Sentinelspire (fortress)

The Fortress of Sentinelspire, also known as the Fortress of the Old Man or simply Sentinelspire, was a fortress hidden in the eponymous mountain. Originally Imaskari, a priest of Bhaal had taken up residence there to create an order of assassins.

Description
The Fortress of Sentinelspire was a compound hidden within a deep ravine in the mountain. Some of it was natural, but some of the structure appeared to be cut into the stone. The buildings within were all of a decidedly purple-tinged stone, with outer walls full of odd angles and interlocking designs. A waterfall ran down the side opposite the entrance, feeding dozens of winding waterways. The fortress had slots carved into the corners of some of its rooms, through which air was circulated from portals to the Elemental Planes. This made the fortress remain cool in summer, and warm in winter. They were also a source of water. Statues, some beautiful and some strange, littered the entire fortress, most made of stone, but some out of a silvery metal.

By, almost every building in Sentinelspire had been covered by lush, riotous vegetation, making it tough to see the stone in places, and many kinds of exotic birds were kept in the fortress.

Outer Gate
The outer gate was decorated with a monstrous, leering face, the entrance itself being its jaws, while its blank eyes stared down at those who entered. There were a series of labirynthine tunnels between the Gate and the Gallery of Stone Faces.

Gallery of Stone Faces
The Gallery of Stone Faces was a huge cavern past the tunnels leading to the Outer Gate, bigger than many castles' courtyards, illuminated by thin streams of sunlight falling in from a ceiling far above the ground. Dozens and dozens of statues sat in the Gallery, most of them hideously demonic. Rasping stone sounds were normal there; the Gallery of Stone Faces was warded.

Entrance
The main gate was an arch, with different carvings on each side. One side was all long-haired maidens, and the opposite side was handsome men, whose braids and beards were carved in the style of Imaskar. Each side's outstretched arms both both reached out to the other and bid welcome to those who entered. Thirty paces in, it became too dark to see anything.

Tower of the Sun
The Tower of the Sun was at least high, extending well over the crack of the canyon. Its stone walls appeared as though made of braided stone pillars. By, the stone had been covered in winding vines, flowers, trees, and other greenery, with some of the flowers reaching the size of shields. Though its courtyard was almost impenetrable with overgrowth, its main gate remained bare. People attuned to nature, including Lewan, Berun, and even Sauk could feel it was antinatural.

Alaodin had renovated the tower, placing priceless rugs, tapestries, and furniture on the Tower of the Sun. Chereth's power had instead filled the tower with vines, ivy, old leaves, and moss and lichen so old that some of it had already worked through the floor. The shoots of young trees were visible at points, growing verdant even without any sunlight. The second floor was a series of rooms arranged like the spokes of a wheel. There was a door between the last step of the stairs and the third floor; the greenery grew thicker the higher on the tower, as if it had grown from the top down.

The tower had dozens of rooms, some only small, some others which took up an entire floor, and a warren of cells beneath the tower.

Eye of the Four Winds
The Eye of the Four Winds was named so by the Imaskari, who could see for hundreds of miles from around it. The stairs leading to the roof passed through a stone hallway. The stone tubes that wound their way around the tower connected to the portals beneath the mountain, for comfort. The top of the tower was furnished with braziers and lamps. At each corner of the roof, there was a fountain and great columns of stone. Atop each column was a statue: one was of a woman pouring water from a silver urn, opposite a bearded man on stone waves, water pouring from the tip of each wave. The other two held aloft a stone sun and pounded stone flames over a graven forge. The statues all connected to the same elemental portals that helped mantain the temperature. A stone table lay near the northern ledge. By, the Eye of the Four Winds was overgrown with vegetation, visible from the ground.

Star Fountain
The Star Fountain was named after the star blossoms that often dropped their petals on the fountain. The assassin Valmir liked to loiter near it, or practice magic. Though the fortress had became overgrown by, the oak by the fountain was old.

Garden of Winged Steeds
The Garden of Winged Steeds lay between the Dome of Fire and Murin's Tower, where Lewan was hosted. The Garden had a great statue at its middle, representing a rearing stallion whose mane flowed back over spread eagle wings. There were smaller statues around it, all of them of winged horses, both lining the paths or sitting upon pedestals. There was a fountain on the garden, and by, an oak tree. One of the exits was a stone arch, covered in mistletoe by that same year. On the night of Tarsakh 19 of, several blades loyal to the Old Man of the Mountain were slain while on a vigil at the Garden of Winged Steeds.

Dome of Fire
The Dome of Fire was visible from Murin's Tower. It was a great domed building, ringed by stone chimneys. A narrow stairway dropped into the earth, leading under the dome itself, doubling back over itself three times, to an extremely dark hallway. A crystal on the right side of the wall controlled magical flame slots, no thicker than a thumbnail, lining the wide hallway.

The hallway was lined by several doors on each end. As of Tarsakh 20 in, the first door on the right was emanating a stink of charnel and rot; there were two more doors on the left and one on the right. The second door had a mild sniffling sound coming from within. After a curve to the right, the hallway had a set of stairs leading further down on a passageway. The hallway itself terminated on the iron-latched, noiseless-hinged doors to Talieth's private study.

Talieth's private study was a room larger than most houses, though squat and low-roofed. Its walls alternated shelves of scrolls and books with drapes. The room was furnished with soft couches, rugs, and a plain table with four chairs at the midst. A hearth at the far wall held a brazier for incense.

Erinev's Watch
As of Tarsakh of, Sauk had taken up his personal quarters here. He mostly used the squat tower, almost opposite the entrance, to keep his possessions; he preferred the wild for actually resting in.

Arantar's Rest
As of Tarsakh of, Talieth, the Lady of the Fortress, had taken up her personal quarters here. The tower was close to the Dome of Fire. Talieth's quarters were a series of opulent rooms on the upper floors; she had her bedroom, and a meeting room amongst her quarters.

Murin's Tower
During his time as a guest in the fortress, the novice druid Lewan was hosted here. The doors had an iron crossbar and a lock on the inside. The tower was studded with balconies; on the inside, the rooms were connected with winding, round hallways, with floors made of black, reflective tiles.

Other Buildings
A building that had been used for prisoners in was overgrown and roofless by, with trees growing inside, the smallest of which was taller than its three surviving walls.

Activities
During the 14 century DR, the Old Man of the Mountain, Alaodin, ran an order of assassins that operated throughout the continent, killing for profit and to spread the worship of Bhaal. Upon Bhaal's death, he adjusted to the loss of his assassins' supernatural patronage and empowerment by including wizards and priests in his ranks. He also sought an edge through other means, amassing quite the collection of relics, trinkets, and artifacts. Though Sentinelspire came under new management on 1369 DR, the activities continued until 1374, when almost the entire order of assassins inside was slain by killoren and infighting.

History
Though per some sources the creator of the fortress and its complex was Alaodin, the fortress hailed from the times of Imaskar, being a testament to their ingenuity and planar elemental magic.

On, the druid Chereth slew Alaodin, the King of Killers, and became the new Old Man of the Mountain. He soon acquired the fealty of the order of assassins that resided in the tower, and set about a plan of his own to trigger a supervolcanic eruption in the mountain beneath the fortress. While under his influence the fortress slowly became more and more overgrown, with the Tower of the Sun and the Eye of the Four Winds becoming especially egregious examples: the latter even had a full-sized oak growing out of it. Chereth was slain on, Tarsakh 25; the killoren minions he had been gathering to himself slew all but a handful of the assassins.

Inhabitants

 * Alaodin
 * Chereth
 * Kheil
 * Sauk
 * Talieth
 * Ulaan

Appearances

 * Novels
 * Sentinelspire