Coldhope Keep is the capital of the fiefdom of Coldhope, New Styrllia of the Imperial League. It has a keep located over the town at the highest point of a bluff and it is a five day walk from the edge of the town to the edge of the fiefdom. It flies gold banners. It has been ancestrally owned by Essana Forlo's family for many years.
The Keep was built at least since the First Destruction and is made of white rock and is a tall five-pointed keep with a capper roof that has greened in the years since it has been built, and the windows are made of stained glass. The Keep is surrounded by a stout, thick crenellated wall with its own battlements. A great balcony stretches along the northern wall of the keep, known as the Northwatch, which allows a full view of the landscape and the ability to see an enemy approaching from a long distance. On a clear day, the Tamire could barely be seen on the far side of the Tiderun Strait, and at night the lights of Malton could be seen. The Keep itself was built over older ruins and tunnels that were constructed many thousands of years ago, and the current residence of the Keep bury their dead there.
The cottages of the town are usually thatch-roofed with limestone walls. It has a small marketplace at the foot of a tor with a large statue of a minotaur, with no arms, stands covered in bird dung. There are docks that run out into the water of the Tiderun Strait.
A little less than two leagues to the southwest of the Keep is a magical place called Witch-Fangs that once used to be a place of the hulderfolk. It is a circle of strange stones that is believed to be cursed.
Following the death of Emperor Rekhaz An-Thurn at the hands of Barreth Forlo, Baron of Coldhope, in 424 AC, vengeful minotaurs destroyed both the keep and the settlements of Coldhope. The remains were defaced with graffiti stating regicide and traitor were the reasons for the fall of the fiefdom.
References[]
- Blades of the Tiger, p. 80-84, 172, 181, 246, 265
- Trail of the Black Wyrm, p.210