Stronghold (Liam's Hold)

The Stronghold was a small keep that once was used as a monastery and a hidden temple of Bhaal, abandoned during the Time of Troubles and later gifted to the Hero of Daggerford in 1372 DR.

"The populace are generally friendly, and adventurers are well received, especially those that contribute something to the community. All in all, you could have ended up inheriting a stronghold in many worse places."

- Astriel Shalyn

Location
The so-called Stronghold was build across the Trade Way from the town of Liam's Hold.

Structure
The keep's structure was roughly a square area of carved stone with tall windowless walls. The monastery appeared more like an imposing stronghold than a religious site that could weather a siege. The main entrance was locked with a singular key, and the door was gated by a large slab of stone, pulled up by a bully mechanism once unlocked. One could access a gorgeous view of the valley from the keep's top. A secret tunnel allowed discrete entry to the agents and monks who inhabited the site, however by 1372 DR it was collapsed and unusable.

Interior
Past the entrance gate laid a huge candle-lit hall. Several monk quarters were adjacent to the main hall as well as a spiral staircase that let up and down. Each level of the staircase housed many old bookshelves and eventually led to the monastery's rooftop. The structure had a deep underground hall used as the temple by the monks and agents of the evil deity - Bhaal. The altar was carved out of single slab of metal with a thin sharp-taloned grasping hand stretching out of the altar, as if an unknown beast was trapped within the shrine.

History
When the monastery was used by a Bhaalist sect, very few outsiders knew of the true nature of the place. Monks were seemingly peaceful and traded with the farmers of Liam's Hold, all while the locals knew better than to pry too closely into the neighbors who paid well for the hamlet's produce.

During the Time of Troubles, when gods walked on Toril, the Bhaalist agents and monks who resided in the temple mysteriously disappeared. The truth of the priests' disappearance was grim indeed. The worshipers were sacrificed in a futile attempt to reach their deity during the time gods walked the Realms.

A bard adventurer from Waterdeep discovered the monastery's dark secret and left the only key to the keep with Mayor Wilsey for safekeeping.

The structure was though to remain abandoned until 1372 DR, when the Mayor offered the Stronghold to a capable adventurer and their companions. The Hero of Daggerford was entrusted with the key to the keep after they investigated a case of disappearing cattle and drove Jethro Munroe and his bandit family away from the peaceful hamlet. Upon unsealing the abandoned temple, it was in a state of disrepair, evidence of a battle long passed, crumbling boulders, damaged walls, old skeletons.

The Hero, the companions, and a Lords' Alliance agent Astriel Shalyn, made home in the old temple while they were investigating the "death" of Duke Pwyll Daggerford and defending the neighboring city of Daggerford from Zhentarim agents and hellish armies of devil Gorgomorz.

Soon after calming the Stronghold, Astriel Shalyn noticed an eery feel of the place, radiating evil from the keep's basement level, where the shrine to Bhaal was hidden. It was said that the Hero ventured into the basement and confronted Xatuum, the undead servant of Bhaal, sealed inside the temple since the Time of Troubles along with a small crowd of Bhaalists, sacrificed to the dark deity.

Inhabitants
The priests of Bhaal who lived in the monastery were returned to semblance of life as yellowed decrepit undead skeletons after sacrificing themselves during the Time of Troubles. The undead creatures were scattered across the basement temple, ready to be reanimated by dark magics and attack any blasphemous this defiling the old temple. The undead were led by Xatuum, an undead gaunt intelligent creature, who venerated his evil god even after death.

Appearances

 * Video Games
 * Neverwinter Nights: Darkness over Daggerford