Keelford Castle

Often the first thing visitors to Keelford see as they trek across jagged hills and along ragged cliffs, weaving through trees like dark obelisks or braving lurking sea rocks to approach the port is the looming, bulky figure of Keelford castle's keep. Keelford castle is the main fortress of The City of Keelford, and provides a valuable defence. It is located in the hills to the South of Keelford, and is accessible via a road that winds up the steep hill, and a bridge across the valley between the city and castle.

Purpose / Function

Most of Keelford castle was built primarily to defend it's namesake city-an important role given the city's status as a trading hub. However, the outpost that previously existed on the site was built as a defence against smugglers seeking to illegally sell exotic goods from The Kingdom of Ereriast in the south, as well as to repel small scale pirate raids on fishing villages on the coast.

History

As mentioned above, the castle originally served as a small watchtower, part of which still remains intact (although heavily changed with extra defensive features, height, etc.) as the castle's bakehouse tower. This name originated from the first great alteration to the castle, when a local baroness decided to build her home next to the existing defences of the tower, overlooking the then small town of The City of Keelford. She ordered the creation of a great hall and private chambers next to the tower, surrounded by a small stone wall. Attached to the tower, a small bakehouse and kitchen was built to feed the Baroness' family, and the tower became known as the bakehouse tower. Many years later, with The Kingdom of Archaria's focus on affairs in the North, the South boarder, Archaria's soft underbelly, was frequently attacked by marauding goblins from the mountains. Fearing that these attacks may reach further inland, the local baron petitioned the king that he may further fortify his manor, to defend himself and the rapidly growing town of Keelford, to which the king agreed. However, rather than simply adding crenulations to the walls of the manor like his licence allowed, the baron added height to the existing walls, and built 4 more towers and a set of walls to encompass a second bailey. Lastly, he fortified the hall itself, converting it into a small keep. When the King discovered that his instruction had ignored, he was furious, and summoned the baron immediately to his court. However, thanks to influence in court, and the strategic importance of the castle, the King let the baron keep his fortress.

Alternative Names

The Black Guardian

Type

Castle

Parent Location

The City of Keelford

Owner

Lord Malfier, Earl of Keelford

Owning Organization

The Kingdom of Archaria

Characters in Location

• Lord Malfier, Earl of Keelford