key being turned. Then the door swings open, permitting entry into Darmshall itself.
She directs visitors depending on their appearance. She points out the stables to those who are mounted, the warehouse to those accompanying a cartful of crates or barrels, the marketplace to those bearing a basket of goods, the inn and tavern to those who have the look of thirsty travelers who might want a place to stay, and so forth.
Watchtowers
In addition to the towers that flank the gatehouse, seven others fortify Darmshall’s walls. Four towers connected to the inner bailey are manned by warriors who serve Emmanuel Darm, while the rest are staffed with the mercenary warriors of the outer bailey’s watch.
Each tower is 30 feet tall, crowned by battlements, and equipped with a ballista and a light catapult. Warriors, whether drawn from the watch or the guard of the inner bailey, live in barracks on the third floor. The first and second floors have chambers for the storage of food, water, arrows, and other supplies. A few of the towers also house officers of the watch and guard.
Comments