Swordpoint

Swordpoint was a large, intimidating stone fortress that served as home for the Archenriders under the command of the Red Sword. It was also the building from which the Swords of Archendale presided over and led Archendale as a whole.

Location
This old, dense stone keep was located on a rocky outcropping that loomed over the city Archenbridge, and its main routes of entry, the West Road, Dawnpost, and River Arkhen.



Structure
Swordpoint featured massive, dense stone walls that had crumbled in many places since its construction. Despite its wear over time, it was heavily equipped with catapults and ballistae (over a dozen of each). Swordpoint was known to be one of the strongest fortress in all the Dalelands.

The center courtyard of the fortress hosted a shrine dedicated to Tempus&mdash;the Shrine of Swords&mdash; which contributed to keeping high the morale of the soldiers.

The dungeons were equipped to hold prisoners, and some secret tunnels known by the inhabitants connected outside of the fortress.

Atmosphere
Ridesmen manning the fortress were both highly trained and extremely wary of strangers. Their xenophobic attitude bordered on paranoia, seeing any stranger as a spy. Merchants trying to sell wares at the fortress only found closed doors, any large armed band approaching the fortress put the inhabitants on high alert, and whimsical or pranksome activities were met with little tolerance.

As a rule, the fortress was closed to outlanders. The only exception was made for pilgrims visiting the shrine of Tempus, who had to surrender their weapons and make a substantial donation to the shrine to prove their faith. Those visitors were escorted at all times, and had no leisure to look around.

Activities
The fortress contained the main armory of Archendale, as well as a war forge.

Defenses
Many siege weapons were mounted on carts, and protected the fortress behind a sturdy palisade closed by massive metal-plated gates.

The Archendale army reinforced the original wooden palisade with thick stone walls, and built slate-roofed buildings behind that whose roofs could serve as a platform to wheel the siege weapons behind the parapets. From those platforms, the catapults and ballistae could shoot projectiles far across the city on both banks of the river.

In the courtyard, the Shrine of Swords was flanked by rolling wooden barriers equipped with many crossbows. This contraption allowed a few soldiers to stop an invading army, should the enemy break through the gates.

Behind the shrine, the keep was protected by its own inner moat. The keep was equipped with chutes allowing defenders to fill the moat with flaming oil, keeping assailants at bay.

History
The keep of Swordpoint was originally constructed in the 9 century DR by the robber baron Sangalor the Crag, when the Arkhen Ford was still the only way to cross the River Arkhen in the area.

The keep was abandoned circa 1100 DR, after Naiden Stonewright built a bridge across the river. It was rebuilt and reinforced after the Sessrendale War of the, when Archendale decided to maintain a stronger army.

Magical defenses
Some said that Swordpoint was protected by magical defenses, and that the mage Orosul had something to do with it.

Shared donations
Donations made by pilgrims visiting the shrine were shared equally between the church of Tempus and the ridesmen. Anyone bold enough to reveal this arrangement was instantly and forcefully ejected from the place.