Spellgard

Formerly known as Saharelgard, Spellgard is the ruin of an ancient castle complex dating from the Netherese Empire located on a rocky ridge, northeast of Llorkh, where the southern edge of the Fallen Lands meet the eastern edge of the former Anauroch desert.

Spellgard was once ruled by Lady Saharel, a high mage of ancient Netheril. At it's apogee, Saharelgard was a rich storehouse of wealth, mighty magic, as well as luxurious dress, decoration, furnishings, and food. Today it is a ruin, largely stripped of its riches by time, thieves, and abundant mosses, molds, and fungi that grow in its halls. It is a huge place of turrets, towers, crumbling walls, archways, balconies, and mile upon mile of interlinked stairs, galleries, and chambers. A few structures remain largely intact, such as the imposing Scepter Tower, and the Fountain Hall, home to a dozen splendid, sculpted waterspouts and plants that grow abundantly under their spray.

Spellgard sits atop its own spring. Ancient spells pump water through hundreds of fountains and pools, and in a one vast cellar room is a large well. The castle halls and chambers are predominantly cool, dim, and damp, ideal for fungal growth . Because of it's water source, until the return of Thultanthar and the regrowth of the Anauroch, Spellgard was a popular destination for the Bedine and other desert folk, and a strategic stopping-place for outsiders about to enter the Anauroch desert.

A little known, one-way magical gate in a cellar-cavern of the High Castle in the High Dale (which pierces the Thunder Peaks to link Cormyr and Sembia, in the Dragonreach lands) leads to a grand inner hall of Spellgard. Anyone taking this magical transport must step out over the reeking cesspool of the High Castle at just the right place, and in just the right direction. A misstep means submersion in the cesspool; the proper step takes the user instantly into a cold, shadowed hall, lit by glowing mosses: Archmitre Hall, in the center of Spellgard.