Tag: picket-fort
Arvban Keep (picket keep ruins)
Posted on February 6, 2025 in Steel-Realms
Arvban Keep – Picket Keep of the Riverdans was a high foothills keep that was once used as a base of operations for patrolling the Mistveil Hills in the east of the Riverdan of Bondeu when the Orrish incursions were bad 800 years ago. It was sacked by the Orrish, re-taken, and sacked at least twice more. There is nearly nothing left of it now, and it is too isolated and the Riverdan of Bondeu too poor to maintain it.
Little is remembered about this specific fort – it had only military significance (like most of its kind), it was not large, and it was used for defense against the Orrish only. The entire upper story is gone. There are just broken ruins of the main floor from the last reports a hundred years ago. It is assumed that there is an underkeep, but no maps exist of it. There was a water source nearby (obviously), and a stream flowed below the crags it sat on. Rumors say it was named for Lady Celia Arvban, niece of one of the Burren family rulers of Bondeu – but there is no known significance to that.
It was once one of the Picket Keeps of the Heartlands, and nearly all in the Riverdans are in ruins and uninhabited.
The Approach Road
Its almost 6 miles long, switchback and crumbling in parts. On the final approach, there is a whole section washed out.
Upper Keep
The area has no doors and a few holes in full walls. In some places debris provides minor cover at best and slows movement. There are no light sources, artwork, engravings, etc.
Ravine
The sun rarely gets into the full depths of the ravine on the south side of the ruined keep. Coming out of the ground is a stream, that leads east and goes into the rocks again. There is an obvious drainage path of other run-off when it rains going into the ravine and merging with this flow – though it is but a trickle now.
Adventures Related To/In This Locale
Spakaya – The Dog Fort (picket keep ruins)
Posted on February 6, 2025 in Steel-Realms
Spakaya was one of the Picket Keeps of the Heartlands, for monitoring Orrish incursions deep into the lands of light in the Riverdans of Grand Duchy of Dunstrand. It overlooks the Dovender Valley in the Hawktail Hills where the Riverdans of Tufflim and Pelmon meet. Its name comes from its association with a kennel of wolf-dogs that were said to be able to ferret out and track Orrish unerringly for leagues in every direction. Like many of its kind, it was abandoned hundreds of years ago.
Encounters Note: THIS DOES NOT SHARE THE COMMON ENCOUNTERS FOR Places on the Maithean Plateau.
Hard Difficulty History: Riverdans (History of Dovender Valley and The Dog Fort)
Current State: The fort is long abandoned, filled with debris and overgrown.
The Keep at a Distance
The escarpment on which the ruins sit is obvious. It commands a view north of the entire Dovender Valley, and the plain below. To the east it can see for leagues as well, jutting just barely above hills running in the direction. It once had a tower, but only its torn and crumbled base can be seen.
Reaching the Courtyard: There is no longer much of a road, but its obvious there once was one.
The Old Approach Road
Although there is evidence there was once a secondary road that ran up to the ruins, there’s nothing to see now. Erosion and time have weathered it away. You are not sure of the route it would take (east side or west). It seems too much scouring has taken place…
The old road markers for the approach road that led up the east slope can be searched for. After being found, they would have to be excavated and cleaned to read whats on them. Its nothing important, other than the fort name.
Druidsign on a marker for the “safe” > [i] DC 15 Intelligence (divine phenom)
Upper Keep
The area has no doors and a few holes in full walls. In some places debris provides minor cover at best and slows movement. There are no light sources, artwork, engravings, etc.
Spakaya – The Dog Fort of the Riverdans