The GhoulKeep | Gastborg

Gastborg, which was originally known as Jalken Keep, lies on a natural hill rising from the surrounding plains. During the third Orc War the city was besieged by the orcs and burned to the ground by its own commander. Since then the ruins have been avoided by the locals who believe them to be haunted and the keep was given the name Gastborg -- the Ghoul Keep.

History

The construction

The main keep was constructed some 500 years ago by the king as a simple northern border barrier. During this time a town started springing up around the keep to serve the troops with provisions and resources.
After the first 100 years of serving as a simple fort the new king decided to excavate the bedrock beneath the keep and convert the whole thing to a prison which was the primary use for almost 200 years. During this time the Keep and town started gaining a sinister reputation as a den of lawlessness and misery, and a place to avoid.

Arrival of the fifth legion

During the reign of King Theodoric the first the army of Erestea was transformed from a simple peasant mob to a well organized machine centered around professional army legionnaires in a process known as the Great Reformation. During this process the Keep was again repurposed for military use and the newly formed Fifth legion was stationed here.
Instead of improving it, the legion embraced the reputation of their home and set about expanding the Keep and outer defences, in effect creating one of the most formidable, and miserable, military positions in the realm.

The Siege

During the third Orc war the fifth legion was deployed as one of the primary front line fighting forces and the legion commander Lord Saevus became known for his extreme methods and ruthlessness in his field campaign. He commanded his troops to burn and pillage all orcish settlements they encountered. He also committed several massacres of orcish civilians in his devotion to the protection of the Crown.
Among the Orcs the fifth legion became known as the butchers and a symbol of human oppression. For this reason the chieftains gathered together a massive army to drive the fifth out of the Rim mountains. They succeeded and followed the legion all the way back to their home, besieging Jalken keep.
The demand of the Orc army was for Lord Saevus to be handed over to be punished for his crimes, which he naturally refused. When it became clear that rescue would not arrive in time to free the town Saevus gave the order for the legionnaires to line up along the outer wall of the Keep and march towards the keep setting fire to every building as they went.

I will yield my Keep to the fires of Hell before a single of those bastards pass through my gates.

— Lord Saevus

The city today

The city today appears at first glance to be a completely deserted ruin, and this is also what the locals believe it to be. Often howling mournful noises travel across the moors from the citadel and some locals have even claimed to see the silhouette of a man standing upon the tallest battlement at dusk.
The world is a harsh place however and many creatures of all kinds seek places and niches to inhabit so an old ruin as grand as this does not remain empty for long even when the sounds of battle still echo through the streets at night.

Factions

The fifth legion

The fifth legion burned along with their hallowed fortress and their restless spirits still wander the city and man its ramparts. The vast majority of the spirits still believe that the orcish horde is about to arrive at their city, and act as if the order is still at the height of its power. The more powerful spirits in the legion however have kept more of their faculties intact and are perfectly aware of their situation.
Through experimentation using their obedient underlings they have determined that they are unable to leave the city and its surroundings and they have determined that the further they get from the central keep, the more their powers wain. The spirit of Lord Saevus now works tirelessly in order to try to break his confines and be able to roam freely across the world once more with the ultimate goal of regaining a body.

The skull tribe

In the outer town beneath the Keep a group of lizardfolk who call themselves the skull tribe have taken up residence. They are led by a necromancer priest of Wee Jas who is using the towns strong necromantic energies to try to bolster her own powers. She calls herself the Stern lady and surrounds herself with a select few lizardfolk, known as the Death Guard who are chosen through combat trials from the tribe.
The Stern Ladys ultimate goal is to understand what power is trapping the Fifth Legion in the city and preventing them from crossing over to the other side. She wishes to control this power and then be able to wield the Legion as a weapon against the Kingdom. She keeps this ambition secret however, and maintains an uneasy truce with Lord Saevus by pretending to worship him and his spectral warriors.

The Underlings

Beneath the city runs a vast network of dungeons and sewers many of which are flooded and that are now serving as the living space of a growing colony of Kuo Toa. What they call themselves is unknown but the other factions tend to refer to them as the Underlings. They do not often move openly on the surface but despite the best efforts of the Skull Tribe there are many access points in sewergrates and cellars that they use to steal resources from the upper town.
The Underlings have long been simply disorganized thieves and little more than vermin for the other residents but lately they have become increasingly bold and well equipped and there are rumours that something ancient and of great power has arrived the undercity via one of the many underground cavern systems.

Points of interest

The Keep

The Vaults

The Temple of Wee Jas

The Sewers

The Caverns

Type

Military, Base