Graystone Castle
Graystone Castle is a newly renovated fortress located a half-mile from the Town of Farway in the Duchy of Grenwich. The rebuilding was commissioned and paid for by the Duke of Grenwich, Dogar am Lanni, to safeguard and protect the Duchy's western frontier and its access to the only completed road connecting Grenwich to the western regions of the Kingdom of Lesser Imesse.
Built onto a stone outcrop overlooking the high prairies of the Duchy's western frontier, the Castle is considered an innovation in castle design and construction. The Castle is the personal property of the Duke and part of his private estate, but it is directly ruled and administered by the Lord Steward Len Coats.
Purpose / Function
Rebuilt on the foundations of an older abandoned fortress, Graystone is the primary defensive feature of the entire western portion of the Duchy of Grenwich.
Sensory & Appearance
When seen from the outside, Graystone is a formidable and imposing sight. As functional and innovative as it is, it is also a rather luxurious residence of the Duke and his Steward. The Great Hall of Graystone is as renowned for its feasts and comforts as it is for it's formidable strengths and towering walls.
Alterations
Rebuilt on the bones of a long abandoned fortress, only the faces of the outer-most walls and the causeway leading to the gates are original to the structure. All inner walls, towers and the great Keep complex are all newly built according to the latest castle design ideals.
Architecture
Due to the castle being placed on a large outcrop of granite bedrock that stands more than 60' above the prairie plains, the towers of Graystone were able to be constructed in a non-typical square shape. The very hard granite foundation makes any attempt by an attacking enemy to dig under the walls and towers in an effort to destabilize them nearly impossible, so larger and more practicle square towers were built, and only the ancient and now unused outer-most tower foundations are rounded to eliminate corners.
Defenses
Approachable only by a single stone causeway that leads to a winding walled road that takes anyone attempting to enter the castle past nearly every tower on the hills, and thus exposes them to each tower's defenses as the approach is made. Once inside the central castle complex, one is surrounded by crenelated walls and towers that stand more than 50' above the keep's yards. This means that not only the approach road but even the inner castle bailey is a perfect kill zone where every inch of ground is covered by multiple arrow and crossbow vantages.
History
Built on the bones of a fortress destroyed by Benn Ohn more than 225 years earlier and never rebuilt, Graystone was little more than a sheepfold and a convenient quarry for cut stone and brick for centuries prior to Dogar am Lanni becoming the first Duke of Grenwich.
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Castle
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Owner
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