Fort Elegar
Architecture
Within the walls is Elegar Keep, a tall grey stone structure which could generously be described as functional, though most would just call it plain ugly. A single set of doors leads into this square building, and windows only appear from the 1st storey on up. The keep houses barracks and quarters for the fortess commander. At the bottom of the keep's cellars lies the entrance to the underkeep. The underkeep was originally built by the dwarves during the second age and they have repaired abd expanded it each time they have occupied Elegar. When Fort Elegar doesn't have a dwarven contingent then the underkeep gets used to store additional supplies.
Behind the keep is a wide circular building that was known as Casters Tower. Built of the same solid but unattractive stone used for the keep, this structure contained shrines for various faiths on the ground floor. The upper floors were used to house clerics and the wizards assigned to the fortress. While Fort Elegar was under the control of The Empire the inside of this structure was richly furnished and had a magical library comparable to many large towns in the south.
Under the Empire the remains of the barracks, which had housed soldiers under the Alliance, were puleed down and replaced with numerous houses. Some were allocated to groups of soldiers but others were set aside for the settlers who were lured from the south. In keeping with the usual layout of towns in the south, homes near the gates and walls tended to be of poorer quality than those near the keep.
Defenses
Fort Elegar is build on a hill, though some would describe it as more of a mountain in training. Steep cliffs lead to fortress walls which are pierced by a single gate. The path up to the gate is steep, and in winter the snow and ice make it hazardous to try and pass through the gate, even when it is not defended.
Elegar in the snow by Tanai Cuinsear
History
The Second Age
Constructed in the early years of The Alliance, Fort Elegar was one of several built as a joint venture between the Holy Kingdom of Caresnas , Kingdom of Filishar, Clan Magrannor , and the Ancient Kingdom of the Forest. The fortresses were intended to act as bases for the conquest of the savage lands and the eradication of threats from the north. However the plan didn't receive universal backing as the Empire of Trem and Balri both refused to participate. Led by the Order of the Shield the combined forces of the alliance initially made progress in securing sites for their new bases. Once the area was purged of enemies the dwarves set work constructing this fortress. Though dwarven stone masons were leading the work, the design of the fortress came from Caresnas as they had the most experience in dealing with greenskins outside of the mountains. The work was completed swiftly and in addition to the msin fortress a chain of smaller outpost were constructed to secure the route back to the Barrier Mountains. The fortresses were seen by the greenskins as a direct challenge so the armies of the alliance found themselves unable to mount expeditions as they were forced to withstand siege after siege. The elves and dwarves were reasonably content with this situation as it meant they could bleed their enemies with little cost, and they didn't have to go hunting for groups to attack. The humans and dragonborn were less happy as they came to realise that there would be no victory in their short lifetimes. Decades went by and support for the campaign waned among the short lived. By the time the greenskins had so depleted their numbers that they were forced to stop launching attacks, the four original members of the alliance had withdrawn their support for the campaign. Without the armies of Filisahar and Caresnas there was no way the elves or dwarves could launch an assault to finally remove the greenskins so a new stalemate emerged. With no humans or dragonborn to accomodate the dwarves used the break in the sieges to begin converting Fort Elegar into something more suited to their needs. This proved a wise decision, for while the leaders of Caresnas and Filishar congratulated themselves on reducing costs since the greenskin threat was finished, an astute hobgoblin leader was preparing for a new type of war. Hardug Keeneye had a dangerous combination of brute strength and a cunning mind that was focused entirely on waging war. Under his direction the hobgoblins forcibly stopped their kin from throwing away their lives in attacks on the fortresses and Hardug dispatched half-human spies to the south to learn what they could of how the southerners attacked fortresses. Using this stolen knowledge Hardug trained his Army of Destined Conquest in siege warfare, adapting it to better suit the capabilities of his allies. When Hardug's army attacked it was with a simultaneous strike against all of the fortresses. The western fortresses, which only had token forces left to defend them, were taken in days. Only Fort Elegar, defended by a sizeable dwarven contingent, was able to hold out against the initial assault. Even with a full compliment of well supplied warriors, the fortress could not hold out indefinitely against Hardug's assault. With ogres and trolls able to reload and fire siege weapons far faster than regular humanoids Hardug was able to batter through the outer defences in an incredibly short time. Realising the surface was lost, the dwarves retreated from the human designed defences into underground fortifications. The warleader Hardug had assigned to attack this fortress had been well briefed and knew what to do in this situation. Abandoning the southern siege tactics the hobgoblins resorted to their traditional tactic for attacking dwarves - wear them down with waves of lesser goblinoids, ogres and trolls. Though they suffered tremendous casualties, the goblinoids chipped away at the dwarves' defences. With defeat looking inevitable the garrison was divided in three. One third would remain behind to keep the army above ground occupied. The other two thirds would escape through a hidden tunnel, with one third making a run for the mountains while the final third prepared to intercept any pursuers. Fort Elegar was destroyed and nine tenths of the garrison killed, but some of the runners make it back to warn their kin of the attack. The warning allowed the dwarves of the Magrannor Halls to prepare for the attack and they managed to repel Hardug's forces. Messengers were also sent to Caresnas to warn them of the attack, but it was too late. Hardug had already taken the border passes and was moving his army through the mountains. Fortunately the countries of the Alliance still remembered why they had joined together in the first place, and armies marched from Trem, Flishar, Balri, and the Kingdom of the forest. The mages of the Colleges of Magic also lent their aid and Hardug was killed in firestorm created by the mages. The greenskins were pushed back into the savage lands and the fortresses retaken. The fortresses were rebuilt and new commitments were made on keeping them properly garrisoned. Regular expeditions were also sent out from the fortresses to disrupt any attempts by the hobgoblins to reform their army. Fort Elegar became a popular posting for ambitious soldiers looking to prove themselves, with people from differing lands competing for the honour. With physical and magical defences of the highest calibre Fort Elegar proved nigh on impregnable until the Days of the One. When the lich Oliver ascended to godhood it caused mass panic across the world. Every land recalled any soldiers they stationed elsewhere to try to maintain order, leaving places like Fort Elegar with only a skeleton defence. Recognising their foe's weakness the hobgoblins prepared a new assault, but instead of attacking by force they resorted to guile. Taking advantage of the lack of divine healing, the hobgoblins weakened the remaining defenders by infecting them with a debilitating disease. The hobgoblins were able to enter Fort Elegar without a fight and the architect of this victory, Urgust the Shameless, took it as his new citadel. The renamed Castle Dominant became the centre of Urgust's new Iron Empire. By the time the southern lands had recovered from the Days of the One, the Iron Empire had created their own defences with Castle Dominant at the the centre. The hobgoblins had learned well from their defeats and though the southern lands made some progress they were unable to retake the castle. The castle remained in hobgoblin hands until the return of Crinthal Medelosis who quietly took control of the castle before turning it and it's inhabitants over to his undead army. Following Crinthal's defeat the dwarves moved swiftly to try to retake Fort Elegar ahead of the hobgoblins, but the dark deeds performed there by Crinthal's servants had left their mark. Though the dwarves were able to enter the fortress without resistance, they were unable to remain as they were either driven mad or corrupted by the lost spirits wandering the battlements and corridors and the taint of evil that had seeped into the stones. The hobgoblins fared just as badly when they tried to seize the fort and both sides gave up on retaking Fort Elegar. In the following centuries groups of adventurers, goblins, and orcs tried to claim the fort but they proved no match for the evil infesting it, frequently becoming new additions to the spirits wandering the fort's walls. It took a greater evil, that of Rigel Fearshroud and his coven of night hags, to finally claim the cursed fortress. It took nearly a century for anyone to notice that Fort Elegar had been conquered, giving Rigel ample time to repair it's defences. When Rigel started raiding outposts and settlements on the northern side of the barriers, the long ignored fortress suddenly became the focus of the Alliance's attention. A force of soldiers, mages, and clerics, the like of which hadn't been seen since Crinthal's defeat, was sent against Fort Elegar. After a hard fought battle, and with the fort's defences lying in ruins, Rigel and his coven fled, abandoning their remaining soldiers. The forces of the Alliance were surprised to find that the fort was no longer haunted and the decision was taken to repair the fort rather than razing it to ground (which had been the original plan). The Stonesmiths were brought in from the Magrannor Halls to oversee the repairs to the fortress walls, and in a spirit of cooperation, the clerics of six different faiths worked to create a mystical barrier to ward against unquiet spectres. Thus protected a new garrison was installed in the fortress with orders to hold it against threats both mundane and mystical. While officially still known as Fort Elegar, it's divine protection and the large number of religious orders stationed there led to it becoming known as the fortress of light. The fortress remained in the hands of the alliance until the War of Ascension. While war raged across the world, those stationed at the fortress maintained a neutral stance focusing on continuing the hold the fortress against opportunistic raids. Though the lands that used to supply them cut off their support a sizeable network of villages had grown between the fortress and the mountains. These settlements kept the fortress supplied, though the soldiers were frequently on short rations. When the demon horde swept across the world the fortresses mystical defences were able to hold the demons back for several years, but the lack of supplies and reinforcements took their toll. As the demons' strength grew, the powers of the clerics began to weaken until they could no longer reinforce the barriers. When the demons broke through the fortress' defenders had no strength left to resist and the entire garrison was slaughtered.The Third Age
Following the years of darkness the fortress was ignored for many decades, and it was only when goblin and orc raids from the north became more frequent that any thought was given to retaking it. Clan Magrannor dispatched two cubes to try to reach Fort Elegar but they were unable to fight their way through the orc tribes that infested the area north of the barriers. Rather than risk their own soldiers the dwarves decided to bide their time until the shortlived races, like humans and shifters, had sufficient numbers to form a suitable force. With the founding of The Empire there was finally an organisation capable of supplying the troops necessary to reach Fort Elegar. Directed by the elves the emperor gave command of his army to the dwarves for the assault. The orcs occupying the fortress had made no preparations for a siege, and while the fight to reach the fortress was long and bloody, the broken walls and inadequate provisions made capturing it relatively easy. While the humans were keen to press on further, the dwarves counselled against this as their history had taught them the folly of trying to advance too far. Fort Elegar was rebuilt again with the empire paying the stoneworkers of the Magrannor Halls for their help in the construction. Rather than creating a purely military post, Elegar was turned into a fortified town, with settlers lured north with promises of opportunity or amnesty. The empire also agreed to pay Clan Magrannor for the services of an experienced officer to command the mostly human garrison. This arrangement remained in place for several centuries until the emperor grew tired of the continuing caution of the dwarven commanders. A series of blunders by the human commanders severely weakened the fortresses garrison, and the resurgent hobgoblin forces took the opportunity to capture the fort. The loss of the fortress was a blow to imperial pride and a new army was disptached to recapture it. The hobgoblins proved better at holding the Fort Elegar than the empire and were able to use it as a trap for many years, letting the imperial forces reach the fortress without much resistance before crushing the imperials between the fortress walls and an ambushing force. Eventually the dwarves stepped in to help the imperials avoid the ambush, and together they finally recaptured Fort Elegar. The fortress remained in imperial hands until the second years of darkness when it was once again destroyed by the demon hordes. Expeditions sent out by Clan Magrannor have found that the area near Fort Elegar is swarming with greenskins, and parts of the fortress appear to have been crudely rebuilt.
Alternative Names
Castle Dominant, Fortress of Light, Maddening Walls, Elegar Ruins
Type
Fortress
Parent Location
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