Subject: Castle Hart & the Wars

Hail, and may the Axe grow great!

Below you will find an piece by Eric Boyd regarding Castle Hart. Given the fact that the Veng frontier held so well and that Castle Hart was recognized as the linchpin of its defencse, I personally lean toward treating the earlier information from the "Castles" set as definitive and "Border Watch" as a screw-up in many respects (this wasn't the only problem with it, not by a long shot). Nevertheless, this is a very inventive piece with interesting potential.
I'm trying to get clarification on this matter from Carl Sargent himself, and until then would recommend treating this piece as "variant history" that you can choose whether or not to include in your campaign. Even so, it is a very imaginative and solid variant. I certainly plan to place a castle like this somewhere on the continent, even though it won't be replacing Castle Hart in my campaign.
--Thalion Envinyatar

Castle Hart - After the War <Eric L. Boyd,boyd@eecs.umich.edu>
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	TSR released the Castles boxed set as a supplement to their 2nd Edition
Battlesystem rules. The boxed set included three sample castles - Darkhold
on Toril (Forgotten Realms - Faerun), Drungar on Krynn (Dragonlance -
Taladas), and Hart on Oerth (World of Greyhawk - Flanaess).

	Unfortunately Carl Sargent and the other TSR designers associated with the
"From the Ashes" revival of the World of Greyhawk seemed to have completely
overlooked the existence of this product. The location and description of
Castle Hart does not fit well with the published information on Furyondy in
"WGR4, The Marklands" supplement or, in particular, with the module "WGM1,
Border Watch".

	This brief writeup of Castle Hart's recent history and current status is
an attempt to reconcile the "Hart" supplement with the newer post-Ashes
material. Some changes in the published information are necessary to
integrate this product, as discussed in the text in bracketed regions (i.e.
[...]).


HISTORY:

	Castle Hart was built on the eastern border of Furyondy in the south-
eastern corner of the County of Crystralreach, at the juncture of the Veng
River and its tributary, the Crystal river, by the Knights of Furyondy, one
of three branches of the Order of the Hart. Construction began in 358 CY
and it underwent major expansions in 407 CY, 412 CY, and 522 CY. Castle
Hart served for many decades on the front line of defense against the
Horned Society and as a central meeting place for the Order of the Hart and
the Knights of Furyondy. A partial history of Castle Hart, focusing on its
construction, may be found in the "Hart" supplement of the "Castles" boxed
set, current through the year 579 CY.

	During the construction of Castle Hart, the selected site was found to be
too muddy to support the castle's weight. A wizard was hired to cast
numerous 'transmute mud to rock' spells, but nonetheless the castle sank so
that the  Veng and Crystal rivers lapped against the walls. The wizard was
employed again to cast additional spells, and the castle stopped sinking.
Although the castle was secure, the rock beneath did not extend deep into
the earth, a fact that  was later to prove the castle's undoing.

	In 579 CY, Castle Hart was governed by Count Gladwell Solan, High
Commander of the Knights of Furyondy (LG hm Pa11). Garrison strength stood
at 800 cavalrymen (hm F2), 180 squires (hm F5), and 20 Knights of Furyondy
(hm F5+). This force was supplemented by over 40 priests, predominantly
those serving St. Cuthbert. Over 1000 servants, family members, and other
non-combatants also resided within the tower walls. An additional 2000
citizens of Furyondy resided in the small town of Port Valour located
immediately across the Crystal River from Castle Hart.

	[According to "Hart", Castle Hart was garrisoned by more than 1,000
cavalrymen of which two hundred were elite Knights of Furyondy. Given that
the original "World of Greyhawk" boxed set lists the total strength of this
branch at 200 Knights, this figure is too high. A more realistic revision
is that 20 of the cavalrymen were members of the elite Knights. Another 180
served as squires and personal retainers to the elite Knights.]

	[According to "The Marklands," most Knights of Furyondy are powerful as
landowners whose holdings are scattered throughout the Kingdom, maintainers
of armies, and defenders of the land. It would seem reasonable that few
chose to serve directly as a company under the Order's High Commander.]

	Although the High Commander is the titular leader of the Knights of
Furyondy, in practice he has little authority outside of running Castle
Hart, presiding over gatherings of the Knights, and providing
well-respected counsel as a senior Knight.

	[According to "The Marklands," the Order of the Hart has no formal
leaders, calling into question the existence of a 'High Commander.']
	
	Before the war, Castle Hart served as one of Furyondy's major defensive
strongholds against the Horned Society. All attempts by the Hierarchs and
their hordes to overrun eastern Furyondy were turned back by the forces of
Castle Hart. 


THE GREYHAWK WARS:

 In 578 CY, one of the Dreaded Hierarchs hit upon a plan to eliminate
Castle Hart as factor in Furyondy's fortifications. Some now claim that the
Hierarch was an agent of Iuz who was already preparing for war, but this
has never been proven.

	In 579 CY a team of duergar horgarin was hired to drive a horgar, a fabled
beast of the Underdark, towards the surface to tunnel immediately below
Castle Hart. (The horgar are monstrous beasts ranging from 30' to 100' in
length that have created most of the Underdark tunnel network over
countless eons as they burrow through earth and rock consuming minerals.)
The project was estimated to take five years after which an elite army
could be destroyed in a single blow and eastern Furyondy would be gravely
weakened.

	When the great war broke out in 582 CY, the Hierarchs were quickly 
eliminated by agents of Iuz in a great slaughter during the Blood-Moon
Festival. The forces of Iuz ran through the Bandit Kingdoms and flanked the
Shield Lands which then fell to the Lord of Evil's overwhelming forces. As
Iuz prepared to invade Furyondy, he put into action the Hierarch's plan to
eliminate Castle Hart even though the horgar's work was not complete. 

	The duergar horgarin had forced the horgar to create a vast cavern
immediately below Castle Hart supported by a single vast central pillar.
The hierarch's original plan envisioned progressively narrowing the pillar
until a single well-placed 'disintegrate' spell would cause the cavern to
collapse in a matter of seconds. When Iuz ordered the castle's destruction,
the pillar was still fairly wide. The wizard Vayne of the Greater Boneheart
had to cast a series of 'disintegrate' spells through a specially crafted
crystal ball. As a result, instead of a single catastrophic collapse, the
cavern took several minutes to collapse.

	On the surface the once formidable Castle Hart began to break apart and
sink into the rivers' depths. Many inhabitants of the castle were crushed,
trapped, and drowned as the castle disintegrated, but many more managed to
escape. Across the river the inhabitants of Port Valour had plenty of time
to flee, although with no more than they could carry in their hands, as
their homes slowly slid into the river in a widening circle of destruction.

	When destruction was completely, the ruins of Castle Hart sat in a vast
sinkhole buried under tons of mud. The Veng river had been shifted about
one hundred yards to the west and the Crystal river had been shifted about
fifty yards to the north. Port Valour was washed away, and a large section
of both the southern riverbank of the Crystal river and the western
riverbank of the  Veng river were now partially submerged in a few inches
of muddy water.

	Three quarters of Castle Hart's garrison and other inhabitants had managed
to escape with their lives, armor, weapons, and horses, but little else. A
grimfaced Count Solan refused to grieve and immediately began organizing
the procurement of food, clean water, and temporary defenses. Without his
exceptional leadership, many more people would have died and this crucial
military force would have dissolved into confusion.

	Pleased by the destruction of the castle, but unwilling to challenge the
castle's surviving garrison, Iuz canceled tentative plans for a strike
across the Veng from the former Horned Society lands. This was probably a
tactical error on his part, for Count Solan's surviving forces proved
crucial to Furyondy's victory at the Battle of Critwall Bridge in 583 CY.


CURRENT STATUS:

	Today the lands which surrounded Castle Hart are sparsely settled and
largely overgrown. Although the site is still strategic, the marshy
riverbanks and scattered sinkholes which continue to appear preclude the
building of any new stone fortifications. Most of the former inhabitants of
Port Valour have drifted away, some to the nearby village of Barduk.

	[Barduk is detailed in the module "WGM1, Border Watch". It is located
south of the Crystal river on the western banks of the the Veng river
several miles south of where Port Valour stood. Barduk is guarded by Border
Post Number Four, nicknamed "Fort Critwall," garrisoned by a skeleton troop
of former Shield Landers. Barduk's population swelled during the war, but
has since collapsed due to economic misery, disease, and the death of many
of its inhabitants who served in the armed forces during the war.]

	The castle's former role in the defense of the kingdom is being taken up
by the recently constructed Eyeberen located to the south and east in the
Viscounty of the March. Count Solan died a hero's death during the war from
wounds suffered defeating a fiend summoned by Iuz's priests at the Battle
of Critwall Bridge. The other surviving Knights and cavalrymen have all
been reassigned throughout eastern Furyondy. The position of High Commander
sits empty as the Knights of Furyondy debate proposals for reorganizing the
Order.

	Several expeditions have been mounted by the agents of the King as  well
as Iuz's minions to plunder the ruined castle, but none have returned.
Unbeknownst to either adversary, Castle Hart's defenders have continued
their duties into undeath. Over three hundred haunts stalk the ruins of the
sunken castle. None can rest or leave the castle's walls until they die in
honorable combat while defending Furyondy from invasion. This has meant any
interlopers from the surface have drowned as their magical means of water
breathing expired or were discarded by the restless spirits who possessed
their bodies.

	Of late the haunts have begun to possess scrags, koalinths, and merrow
patrolling the depths of the Veng river in the employ of Iuz who stumbled
into their domain, without immediately killing them as is typical for
creatures of diametrically opposed alignments. To the haunts' twisted
intellects, this further aids in their 'defense' of the castle. A haunt
could be laid to rest by killing its possessed host in melee combat, but
the host must truly die. Hence those haunts possessing regenerating scrags
are unlikely to ever be truly laid to rest as they can not leave the
underwater confines of the castle.

	In a sense, Castle Hart and its undead garrison still serves its former
role defending eastern Furyondy from the hordes of humanoids across the
Veng, However, the castle's role as a symbol of Furyondy's might and its
subsequent destruction has badly sapped the morale of the kingdom's
citizens in the region.


ADVENTURE IDEAS:

	Wandering haunts and possessed aquatic humanoids now guard the treasures
of Castle Hart which could not be saved before the castle sank beneath the
surface. Recovering the large store of coins and magic stored in the Manor
House Treasury (#U11) and the Temple Treasury (#U23) for the crown would
allow defenses in the region to be strengthened significantly. In
particular, it is rumored that Count Solan's magical footman's mace
Evangel, stored in the Count's personal apartments and possessing many of
the powers of a paladin's holy sword, was lost during the destruction of
Castle Hart, as he was not known to use the weapon later during the war.
Count Jakartai or King Belvor IV might sponsor a trusted, powerful
adventuring band to salvage what remains of Castle Hart's wealth and
recover Evangel, a powerful weapon dedicated to St. Cuthbert, if it can be
found.

	[Evangel is detailed in "Hart", p. 40. It is holy mace +5 which acts like
a holy sword in all respects. It is aligned LG, has a 14 intelligence, and
speaks common. It has an ego of 14 and personality score of 28. Evangel is
driven to defeat or slay all chaotic evil creatures. When used specifically
for this purpose it can cast 'fear' (as the spell) for 1d4 rounds in
chaotic evil creatures it hits which fail their save. It can can detect
invisible objects in a 10' radius and cast a 'strength' spell on its
wielder once per day.]

	There are rumors that underwater tunnels connect Castle Hart to a vast
partially submerged cavern network located deep beneath the former lands of
the  Horned Society, although what creatures inhabit such a cavern network
are  unknown. If rumors of the existence of such tunnels come to the
attention of Furyondy's rulers, they might sponsor an investigation by and
adventuring band to determine if Furyondy's defenses are vulnerable, or if
a possible secret invasion route into the heart of Iuz's territory exists
for use during some future resumption of the war.




