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 called "The Sword". It loomed over the city of 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 dungeon was equipped to hold prisoners, and a huge network of secret tunnels ran under the keep, some of which connected outside of the fortress (according to rumors, one led to the city whereas the other arrived underwater, in the river.

The tunnels, some of which were carved by dwarven hands, hold various rooms such an armory, treasury vaults, and living quarters. They were also used as storage for arrows and siege engine ammunition, with two hand-cranked elevators allowing the soldiers to easily move around whole carts of weapons.

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.
 * Any spies from foreign powers were sent into the keep once they were found out. There, wizards would probe their thought by magical means then subject them to a geas spell, and send them on dangerous missions which benefited the Dale.

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.

In the tunnels under the keep, deep wells and bountiful provisions were kept. There were enough living quarters and provisions down there to sustain the whole population of the city plus several thousands mercenaries through a year-long siege.

In addition, the fortress was protected by powerful magical defenses, preventing anyone from teleportation or scrying inside.

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 the mage Orosul had something to do with the magical defenses surrounding the fortress. It was said that those wards involved a treatment of all interior stone surfaces with a gorgon's blood mixture, and that a very expensive network of shielding spells had to be constantly renewed.

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.

Inhabitants

 * The fortress was manned by three rides of the Archendale Army at all times (180 soldiers).
 * Gordon Stakaria, a Battle-Chaplain of Tempus, occupied the shrine with two lay servants.
 * Several resident wizards provided support to the regular army. Unbeknown to most arkhenfolk, those wizards were members of the Elven Court who decided to stay on Faerûn during the Retreat.