#Rúnach Hold

[thewatchau]

Enchantments and Wards

Most of the lore in the upcoming series will be edited compilations of dozens of posts from the last two years. While there are some minor new details sprinkled throughout, I’ve attempted to post significant new information in a “Watch AU Fun Fact” post so you don’t have to read all of these HUGE posts to find them.

Other Posts in this Series:

How Magic Works in The Watch AU • Souls: Magic’s Origin, or Vice Versa? • Becoming a Mage: Ranks and Unlocking Magic • Becoming a Mage: Magical Focuses • Magic in Nature •  Fae Folk and the Fae Realm •   Magical Fields of Study • Enchantments and Wards • Magical Records • Scrying Magic and Enchantments • Shapeshifting Enchantments •  Healing Magic and Enchantments   • Animal Communication Magic • Translation Magic • Alchemy • 

In This Post:

The Definition of Enchantments and what distinguishes them from other forms of magic.

The factors behind the Wear and Tear of enchantments, including time, complexity, distance from the caster, magical interference, and death of the caster. 

Common Enchantments, feat. Wards, Familiar “Summoning” Enchantments, Shapeshifting, Size Expansion, Clothing Alterations, Healing Enchantments, Accessibility Enchantments, and Scrying Enchantments.

A fun (and NEW) bit of Trivia playing off how easy it might be to mix up enchantment and non-enchantment variations of certain disciplines. 

Definition

An “enchantment” is considered to be a spell that uses the magic of the caster to temporarily imbue an item with energy that gives it an unnatural effect upon itself, others, or its surroundings.

Due to the laws of magic, which state that unique forms of magic cannot, will not, and should not be mixed together, you can only have one enchantment on an item at any given time. 

Wards are considered to be enchantments, but not all enchantments are wards.

Wear and Tear

All enchantments will wear off over time as the magic returns to the soul of the caster, bringing the energy fueling the effect with it. Since the magic will be slowly returning back to the soul of the caster, the enchantment will fade over time and need to be re-cast on a consistent basis.

Note that, if you use your magic to perform an action, then the results of the action will still be there when your magic returns to you. For example, if you enchanted knitting needles to knit scarves for you, the needles would start to stop knitting once your magic began to return to your soul, but you'd still have the scarves they did make before stopping. 

How often an enchantment needs to be replaced depends on how far the magic would need to travel to return to their soul of origin. Energy has to travel over space, the same as anything else, and magic will begin to return to their soul earlier if they sense it is further away, just as you might leave home earlier if you have to travel further than usual to get to work. Therefore, the farther away the caster is from the enchantment, the faster the enchantment will wear off.   

As a result, it’s good practice to have your local source of enchantments and wards travel with you or live nearby. Locations with magical defenses will have mages on staff specifically for their regular upkeep. 

In addition, enchantments (including wards) will react to magical collisions. This will cause some minor concussive damage to the enchanted person or object, and will cause some of the enchantment to shear off as it attempts to avoid the other magic. This magic will immediately return to their soul of origin, requiring enchantments under constant magical stress to be re-cast with more frequency.

Death of the Caster

Normally, magic wearing off looks/feels like watching food coloring slowly sink to the bottom of a glass of water. It's gradual, and some bits seem to hang on a bit longer than others, but eventually it all trails away together. However, if the mage who cast the enchantment dies, the enchantment will wear off INSTANTLY.

As we know from instances of soul preservation, when a soul is no longer connected to a physical body, any magic cast by that soul has no "container" to return to, and simply dissipates as ambient magical energy, just like the soul would do if it wasn't trapped in a mummified corpse. Therefore, it stands to reason that any magical energy which had been cast by the mage before death would immediately dissipate after death.

Imagine a fishing pole. A fishing pole is made of two things: the line and the rod. When working properly, you can use the rod to cast out some of the line and then reel it back in. However, if the pole catastrophically breaks while some of the line has been cast, a) you won't be able to reel that line back in and b) the line might continue to unreel itself and float away. 

Magic wearing off due to the death of the caster looks/feels like watching a video of someone being spritzed with a hose but in reverse. One minute, there's water, the next it's just GONE, like whatever ties that were holding it to the form of the enchantment had suddenly released them and they are OUT. Like pollen on a dark shirt, getting hit by a high pressure air blower or something. I feel like there's a better metaphor here to compare this too, but I can't seem to think of one. 

All of this has fantastic angst potential if you think about it: Imagine if you travel with the mage who casts your wards so that they don't wear off as much, and they just cast one that morning that probably won't wear off for a week at least, and then suddenly in the middle of a battle, the ward goes down and your heart drops because you know and it's already too late.

Common Enchantments

The following is a list of the specific enchantments that have been discussed in the context of this world. While countless other enchantments exist, these are a few of the most common. 

Wards

Wards are arguably the most common form of enchantment, to the point where there is a whole separate field of magical study within the Mages' Guild to study them separate from enchantments. Wards are enchantments specifically intended to counter the effects of someone else’s magic. This includes spells that protect or hide the target from magical forces, but NOT spells that protect or hide the target from physical forces.

Familiar “Summoning” Enchantments

Items can be enchanted to send a specific message to a familiar when activated. The most common items used for this are jewelry, but it could technically be anything. They are normally enchanted by mages with a focus that allows them to communicate with animals, though mages with other focuses can often do something similar. 

Usually, these items are enchanted with a message that “summons” the familiar. While this doesn’t actually cause the animal to appear out of thin air, they will make a beeline towards you the second they hear the magical call. Kinda like whistling for your horse in video games, but without any range limitations. Alternatively, they could be enchanted to say whatever you want, from “I love you” to “Help” or anything you can think of. 

Unfortunately, it's impossible to use this enchantment to communicate with a being with a soul, due to the individual magic within a soul repelling the magical message from the enchantment. 

Shapeshifting 

Shapeshifting Magic is such a complex type of enchantment that it will require its own dedicated post. 

Size Expansion 

One of the most useful enchantments that’s in high demand is a “bigger-on-the-inside” enchantment. Technically, this is a type of Shapeshifting Enchantment, but its usage is so common, it should be mentioned separately. 

As the description implies, this enchantment gives the target more internal space without changing the original size or weight of the container. Unsurprisingly, this enchantment is insanely useful, especially to messengers.

However, like any enchantment, it has its limits. Most notably, the greater the effect that the enchantment has, the faster it will wear off. This means that increasing the size of building interiors or creating room-sized spaces within small objects is extremely ill-advised. Anything within the space when the enchantment wears off will react… well, about how you’d expect. Best case scenario, your belongings are strewn everywhere and the container looks like a popped balloon. Worst case scenario… well, let’s just hope no one was inside. 

For this reason, spaces made to contain living things (carts, buildings, cages, etc.) are rarely enchanted to be more than 25% larger than their original size. At most, a small amount of space is added to make the occupants more comfortable. Owners of such spaces are advised to never overfill the space with cargo or furniture. That way, if the enchantment wears off unexpectedly, the occupants will only find themselves somewhat uncomfortably squished. This is also less likely to happen, as less dramatic size changes will take far longer to wear off. 

Clothing Alterations 

Despite the wide availability of plant-based dyes in Duil fashion norms, many people choose to add colors or decorations to their attire with magic. Enchantments aren’t very practical for your everyday clothing, since the effect would eventually wear off, especially if you take the article of clothing somewhere further away from the mage who cast the enchantment. However, for special events like weddings, hiring a mage to enchant colors and decorations onto your clothing is often more affordable than getting a tailor,  especially if you probably won’t wear the outfit a second time.

Usually, these enchantments are done on the day of the event, which the mage will attend in order to ensure that the enchantments don’t fade too quickly. For simple jobs, some mages will consider the meal they receive at the event as payment enough, while others might ask for additional compensation for the time and effort it took up to cast the enchantment and remain nearby. Even so, it’ll still be far cheaper than buying a fancy outfit you only wear once or twice. 

Healing Enchantments 

Not to be confused with Healing Magic, Healing Enchantments are used to help the body recover on its own from disease or other long-term sources of damage. Due to the complexity of the topic and the connection between these enchantments and their non-enchantment counterparts, both Healing Magic and Healing Enchantments will be covered together in their own dedicated post. 

Accessibility Enchantments 

As one might imagine, there are countless ways to use enchantments to create accessibility options for all sorts of handicaps. 

For example, there’s a specific accessibility enchantment that helps people who have trouble climbing the many, many stairs of Duilintinn's architecture that essentially acts as an escalator. However, instead of moving the stairs, the enchantment lifts and moves the person. It’s the same feeling of standing still yet moving, just with slightly different mechanics. This enchantment has to be regularly re-cast, but it’s still more efficient than trying to enchant all of the stairs; you’d be lucky if an enchantment of that magnitude lasted more than a few hours. Much like how modern buildings are required to have some form of wheelchair access, most public buildings in Duilintinn, including guild hubs and outposts and garrisons of The Watch, employ at least one mage who can cast this enchantment as needed.

Scrying Enchantments

Like Healing Enchantments, scrying can take the form of pure magic or an enchantment. While the former sees a mage simply scrying for information from within the confines of their own mind, the latter has a mage enchant an object with scrying ability, allowing the information to be witnessed by others. However, in all other aspects, these two variations are identical, and thus will be discussed in a separate post. 

Trivia

Many magical disciplines, such as Scrying and Healing, have both enchantment and non-enchantment variations (i.e. Healing Enchantments vs Healing Magic). Depending on the study, the differences between these two fields can be relatively minor (i.e. Scrying) or substancial (i.e. Healing). However, to the ire of those who study these fields, it’s extremely common that the average person will get confused, especially since the term for the non-enchantment variation is usually simply “magic.” This leads to hilarious situations where a mage will angrily correct someone who casually uses the wrong term; for example, a specialist in Healing Enchantments might become irate if someone refers to their abilities as “Healing Magic.” Of course, most people understand that the fault really lies on whoever came up with such a vague name to distinguish the two fields (*cough* oops *cough*), and the entire phenomenon has become something of a cultural inside-joke.  

[theshapeshifter100]

Haneul’s Chaos

(Day 23 of @thewatchau‘s annual prompts! This one isn’t particularly serious, or long)

Gus had a distinctive, braying laugh, which he breathed in too quickly, made him sound a bit like a donkey.

It was unleashed in full force today as he read a report from Haneul. Nothing to do with the Watch, just news from a traveller. Which, once it had been told to one person, the entire Hold had to know.

“You know, I thought someone had let one of the donkey’s loose,” commented a Watcher wandering into common area.

It made Gus laugh harder, adding to the braying as he recovered.

“What’s tickling you Bellows?”

Gus just shoved the piece of paper in the direction of the Watcher, who read it over, and started giggling.

‘After this ‘Heist’ was announced, citizens of Haneul were seen running in all directions, looking for an artefact. Many went into the sewer system, with reports of monsters and an evil cult (currently unfounded).

Others checked the ocean, convinced the artefact was on a deserted island or a pirate ship. These rumours were not helped when a pirate captain; Captain Magnus, was named a Lord.

A few more broke into a prison, some declared that dead men were walking. Some say Lord’s Dark and Wilford were involved, although no one agree on how or why.’

“So,” the new Watcher spoke between giggles. “A bunch of folks from up north, running around, breaking into every place they can think of, to find this one thing?!”

Gus nodded, silently wheezing with laughter from the imagery.

“I’m surprised none of them used the Jim’s tunnels,” the Watcher managed to say dryly, and Gus fell off his chair.

(None of my characters go to Haneul until after Fae Hunt, which I am loathe to put to paper yet

If I remember my dates properly, Oct 1614)

[artbykhuggs]

Folktale Week 2019 I participated in “Folktale Week” over on Instagram for the first time this year and had a blast!

2. Secret - According to Irish folklore, individuals who harbor a distressing secret can sometimes fall ill with Galar Rúnach (Malady of Secrets). In order to become well again, the individual can confide the secret to a willow tree, which holds the secret in it’s bark. This can backfire sometimes though, such in the tale “The King with Horse’s Ears.” In that tale, the willow that holds the secret to the king’s deformity is cut and used to make a harp that sings the truth aloud to a crowd.

[shamrockace]

Gone But Not Forgotten.

This is not a raid fic follow-up piece but is connected to the other non raid related piece; Connor, Missing In Action.

Word Count: 1135

TW: Mentions of death, Metaphorical wounds, Mourning, Implied death, Implied/Referenced Abuse, Panic, Crying, etc.

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 It had been three years.

 Three years since his death.

 Three years since she last saw him.

 Three years since the first and last time she visited his grave.

 Three years.

 Morgana hoped that Connor would forgive them, for not visiting in three years. But neither she nor Róisín could bear to peel back the bandages on the festering wound that was his death. She had run away to join the watch and Róisín had chased after her. In the watch, both had been too busy to truly mourn Connor. Not until now, she supposed.

 The Spewraith children had a habit of avoiding visiting their relatives' graves, clearly.

 It had been three years since either of them had last visited their Mum's grave as well. Not since they relocated her to where she had originally requested she be buried, deep in Western Forest. In a glade, she oft visited when she first immigrated from Fasithe back to her ancestral home of where would become House Marvin. Back before she met their father and moved to House Schneeplestein, with him.

 They would have buried her there first, but their father hated the Western Forest. And so she was first buried by the old willow tree that stood beside their home in House Schneeplestein, against her dying wish.

 Morgana would have visited her more often had it not been such a difficult place to visit, so deep within the Western Forest.

 It had been even longer since anyone visited their father's grave. Morgana couldn't visit their father's grave even if she wanted to, not that she did, as both Connor and Róisín refused to let her go to their father's funeral and never told her where he was buried, due to his treatment of Morgana. She didn't think Róisín or Connor had actually visited the grave since the funeral. Maybe they might've visited his grave if he had kept only accusing her of being cursed, instead of also accusing her of matricide and being a changeling (and therefore not his real daughter) that was there to steal their mother away to the Western Forest. She was pretty sure that both of them liked their father up until he started spouting those accusations.

 Morgana shook her head as her thoughts digressed. She was here to visit Connor today, not contemplate about her parents' and their graves. Although she should probably try and visit her mother's grave soon.

 She walked to the trees near the stables of Rúnach Hold and stared at the little plot of land where Connor had been buried. The only marker that his grave was here, was his first non-training sword stabbed into the ground like a gravestone. The blade was completely rusted over. The small stone carved plaque bearing his name rested against the sword had started to smooth from weathering. Wormwood and Forget-me-nots had begun to cover the ground surrounding the half-buried sword.

 The sight brought tears to her eyes. Careful not to crush any plants, she fell to her knees before the rusted sword.

 Morgana closed her eyes and listened to the world around her. To the faint rustling of the wormwood, forget-me-nots, bushes, and leaves on the trees. To the whistle of the breeze and the birdsong. To the whinnies of the horses. To the distant hubbub of the watchers within the outpost.

 She listened to the sound of Eamon slowly padding over to sit beside her.

 The weight of him beside her both comforted her and made her feel worse. Was he really four years old now? Had he only been a year old when Connor died?

 She clicked her tongue and he climbed on top of her lap. She wrapped her arms around him in a hug as the first tears began to fall.

 It took a minute before her tears dried and Eamon shuffled off her lap to sit next to her again.

 “Thank you.” She whispered, feeling like she had a lump in her throat.

 She opened her eyes and stared at the sword. “I doubt you can hear me, it's been three years. Your soul has probably already been taken by a Fae to the afterlife.”

 She paused to breathe. “I miss you. I'm sorry it's been so long. I'm sorry I never mourned for you properly… I just…” Her words were cut off by a half sob.

 Eamon whined and nudged her hand with his nose.

 She patted him on the head and inhaled deeply. “You probably don't know, since you're dead but Róisín and I went back to Fort Stiofán after you died. I joined the Watch this time. I made two close friends, Anemone and Aiden, and a bunch of other friends. I think you would have really liked those two. They're twins. Anemone's into archery, and Aiden was the one who got me back into horse riding after your death.”

 Morgana tipped her head back and inhaled. “I recently returned back to our home here in House Marvin. Róisín's still at Fort Stiofán. I kinda ran away from her because I was tired of being known as her little sister and I wanted to…”

 She paused. “You'll probably hate what you're about to hear but I want to explore the Western Forest. I want to see all those creatures that mama told me tales and legends about when she had still been alive. I want to meet the nice Fae she always spoke about.”

 Morgana half grimaced. “Y'know, the ones that always made father… The Fae that always made father mad. Although any mention of the Fae made him mad. I suppose that's why he accused me of killing mama and of me being a changeling. So he could rationalise hating me. Well, that's what I think anyway.”

 She idly stroked Eamon's fur, to keep herself grounded. “I want to someday find Fasithe. I want to meet mama's family. I want to see the culture that mama came from. To hear the tales she's told me once again.”

 Morgana frowned. “That's something you, Róisín, and father all have in common. None of you had the same love of the Forest and magic and the Fae as mama and I have. Father hated anything and everything to do with magic and the Fae. You just wanted to run away from our family to go play knights. And Róisín cared more for science than magic…”

 She sighed and stared up at the darkening sky. “I'm sorry. I should probably go now. It's getting late and Aiden and Anemone are waiting for me.”

 She stood up, cast her gaze upon the sword once more and then turned on her heel and walked away from Rúnach Hold with Eamon not far behind her.

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@dumbthinmint

[thewatchau]

Locations of The Watch: Overview

Most of the lore in the upcoming series will be edited compilations of dozens of posts from the last two years. While there are some minor new details sprinkled throughout, I’ve attempted to post significant new information in a “Watch AU Fun Fact” post so you don’t have to read all of these HUGE posts to find them. 

Other Posts in this Series:

Overview • Domhainn Outlook • Iolla Beacon • Guardian Spire • Gáire Roosts • Rúnach Hold • Agrona Bastion • Pa’Gille Caverns • Runners’ Haven • Fort Stiofán  • Fort Conchúr  •

Other Related Series: Membership in The Watch, The Watch Masterlist

In This Post:

A Summary of Garrisons, Outposts, and Mobile Teams in The Watch

The Jurisdiction and responsibilities of each of these locations

An answer to the question “Where would my Watcher be stationed?”

Trivia about emergency plans and furnishings at these locations. 

Summary

Generally, there are three major settings in which a Watcher would work: a Garrison, an Outpost, or a small Mobile Team. 

A Watch Garrison is one of two major settlements of The Watch in Duilintinn, known as Fort Stiofán and Fort Conchúr. They are the two primary hubs of activity and authority within The Watch.

A Watch Outpost is a small settlement under the control of The Watch in Duilintinn. Comparable to a smaller version of a Watch Garrison, these outposts keep the watch against The Enemy threat in the furthest reaches of Duilintinn, connecting the two major garrisons to the entire kingdom with a network of patrols, messengers, researchers, representatives, etc. There are eight outposts: Domhainn Outlook, Iolla Beacon, Pa'Gille Caverns, Agrona Bastion, Rúnach Hold, Gáire Roosts, Guardian Spire, and Runners' Haven.

Mobile Teams are groups of Watchers that consistently work in the field, usually as scouts, border patrols, research parties, or first responders. Just as each outpost reports to a specific garrison of The Watch, every Mobile Team is managed by a specific outpost. Unlike other individual expeditions launched by The Watch, each Mobile Team always consists of the same group of Watchers who have a significant amount of freedom to deploy themselves as they see fit within their assigned region.

Jurisdiction 

Garrisons

Both garrisons are located in such a way that each Noble House has access to one garrison along their borders. To the north is Fort Stiofán, the garrison that borders House Brody, House Schneeplestein, and the capital city of Cordoire. To the south is Fort Conchúr, which borders House Marvin, House Jackie, and House Jameson. These two garrisons coordinate to run the entire Watch as a cohesive unit. 

Interestingly, this method of coordinating their actions has effectively caused The Watch to divide the kingdom into two halves, between Houses Schneeplestein and Brody and Houses Marvin, Jackie, and Jameson. Thankfully, there is very little perceivable difference between the part of the kingdom protected by Fort Stiofán and that protected by Fort Conchúr thanks to an extremely efficient network of messengers between the two major garrisons and their outposts. In the past, some have wondered if the closer proximity of House Schneeplestein and House Brody to the castle might be a reason why The Watch has gathered more information about the lords of these two houses than any of the other missing lords, but in the last few years, this no longer seems to be the case.

While the management of Mobile Teams is mostly the responsibility of the Outposts, the garrisons are responsible for a few specific teams, such as those that patrol the capital city of Cordoire and the king's castle within. They may also deploy teams of Watchers on single-instance expeditions as part of their preexisting roles, which, while similar, aren’t technically considered to be Mobile Teams. 

Outposts

Each outpost reports to a specific garrison, resulting in two groups of four outposts:

Domhainn Outlook Outpost, Iolla Beacon Outpost, Pa'Gille Caverns Outpost, and Agrona Bastion Outpost all report to Fort Stiofán. 

Rúnach Hold Outpost, Gáire Roosts Outpost, Guardian Spire Outpost, and Runners' Haven Outpost all report to Fort Conchúr. 

However, in the case of Runners' Haven, this is only in regards to logistical authority; this outpost reports information to both Watch Garrisons equally. 

Mobile Teams

In turn, each Outpost of The Watch is responsible for deploying Mobile Teams to specific portions of Duilintinn.

While these teams are at liberty to spend more or less time along a specific section of their route to investigate or stand guard as they see fit, they must remain within their segment of the border. This is because, in order for the outposts to accurately ration and provide the necessary resources to each group, each outpost is carefully equipped to provide for the environments and challenges faced by their own region of the kingdom. Exceptions might be made in emergency situations on a case-by-case basis, but in general, veering too far from your designated area is ill-advised. 

For example, imagine if a scouting party of Watchers from the Northern Mountains attempted to resupply at an outpost closer to the Western Forest. Instead of the warm clothing and blankets needed for the rocky northern heights, the outpost would only be able to provide the thin green garments appropriate for forest scouts.

In addition, Mobile Teams are not always able to contact their superiors about their movements. Since these groups are given tremendous leeway regarding what actions to take based on their discoveries, confining specific teams to a specific area prevents anyone from accidentally leaving sections of the kingdom unwatched and unprotected. This is especially important for border patrols, which are our first line of defense against The Enemy’s raids. 

When reporting back to The Watch, most Mobile Teams will return back to their designated outpost at regular intervals to relay any information they find, knowing that messengers within the outpost will take care of spreading the word to the rest of The Watch. However, in especially dire situations (such as a raid) a single member of a Mobile Team may ride out alone to alert The Watch as quickly as possible. 

Generally, Mobile Teams of Watchers will only stay at an outpost or garrison in order to rest and resupply before returning to the field. While they are still paid during this furlough period, this consistent return to the field is what distinguishes a Mobile Team from a simple one-off expedition. 

“Where would my Watcher be stationed?”

Where a specific Watcher works within The Watch depends on a wide variety of factors, including regional location, role, and housing preferences. 

Location

Regarding location, most Watchers would prefer to work within their chosen Noble House.  After all, Duil citizens are encouraged to pick a Noble House because they feel most comfortable in the culture there, so most Watchers would probably want to stay nearby! However, this is not a universal rule. Some Watchers might request to be in a garrison or outpost further from home if you want to travel or test the waters regarding a potential House Switch. In fact, many young people join The Watch as a way to experience the cultures of several Noble Houses before making their first House Switch!

Role

Additionally, some Watchers may need to work at a specific location in order to pursue their role within The Watch. Each outpost and garrison has its own unique niche, from the research opportunities within the Western Forest for Watchers at the Gáire Roosts Outpost to the intense maritime skills needed at Iolla Beacon. Others may request to move to a new location in order to follow the action as new developments arise in The Watch. Meanwhile, while Mobile Teams of Watchers are limited to a specific region of the kingdom, their very nature means that they are constantly packing up their tents and moving from place to place. 

There are also a significant number of “part time” Watchers, who spend part of the year with The Watch and part of the year at home. Watchers with families can bring their children and/or partners with them to their garrison or outpost at their digression (though this isn’t exactly ideal, as will be described shortly), can volunteer at an outpost close to home, or can decide to only volunteer with The Watch for part of the year. The short-term nature of this role may affect where a Watcher decides to stay; for some, they may wish to live closer to home for ease of commute, while for others, they may feel more comfortable traveling further, knowing that they’ll return back to their Noble House for a significant portion of the year. 

Housing Preferences

Finally, housing preferences will affect where a Watcher decides to work. Mobile Teams of Watchers will live in tents for most of their time working in The Watch, while those who live in a garrison or outpost full-time would stay in the living quarters built for those locations. 

However, unless a Watcher has a job in which they have to stay at their post full-time (of which the only ones that come to mind are Raven Masters and members of Mobile Teams), most Watchers prefer to commute between their preexisting place of residence and their post in The Watch, rather than live at the garrisons or outposts themselves. 

The reasons for this are pretty straightforward. First of all, the living quarters of these places are NOT built with families in mind. Like, at alllllll. They’re either too small or too communal for anything remotely resembling family living. Even without kids, a couple would have trouble making it work in most of the garrisons or outposts unless they were okay with sleeping apart and having basically no privacy to speak of. Best case scenario, you’d get one of the double rooms in Fort Stiofán that has two beds instead of a window, but even then... look, those combined chest-mattress beds are not wide enough for two people to share comfortably, and the wooden partitions between the living quarters in Fort Stiofán are definitely not soundproof. I’ll leave it at that. 

So immediately, the main portion of the population who can feasibly stay in the garrisons or outposts full-time without making some significant lifestyle sacrifices are single folks. And even then, not everyone is willing to live full-time in that sort of environment. Unless you’re really dedicated to the job or like being in the garrison or outpost 24/7 enough to put up with the cramped quarters, most people would definitely prefer to commute. That’s one of the reasons why there are lots of towns in the areas around most of the garrisons and outposts. 

However, all of those empty rooms are definitely still needed. In times of crisis or intense suspense, many Watchers will opt to stay overnight for several days, weeks, or even months until they are sure that the main threat has passed, rather than waste time traveling back and forth. Others will cycle between staying in a garrison/outpost and staying somewhere of their own over the course of the year. It just depends on the person.  

One final note: yes, a large percentage of the Watchers that we have created for this AU are stationed full-time in a garrison or outpost, but you have to remember; The Watch consists of thousands of people. The handful of characters that we have created reflect only a fraction of that total population, so I don’t want you to think it’s unrealistic to make multiple Watchers living in a garrison/outpost based on the statistical sample size or whatever. :)

Trivia

Emergency Plans

In the case of a true emergency, you're never going to be outright fleeing on horseback. It's disorganized, clearly telegraphs where you're going, and only delays the inevitable. If there comes a time where the situation is so dire that the watch has to abandon a garrison or outpost (which would have to be very dire; there are few places in Duilintinn better prepared for a siege or attack and we would lose so much intel and records and supplies to The Enemy) it would be better to sneak the noncombatant Watchers out somehow. Again, a situation that dire... it will be a win or die situation. The combatant watchers are probably going to stand their ground until the last man unless there is some way we could manage a retreat without leaving the noncombatants open to be slaughtered or simply postponing the battle to another day and place.

There is a slight chance that, if an outpost was attacked, the Watchers might be able to flee on horseback and fall back to a garrison successfully. However, there would still be thousands of civilians left in between The Enemy and the garrison, so this is hardly an ideal option. 

Default Furnishings

All Watch outposts and garrisons all feature the same dark brown wood in most of their furnishings and renovations. 

In the three years of preparation between the Watch’s founding and official implementation, ten locations had to undergo various amounts of renovation in order to become garrisons and outposts of The Watch. That amount of construction required a lot of resources, and while Duilitinn has quite a few sources of metal and stone, the same cannot be said for wood. 

In an effort to limit the cost of importing the significant amounts of lumber necessary to complete these projects, Duilintinn struck a trade deal with the lumber industry of Lantraeth, allowing Duilintinn to import the wood at a reduced price, on the condition that all of the wood they use for the Watch projects would be bought from that specific nation. This gave the other nation a consistent and significant source of revenue for three years, while Duilintinn benefited from the discount. 

As a result, no matter what garrison or outpost you visit, you’ll see the same type of wood featured amidst the original architecture. For Watchers who transfer between different outposts and/or garrisons, seeing the instantly recognizable color of Lantraeth’s unique dark brown spruce wood makes the new location feel just as much like “home” as their previous post in The Watch. 

Note that, irl, I’m pretty sure there’s no spruce wood that’s naturally a dark brown color. However, this is my world, so I say that there’s a special variety of spruce in northern Tirónar that has a color similar to walnut wood (see below).

[thewatchau]

Locations of The Watch: Rúnach Hold

Most of the lore in the upcoming series will be edited compilations of dozens of posts from the last two years. While there are some minor new details sprinkled throughout, I’ve attempted to post significant new information in a “Watch AU Fun Fact” post so you don’t have to read all of these HUGE posts to find them.

Other Posts in this Series:

Overview • Domhainn Outlook • Iolla Beacon • Guardian Spire • Gáire Roosts • Rúnach Hold • Agrona Bastion • Pa’Gille Caverns • Runners’ Haven • Fort Stiofán  • Fort Conchúr  •

Other Related Series: Membership in The Watch, The Watch Masterlist

Summary

Rúnach Hold Outpost is a Watch Outpost located along the far western border of House Marvin, Duilintinn, within the fringes of the Western Forest and along the banks of the Rúnach River.

Name Origin 

Rúnach Hold is named for the adjacent Rúnach River and its role in holding back any forces of The Enemy that seek to cross into Duilintinn from the Western Forest. Like other Watch Outposts, it is often referred to by the second word of its name, i.e. "The Hold."

History 

Rúnach Hold is an old fortress built during the Interim Years by a bunch of overzealous mages who wanted to explore the mysteries of the Western Forest. Some unknown amount of time later, they vanished into the forest, leaving the fortress behind. Rúnach Hold lay unused for nearly a century until it was repaired for The Watch’s use. 

Many Watchers jokingly refer to Rúnach Hold as miniature Fort Stiofán, and with good reason. Both fortresses as we know them today were constructed during the Interim Years and feature a large, boxy main keep with at least one adjacent tower. Unlike the intricate stonework and immediately recognizable aesthetics of peak Feadhainn and Waldren architecture, structures built during the Interim Years were built with more practicality in mind, with spartan facades and minimal embellishment. 

Layout 

All dangers lurking in the Western Forest have to contend with the troops within this heavily fortified outpost along the Rúnach River. The entire structure is one massive barracks, housing over three hundred of the best and bravest fighters in The Watch, all ready for battle and able to defend Duilintinn’s western border at a moment’s notice. Fast, light boats wait along the banks of the river to bring these forces to the south, while steeds from Runners' Haven are stabled along the northern wall to transport reinforcements north. If a foe managed to cripple this outpost, the entire kingdom would be at risk; therefore, all amenities and services are kept within the hold itself, including the training fields (center) and stables (right, partially obscured)- two of the most vital parts of the outpost’s infrastructure. Like all outposts and garrisons, it contains workshops, kitchens, living quarters, bathhouses, a communal place of worship, training grounds, meeting rooms, stables, a rookery, a library, and storage buildings.

Unique Functions 

In addition to performing the standard tasks of every Watch Outpost, Rúnach Hold:

Trains and deploys the best fighters in The Watch in the event of an enemy raid

Researches the foes faced by The Watch and new combat techniques to match them

Maintains border patrols along the Rúnach River

Acts as the primary contact between the government officials and combat-focused mages and inventors of House Marvin and The Watch.

Trivia

Early in the development of this AU, Rúnach Hold was called the Southern Forest Outpost.

The mages that vanished from Rúnach Hold several centuries ago are likely the predecessors to the Inner Mages’ Circle mentioned in this post.  

A Minecraft version of this outpost, much like the models I made of Fort Stiofán and Fort Conchúr, might be in the works ;)

Art

(In order, from most recent to most outdated. If two depictions contradict each other, the topmost one is the most accurate unless otherwise noted.)

One of the original sketches of Rúnach Hold's layout. Size not to scale, but building placement and interior layout remained fairly consistent with its current iteration. In the end, I settled on approx. three floors of living quarters. 

[thewatchau]

Settlements of House Marvin: Forest Ruins

Most of the lore in the upcoming series will be edited compilations of dozens of posts from the last two years. While there are some minor new details sprinkled throughout, I’ve attempted to post significant new information in a “Watch AU Fun Fact” post so you don’t have to read all of these HUGE posts to find them.

Other Posts in this Series:

Minor Settlements of House Marvin: Sallabaile • Kiltieve • Imforis • Glasbaile • Forest Ruins

Posts Related to this Series:

Regional Capital: Monacoil • Watch Locations: Rúnach Hold Outpost

Related Series: House Marvin Masterlist

In This Post:

Summary

History

Trivia

Summary

Ruins of old settlements have been found in the fringes of the Western Forest, all of which are now abandoned. Most, if not all of these abandoned ruins are in the Feadhainn Era style of architecture. 

History

Based on what evidence remains, many of these structures seem to have been abandoned quite suddenly, leaving behind many belongings. It is thanks to these items that we can estimate when these ruins were last lived in, which usually range from sometime during the Waldren Occupation to the late Interim Years. Based on the type of objects, it also seems as if the majority of these ruins were occupied by mages. While it's not clear exactly why most of these ruins were abandoned in such a hurry, their location in the Western Forest presents several unique dangers that would easily lend themselves to an explanation. 

To date, only one of these ruins - Rúnach Hold Outpost - has been renovated for modern day use.

Trivia

These pictures taken by @theshapeshifter100​ in National Trust Stourhead in Wiltshire, England remind me of what truly dilapidated ruins of Feadhainn architecture must look like; not the preserved type we see in Fort Conchúr, Monacoil, or Mulladún, but true ruins. 

[thewatchau]

The Rúnach River

Most of the lore in the upcoming series will be edited compilations of dozens of posts from the last two years. While there are some minor new details sprinkled throughout, I’ve attempted to post significant new information in a “Watch AU Fun Fact” post so you don’t have to read all of these HUGE posts to find them.

Other Posts in this Series:

Major Bodies of Water in Duilintinn: Agrona River • Airceann River • Gáire River • Guardian River • Pa’Gille River • Rúnach River • Loch Glas • Loch Domhainn • Reaper Cove • The Eastern Sea

Other Related Series: Geographic Regions of Duilintinn

In This Post

Summary

Name Origin

Crossings and Travel

Additional Art

Summary

The Rúnach River originates somewhere deep in the Western Forest on the southern slopes of the Northern Mountains. It’s path flows through the forest and into the Draoidh Valley, where it remains on the fringes of the Western Forest in its path to Loch Glas.  

Combined with the western banks of Loch Glas and the Gáir River to the south, the Rúnach River forms part of Duilintinn’s westernmost border, simultaneously marking the western border of House Marvin. 

Name Origin

“Rúnach” has a lot of meanings, from cryptic and mysterious, magical, and even beloved. It makes sense that this was the name given to the river flowing out of the Western Forest long before King Sean's quest to found the kingdom.

Most landmarks in Duilintinn have had several names over the years, but evidence suggests that the Rúnach River has always been called the Rúnach since the Feadhainn Era. Many Feadhainn writings seem to suggest that the Rúnach was a household term throughout the Feadhainn civilization, even in places far from the Western Forest. Feadhainn believed that the Rúncah River was the road upon which magic enters the Mortal Realm from the Fae Realm, which was supposedly located within the Western Forest. 

While this isn’t exactly true, it’s extremely close to the mark. The Western Forest is a Fae Garden, where magic from the Fae Realm leaks into the mortal realm. Though not the Fae Realm itself, strange things do occur deep in the forest, many of which will then float down the river to be discovered by the people living along its banks. It’s no wonder that the Rúnach River, like the Fae Folk, became heavily associated with magic during the Feadhainn Era. 

Crossings and Travel

On the surface level, the Rúnach River is not particularly dangerous or powerful. Its currents are quick, yet gentle enough for boats, and its waters are full of aquatic wildlife. However, few who value their lives in the modern day would dare to approach the Rúnach, much less attempt to cross it. 

The superstitious believe that the river is a magical boundary separating the dangers of the Western Forest from the people living outside of it, and even the most rational of folks would agree that it's dangerous to cross the river and explore the forest beyond. Even if the unpredictable magic of the forest leaves an explorer unscathed, they still must contend with The Enemy’s forces, who lurk deep within the darkness of the forest. 

Of course, there are many who ignore these warnings and live to tell the tale, but that does little to quiet the kingdom-wide unease and/or fascination that surrounds the Rúnach River. Even Watchers, Duilintinn’s foremost experts on The Enemy’s power, are wary to travel on the Rúnach’s current. Rúnach Hold Outpost often deploys fast, light boats to patrol the forest border and transport soldiers south in response to any threats on the fringes of the Western Forest, and few have ever made the journey without encountering at least some sort of danger along the way.

Additional Art

A zoomed-in image of the Rúnach River from the map at the top of the post:

The Rúnach River flowing behind the Rúnach Hold Outpost as it cuts through the Western Forest on its way to Loch Glas. Not to scale.

A bird’s-eye view of Monacoil, with the Rúnach River flowing from the Western Forest into Loch Glas on the far left. Not to scale. 

[theshapeshifter100]

Outpost

(Day 9 of @thewatchau‘s prompts)

The year Hank turned 22 was the year the Watch moved in.

There was an old Mage’s hold, further up the Rúnach river and less than a day’s ride from Imforis. No one really went there, no real need, and there was the old children’s story about the place being haunted.

Imforis was barely a village, definitely bordering on a hamlet. Everyone knew everyone. So when a stream of people came through out of nowhere, it caught attention.

Hank could hear them from his house. He and his mother were drying herbs, when the rumble of carts and chattering of voices could be heard all the way from the road.

He and his mother had shared a look, before Hank left the house and jogged down the track to the road. Well, calling it a road was laughable, just a slightly wider track.

“Hoy, a local!” called one of them, spotting Hank. He was easy to spot, being as tall as he was. “We’re on the right track to the Hold right?”

“Far as I know!” Hank hollered back.

“Great! Some folks be coming by river by the way!”

“Noted, thanks!” Hank paused for a bit, and had peered down at the long train that was slowly walking by. “What are you doing?”

“Fixing up the old Hold for the Watch!”

“That what?” it sounded familiar.

“That Watch! The organisation that’s going to look into the Enemy.”

Oh, yeah. The Enemy, who was currently hiding in the Western Forest right now. The forest they were currently backed onto. Hank didn’t like to think about that too much.

“Is that old place really good for that?!”

“That’s what we’re hoping!” that person had gone too far now to continue talking, and no one picked it up again.

Hank just, watched for a while, as horses pulling carts of stone and wood clopped by, and people carrying tools marched on. They were really going to do this.

Well their problem.

This continued on and off for the next few months, and finally, the rush downed down.

For about a week.

Then began a smaller trickle of people passing through town. Most would just go straight through, some would stop and look.

Most of them weren’t impressed. They’d look around the small market, some of the old buildings that were barely holding together, then look uninterested and leave.

Hank was not a man prone to anger, but every time he saw someone turn their nose at his home, he wanted to punch them. He would fold his arms on his stall selling herbs and feel his fingernails digging into his arms.

Then, again, things started to change. Someone he didn’t know wandered up to his stall, looking nervous.

“Er, hi,” they said, their accent more eastern than western. “Um, do you have a bakery?”

“’course, just down there, turn left. Got a loaf a’ bread sign. Can’t miss it,” Hank pointed them in the right direction, being of a reasonable sort.

“Ah, great! Thanks!” the newcomer grinned and walked off the same way Hank had pointed.

That newcomer kept coming back. Every market day.

“The Hold get’s crowded,” they explained. Frank was their name. “And I’m not a fighting type, just, some miller, you know?”

“What’s a miller doin’ joining the Watch?” Hank leaned on his stall, hands relaxed now.

“An army marches on its stomach my friend,” Frank shrugged. “Hoped to see if any of the bakers here would be willing to help out.”

To that Hank chuckled. “We have one baker, who deals with the whole village. She doesn’t have a lot of time.”

“Or an apprentice?”

“Yeah, but they’re busy too.”

“Shame,” Frank nodded to himself before changing the subject. “You know, some of these old buildings could really do with some work.”

“I know,” Hank sighed. “Ya don’t need to tell me. We try ta work on them every now and again. Probably the only reason they haven’t fallen down yet.”

“Well,” Frank leaned an elbow on the stall too, avoiding the carefully arranged bundles of herbs, “there were a bunch of folks from the Order of Stone that came, and a few other unaffiliated builders and carpenters that fixed the Hold up. Maybe we could get them to work on those buildings?”

Hank blew out his cheeks and raised his hands. “Not my place. I just sell herbs and help out where I can.”

“Oh come on Hank!” Frank shook his head. “I’ve only been here a few weeks and I can already see you’re a man who loves this place. And people can see that. People trust you around here.”

“They also know all my embarrassing childhood stories.”

“All the more reason to trust you,” Frank moved off the stand. “I’ve got to head back, but, think about it okay?”

“It’s not my decision to make!” Hank called after the miller as he left.

“You must know whose decision it is!” Frank called back.

Hank did. And she was stubborn.

He presented the idea to her though. Knocked on her door and told her of Frank’s offer.

“I’m not getting some weirdo from the Order of Stone to fix up those buildings!” she snapped. “They don’t understand these things.”

“Like what? They know stone, they know how to build things, they’ve been refurbishin’ the old Hold, how’s this any different?”

He knew the answer, and she gave to him.

“They’re not us.”

“If they had one of us with them then!”

“Are you volunteerin’ Hank Greenwood?” she asked with a raised eyebrow.

He paused. Both his siblings had left home. It was just him and his parents to look after the pigs and to grow, gather and dry herbs. Both of these could be labour intensive, and his parents… they weren’t old. They could manage without him for a little bit.

“I am, yes.”

Her eyebrow went higher. “Well then. Let me know how you get on,” and she closed the door.

When he next saw Frank he told the miller what happened, and then everything happened, very quickly.

It didn’t take long for the builders to arrive, and Hank found himself co-ordinating between the builders from the Order and the handyfolk of Imforis. He wasn’t cut out of this! He was simple man, he prided himself on it! He wasn’t meant for giving orders like this!

But, here he was, running back and forth and trying to deal with arguments as the builders critiqued the old repairs and the local handyfolk taking that as an insult. The architects wanted to change the old buildings and were angrily and loudly shot down. Sometimes, both sides were just far too stubborn, but they slowly got something out of it.

No builder had managed to replicate the old Feadhainn architecture, and that showed. They tried to repair the oldest buildings, to make them habitable again, but some of them were too far gone. Those ones were torn down and new, more modern buildings out in their place, mostly made of local wood.

Hank could feel the ripple of anger throughout Imforis when this happened, and the new building felt like an unwelcome growth. Something you’d go into the nearest market town to see a doctor about.

He could see it from his stall, and he just rested his head on his forearms.

“Erm, excuse me?”

He lifted his head up, feeling a bit too tired to be dealing with an unfamiliar customer today.

“Yes?” he answered. The woman standing before him was clearly not from here, with curly red hair, bright blue eyes and pale skin. “Can I help you?”

“Could you tell me about some of these herbs? I don’t recognise all of them,” she said. At least she was polite, made a nice change.

Hank blinked for a second, trying to get his brain to work. Thankfully, he had learnt most of these while he was learning to read.

He rattled off a few of the more unusual ones, and the woman folded her arms, thinking before buying a few bundles.

“You look tired,” she commented as she handed over the necessary coins. “Long day?”

“Long month,” he sighed.

“Wow,” she looked around, “lots of work going on. Got anything to do with that?”

“Everything to do with it.”

The woman winced in sympathy. “I can see. It’ll be over soon enough, you’ll see,” she smiled, and then held her hand out. “I’m Fiona Flannail.”

“Hank Greenwood,” he shook. “Don’t tell me you’re involved with this lot?”

“Me? Oh no, just someone, wandering around. I’ve actually got work at the bakery,” she pointed in the right direction. “That’s what the herbs are for.”

“Never seen anyone bake with these,” Hank noted.

“Me neither!” her grin was giddy. “That’s what’s exciting!”

Hank found himself smiling too, her glee infectious. “Well, I hope you stay around for a while Miss Flannail.”

“We’ll see Mr Greenwood,” she had this odd smile on her face, which in his tired state, Hank couldn’t quite place. “Well, I’d better get to work. I’ll see you next time!” she waved and disappeared to the bakery while Hank waved back.

Fiona had been right, the construction didn’t last too long. At least, not on the old buildings. One of the builders had built up some rapport in Imforis, so built themselves a house, and became the local carpenter. Meanwhile, more people trickled to and fro from the Hold, and not everyone liked being there.

From what Hank heard, it was like a Guard base, but bigger, and not everyone wanted to live in a barracks. In fact, some people just, liked Imforis.

More houses were built. A school was built, which was a first, most people sent their children to the nearest town for schooling. All the old houses were clustered around the forest edge, but new houses built up on the north and south sides, arcing around to an extended business hub. A doctor popped up, so now they didn’t just have a herbalist.

Sitting at his stall now, with his daughter working on her school work beside him, Hank marvelling at the whole thing. In 15 years Imforis had changed into something twice, three times the size of what it had been.

It all happened, he supposed, because the Watch decided that the old tower just north of them would be perfect. How strange, that one decision could affect so many people.

(Phew, that might be the longest one I’ve done so far! To date it, well the Watch was announced May 1599, so I imagine construction would begin not too long after that.

I actually messed with my own timeline here, because Fiona wasn’t originally going to show up until 1600/1601, but given that the timeline is mostly in my head it’s pretty fluid and subject to change. Also yes, Fiona is slighlty flirting with Hank)

[theshapeshifter100]

Enemy’s Magic

(Day 17 of @thewatchau‘s Annual Prompts!

TW: Drowning)

Ivy was sometimes very happy to have missed the Overnight Defence entirely. Sometimes she was a bit jealous, but she had seen what it had done to people she knew.

Mags could have days where she was irritable and skittish, Kat from Conchúr could get very angry for seemingly no reason, and both of those were horrible to watch. She didn’t want to think about how bad that must be to experience.

That said, that didn’t mean Ivy hadn’t experienced the Enemy’s magic. She’d seen dead men and women moving like puppets on strings. She’d seen abominations of nature the same acid green dear old Anti was associated with.

She’d heard stories from Slinad of farms who had lost everything to him. Firefly had come to her because the ranch where she had been born had been set alight in a raid.

Ivy was four years old when Antonius had first attacked the King. She didn’t remember much, just some worried discussions she shouldn’t have overheard from her parents. She didn’t work out the context until years later.

Was she scared of him? Of course, she’d be a damn idiot if she wasn’t. She’d seen the damage, the scars (physical and mental), although, it would be a lie to say that’s why she was a Watcher.

One thing she hadn’t thought about though, was its effect on her.

There were nightmares, fairly obviously. They’d died down a lot in the last few years, so now she probably got them with the same frequency as the average person. However the weirdest thing was one patrol a few years ago.

Someone on the border patrol at the Hold had fallen ill, Ivy had no messages so offered to fill in.

It was a night patrol, along the Rúnach river, which was right on the edge of the Western Forest. So already spooky.

It was made more spooky, and terrifying, when something leapt out of the forest.

There was a Mage on the boat, so a shield quickly went up to block it. Ivy’s hand went to her knife on instinct as the thing splashed into the water. It scrabbled against the shield and boat, rocking the whole vessel.

Everyone rushed to the grip the boat as it rocked to and fro, water splashing over the side through the specialised barrier.

The monster was hard to see, only illuminated by the lanterns on the boat and the faint glow of the magical shield. The thing glittered a sick green colour, while black claws the size of a child scraped against the side of the shield.

“BRACE!” someone shouted, and Watchers ran to evenly distribute themselves along the sides of the boat, bracing their legs against the hull. Ivy copied and drew her sword, holding on to the boat with one hand as she essentially tried to poke the beast.

Her sword bounced off the scales of the thing, doing nothing. There was then a sudden movement, and Ivy was falling.

People screamed and the world turned upside down. Terror kicked in once Ivy hit the water.

The river tugged and dragged her along. It was impossible to see and Ivy could feel her weapons dragging her down. She struggled and kicked in the water, every piece of swimming or drowning advice making a swift exit from her mind.

She had to breathe! She had to breathe, she had to escape this thing oh fuck where was it?!

Something slapped into her back and she was sent tumbling through the dark water. A lot of her air was shot out in stream of invisible bubbles, and the need to breathe was more urgent than ever!

Her movements became desperate, lungs screaming as she flailed in one direction hoping it was the surface. She needed to breath she needed tobreathesheneededtobreath!

Her head broke the surface and she gasped before sinking back down. She kicked harder and got above the surface again, and this time she managed to stay there.

The cold was seeping into her bones, and water splashed into her mouth, making her cough and splutter. She scanned wildly for the boat. Where was it where was it?! She couldn’t keep going, she couldn’t…

There was light!

There was a faint blue light glowing in the darkness and Ivy could make out the silhouette of the capsized patrol boat. The blue shield glimmered all around it, and it looked like people were clinging to it, just inside the shield.

With hope in sight Ivy began to swim. The Rúnach was much stronger than the Airceann tributary she had learnt to swim in, and she went under a few more times. Each time it was harder to get back to the surface, but she managed to get over. Hands reached out to help her climb aboard and she reached out for them.

Her hand met resistance.

It was like trying to push through a strong wind, which wouldn’t be a problem if she had been walking. Instead she was trying to tread water and climb onto a boat, and the shield was deciding to be a dick!

The other hands also seemed to have some resistance, and the two managed to meet in the middle to haul her on.

Somehow Ivy was still clutching her sword. In fact it was probably frozen to her hand at this point. So she slipped and scrambled up the wood to hit on to top of the hull. Her muscles were chilled and aching, trembling under her weight until she half collapsed on the top of the boat, shivering.

The rest of the group wasn’t much better, some had lost their weapons, some had tried to peel off soaked clothes, but the shivering didn’t stop. They gathered around the lantern to try and keep warm.

The Mage was visibly sweating, illuminated by the lantern and the glow of their magic. The monster was still churning up the water, but seemed less worried about dealing with the boat. Not when there were easier meals available.

They spent the rest of the night trying to find everyone and avoid the monster. It seemed to disappear after a while, but the damage was done. Not all the of the patrol made it back. Many of the ones who did stayed in the infirmary for several days.

Now, Ivy lay staring at the stars, listening a nearby brook burble by. It was a weird night to be thinking about this. The only real similarity was that there was water nearby, but the way the shield worked played on her mind.

She knew what it was. There had been several angry Watchers once everyone was dry and safe. They demanded the Mage to tell them why the shield had given them such trouble. Simple answer was the shield was designed to keep the magic of the Enemy out, and nearly everyone on the boat had had contact with it at some point in the past.

That’s why her wandering mind had led her to this point. The effect the Enemy’s magic had had on her. It wasn’t as bad as most, but in the right situation, could mean the difference between life and death.

(So this started out as a retrospective that turned into a flashback of something I made up on the spot.

The flashback is sometime in 1611, since according the timeline not a lot happened apart from the odd skirmish. This particular monster was not under orders to do anything, it just wandered off, found the patrol and decided to fuck shit up.

As for when Ivy’s thinking about it? I’m not sure honestly. Anywhere between 1612-1614)

[thewatchau]

Gathering the Hunt: Green Joins the Party Part 22

The ownership of Green has not changed, @autumnleafauthor

Bard's Note: Big thanks to @theshapeshifter100 wooooo!

---

Green thought for a minute. “I think I took it, right?”

Ivy’s brain clunked into action as she remembered. “Yeah, I think I left it on your desk in the Hold?”

“Then I must’ve packed it, wait…” Green dug a little more through one of her bags, and pulled out the pages they’d recovered in the Rúnach Hold, plus the book they had borrowed from the library, ‘A Mortal’s Guide to all Things Fae’. “Here we go! How about you help me move that table over to the bed so we can both sit at it?”

With a grunt Ivy pulled the table out from the wall and then pushed it so that it stood alongside the bed.

“Ooooooookay,” Green laid book and papers down on the desk and took some more empty sheets to work on, with some ink, a quill and a charcoal stick. She then grabbed the chair and placed it on the other side of the table, sitting there.

Ivy sat opposite her on the bed, trying to get her mind into a productive mode. She needed her head to full of turning gears, not clogged with flour.

“Okay,” Green opened the book to the back, where the coded paragraph was written. “Let’s take a look at the numbers. They could for example by saying by how many spaces a letter has moved…”

The two worked on the code* they eventually worked out that two numbers referred to each letter, and painstakingly worked out an alphabet table that corresponded. They were also scrambled, so they had to work out the order as well.

“… I think that’s it!” Green cried. “Let’s try it out. So you have the alphabet table there? I’ll feed you letters, you tell me what they make, and I’ll write it down, okay?”

“Okay,” Ivy had her charcoal stick and paper to make notes. Green did what she said she would, and after a while, they got what they wanted.

The final, translated text, read as follows.

 -

‘I fear it may be too late, that this encryption will not find its way into this book and will not be decoded. You may have noticed that this chapter, unencrypted, is the start of the book where it shifts from hating to praising Fae. There is good reason for this, I managed to entangle myself in a Fae deal with one who was the least human looking Fae I had yet to see. It had arrived with what I could only assume was a far older Fae who reminded me of purple. The older Far seemed to have power over this less human Fae and ordered them to show how they make deals. I believe they were being tested for loyalty? This inhuman Fae managed to catch me unawares and my time is limited. Once I finish this book that Fae will come for my soul. I heard them mention a maze and I can only dread what they mean. Tell my eldest daughter, I forgive her.’

 -

“An inhuman Fae? And one reminding them of purple?” Green’s brows furrowed in confusion. “This doesn’t sound good…”

“None of that sounds good,” Ivy swallowed, shivers going up her spine. “That maze bit…”

She had seen a maze before, in her dreams. Seeing it written down like that, again, reference to the Fae, rattled her. She desperately hoped that Green hadn’t noticed.

“What about the maze? Ivy?” Green had noticed.

It took a little bit for Ivy to start speaking.

“I, this, this is going to sound, really crazy,” this whole thing had been crazy, but this coincidence took the cake. “I didn’t think much of it until…” Ivy paused again, trying to work out how to word this.

“You know when you lose someone, you have dreams about them sometimes? They’re someone you know of course you would have dreams about them, but it just feels weird because you know they’re dead?” Ivy was rambling as she knew it. “Well, I thought that was the case, or just some weird re-occurring dream. Of, my mother, in a maze.”

She finally got to the damn point, and waited for Green’s reaction.

“…in a maze? Do you, have you seen any more? I don’t find it unreasonable at all, seeing as the whole situation is already uncommon…”

“No, not that I can remember. Maybe mirrored? I don’t know, I haven’t had one that I remember for a while.”

“But I can see there might be a…” Green paused to find the right word, “correlation here. To be honest, this doesn’t answer any concerns as much as it opens more questions…”

“Yeah, that, that’s what worries me,” the few clues she remembered and the writer’s dread of the maze made her feel a bit sick. This maze was clearly bad, and the dreams she remembered usually had her mother in bad situations. Jen was probably there now.

Ivy’s face had gone a little pale.

Green looked up at Ivy and leaned over the table to better look at her. “Hey. It’s gonna be okay. We’ll get them back, we’ll get them out of whatever mess this is. We can do it. I know it.”

Ivy gave a silent thumbs up, feeling something stir uncomfortably in her gut. “Feel a bit ill…” she mumbled.

“Do you want to lay down a little or should I maybe get you some water? How can I help you?”

“I dunno, lying down sounds good,” Ivy flopped backwards onto the bed and just tried to focus on breathing. It would pass. It must do.

“Just breathe,” Green advised. “Try to see the bigger picture. You’re too up close now, wrapped up in the facts by being confronted with them. This isn’t as big as it looks right now, I’m sure.”

Ivy did just breath, trying to focus on her current plan in order to ignore the nausea. Learn the dispelling enchantment, get Green to find Nathan and Paultin, enchant a weapon to dispel magic, pick up a Mage Morgana along the way and ask her to translate the runes.

The vague nature of her steps didn’t help, but focusing on those points, holding them clear in her head, did help.

Just to make sure the nausea faded, she used a tried and tested method. She began to hum ‘All the Way’ under her breath.

Green recognised what Ivy was humming, and joined it, trying to harmonise.

Ivy smiled a little when she realised what Green was doing, and kept going until the song finished. Green continued for as long as Ivy did, trying to make sure Ivy felt better.

Once it was over Ivy made herself sit up. She did feel better, but she now found herself in the weird melancholy mood when she thought too much about her mother. She found that it had gotten worse since she left the Guard, and this mood just, made it harder to find motivation. Thankfully, it hadn’t happened often since she joined the Watch.

“How are you feeling?”

Ivy wiggled her hand in a so-so way. “A bit better, thanks.”

“Good, I guess,” Green leaned back a bit. “Can I do anything for you?”

“No, don’t, don’t worry about it,” Ivy put on smile, despite not really feeling it. “Anything else need doing?”

“I don’t think so, other than thinking and possibly overthinking our plan…” Green thought for a minute. “Do you want to do something else? Maybe go training or play a game?”

“Game sounds good. What were you thinking?”

“I’m sure there are some board or card games lying around downstairs, wanna go look?”

The went downstairs to the common area and looked around for any games lying around. Green found something and picked up a wooden box.

“I think this one, it’s fun!” she opened the box to show to Ivy, revealing 3 dice and multiple pieces of paper, two rows of numbers on them. “So, you see these rows?” one row on each piece of paper started with 2 and went to 12, while the other started at 12 and went down to 2. “The idea is that one die corresponds to each row, say this blue one for the row starting at 12, and the purple for other one, with the third being neutral and you can add that number to any die. You have to get six numbers on each row sequentially, only going the line. If you get bad rolls, you can pass, but you only get four passes. Shall we try it?”

“Yeah, sure,” Ivy’s mind was spinning a little, and she wasn’t sure that she fully understood the rules, but hey, always fun to learn something new!

The two sat down across from each other at a table. “You first?” Ivy suggested.

Green rolled, and the two played.

---

Autumn and I did play that game in the rp actually, and I did write it up. It took me a while to get the rules and I'm not certain I could remember it properly! Still it was fun to play, but I confess not that fun to read.

[thewatchau]

Locations of The Watch: Fort Stiofán

Most of the lore in the upcoming series will be edited compilations of dozens of posts from the last two years. While there are some minor new details sprinkled throughout, I’ve attempted to post significant new information in a “Watch AU Fun Fact” post so you don’t have to read all of these HUGE posts to find them.

Other Posts in this Series:

Overview • Domhainn Outlook • Iolla Beacon • Guardian Spire • Gáire Roosts • Rúnach Hold • Agrona Bastion • Pa’Gille Caverns • Runners’ Haven • Fort Stiofán • Fort Conchúr  • 

Other Related Series: Membership in The Watch, The Watch Masterlist

In This Post:

A Summary of Fort Stiofán’s features and location

The History of Fort Stiofán

The Architecture of Fort Stiofán, with sections focusing on the Main Keep, Messenger Tower, Oratory Tower, and Garrison Exterior 

Summary

Fort Stiofán is a garrison of The Watch located in House Brody, Duilintinn, near the border of House Jackie and House Schneeplestein.

Few places are free from The Enemy’s growing influence over Duilintinn…

…but we like to think that Fort Stiofán is one of them. 

Bards sing songs and tell tales of King Sean’s victories and the peace that followed. Watchers pass to and fro tending crops, washing the linens, and prepping meals. Behind that melody of peace, however, not one soul has forgotten their primary duty: Keeping The Watch. 

Patrols prepare to defend the capital while steady streams of messengers flood in and out of the garrison. Within the fort’s wood-paneled halls, huddled groups of scholars, mages, and scouts comb over records that have been studied hundreds of times before. Occasionally, tensions will begin to ride high if anyone insinuates potential traitors are within our midst… 

And yet, we persist. We must persist.

We must Keep The Watch and a Positive Mental Attitude, else all will be lost.

History 

Fort Stiofán began as the personal castle to some self-important person from Waldren, sometime after the year 1000 during the early days of their occupation. The inner walls, messenger towers, and a smaller set of guard towers were built during this time. However, in the centuries of Waldren’s absentee rule, the castle fell into disrepair, losing one of its messenger towers. 

Sometime around 1400, well into the Interim Years, some powerful factions began vying for the power left behind in Waldren’s continued absence. By this time, Waldren had been occupied with trying to subdue their rebelling colonies in the north and south; far too busy to care about such petty local politics. 

One particularly wealthy faction took up residence in Fort Stiofán and used their prodigious income to repair and renovate the ruined fortress. The outer wall, guard towers, and oratory tower were added at this time; considerable resources were spent to securely integrate the latter into the existing structure.

Eventually, these warring factions were forced to stop wrecking havoc upon the land in their endless struggle for power, and the fortress was abandoned once again. It eventually fell into the hands of King Sean, who used it as one of the two major garrisons of the newly founded Watch. 

In the three years between the announcement of The Watch and its eventual implementation, thousands of workers were hired to prepare the garrisons and outposts for their new residents. It was at this point that the small living quarters along the outer walls were built into the garrison. Hundreds of carpenters, woodworkers, blacksmiths, and other craftsmen were hired on behalf of the king to get the job done as efficiently and effectively as possible.

Since the initial plan was to build barracks-style living spaces, the Guard Coalition were also consulted on how to safely, efficiently, and practically house as many Watchers as possible into the limited space they had in each garrison. The Guard Coalition replied that barracks-style housing is only ideal for a more action-focused garrison such as Fort Conchúr, where people spend most of their day on the move, return to their rooms exhausted, and pass out instantly. However, they immediately shot down the idea of building the same living quarters in Fort Stiofán, which had been pitched as the center of The Watch’s more intellectual operations, saying:

“The last thing you want is to put all the nerds who spent all day giving themselves headaches and don’t sleep enough for all the ideas in their heads into a space together. They’ll spend the whole night arguing so much about their ideas that they won’t sleep at all and give each other even bigger headaches.”

Or at least, that’s the gist of it. Instead, the Guard recommended living quarters that sacrifice space for privacy, resulting in Fort Stiofán’s modern layout.

The same guilds who constructed rudimentary plumbing in other areas of Duilintinn (The Order of Stone and Ocean Men) were recruited to construct the bathhouses and other necessary facilities in all of the outposts and garrisons. 

The garrison was put into official use by The Watch in January 1603.

Architecture

Since Fort Stiofán was mostly built during the Interim Years, it features a box-shaped keep with a few adjacent towers and very little exterior embellishment. One notable feature is the tiled roofs in a similar style to that of Fionport's red clay roofs. Instead of red, the tiles of Fort Stiofán are green, made of oxidized copper instead of clay.

As you can see below, Fort Stiofán has been built with a few distinct layers. There’s an outer wall four floors high, an inner wall that rises about two stories higher, and a number of towers and walkways. 

Main Keep 

Entryway 

The two towers in the front are guard towers, built to provide a defensive vantage point for fighters defending the entrance to the garrison. These towers also hold the main stairways to the other floors.

The entrance to Fort Stiofán keep is located between these towers, featuring a small room holding a messenger desk and some guard posts. It’s got doors on all four walls; one to the outside, one to the inner area of the keep, and two to the stairs and living quarters on the left and right. Since the keep is not open to the public, anyone entering the building needs to show their membership documentation to one of the Watchers standing guard. A few messengers run a desk in this room that allows people to drop off or pick up messages from the garrison without entering the keep proper. One of these Watchers will run messages back and forth between the desk and the messenger tower in the back of the garrison.  

Living Quarters  

The small squares between the inner and outer walls in the image above are one of the most intensive additions to the fortress. Each line represents a thin wooden wall, custom-fitted to chain together and create small living quarters for the watchers who would live there. These rooms come in single, double, and triple sizes. 

Each is furnished with a single desk. The rooms along the inner wall simply have an ordinary table, while the rooms located on the outer wall have a desk fitted into the recessed embrasure of a small arrow slit window. These recesses were used by archers to fire out the arrow slit while being shielded from enemy projectiles, but due to Fort Stiofán’s location, they are rarely needed. However, if the garrison is attacked, every watcher with one of these “desks” will find a harried archer standing upon it and shooting out the window.

Each room holds one to three large trunks, about six feet long and two feet across. These are the watchers’ only guaranteed storage space. Inside each crate is a single cloak, which functions as both a blanket and outerwear. Don’t want your watchers to freeze in the winter, after all! Nailed to the top of each crate is a large bag of rough canvas, much like a massive pillowcase. This functions as a mattress. It is the watcher’s responsibility to stuff this bag with straw, blankets, or other available padding, and to change it when necessary. Due to the efficiency with which these living spaces were built, all of the chests were simple in design, yet also carried some features and styles unique to the person who made it. The only uniform feature is the type of wood, which was imported from the forests of Lantraeth. The same is true of all the renovations made to both garrisons during those three years.

These quarters can only be locked from within by a small wooden latch on the door. As a result, Watchers are encouraged to keep all belongings in their chest when not in use, and locks are available for purchase at the garrison smithy.

In addition, a washbasin and small stool are provided to accompany the desks. The doors to each room  are lockable with a small wooden bolt, but they would likely give way to brute force, so…  ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

And yes, there are probably also chamber pots… but if Tolkien could write his entire high fantasy world without mentioning how elves went to the bathroom, then I can choose not to think about that unfortunate detail of Watch life. 

Please note that none of the images above are to scale. In reality, the rooms are the size of a small walk-in closet, no bigger than eight feet wide at most.

Great Hall  

Fort Stiofán’s great hall is located on the first floor, but its higher ceiling takes up space on the second floor as well. This space is a constant hubbub of activity, open to casual meetings, shared meals, and spending time with visitors in a space within the Watch, yet distanced from the more serious matters discussed in meeting rooms on the upper floors. 

They say that The Watch is divided into two categories: people who spend their free time in the archives because they’re overwhelmed by the bustling crowds in the great hall, and people who spend their free time in the great hall because they find the quiet of the archives oppressive. 

The windows probably once looked towards the outside, but as the former castle expanded into the fortress we know today, the great hall was eventually completely enclosed. Today, there are sitting areas on the second floor that look out over the great hall, for Watchers that want to enjoy the busy atmosphere from a distance, in a space that’s slightly quieter and more private. 

The kitchens are located near the great hall on both the first and second floors and function identically to all other kitchens of the watch. 

Archives

Technically, the first floor of Fort Stiofán’s archives is actually a library like Fort Conchúr’s. However, the difference is relatively minor; an archive is an extensive collection of materials for the sake of storage, while a library is a collection of reading materials for the purpose of public use. For whatever reason, both floors of Fort Stiofán's collection collectively came to be known as the archives and will be referred to as such throughout this article.  

Fort Stiofán’s archives take up two entire stories of the inner garrison (excepting the outer layer of living quarters). This space is so large (especially compared to Fort Conchúr’s library) because it handles most of The Watch’s publication work. Since Fort Stiofán is the slightly more “academic” of the two garrisons, it’s in charge of sorting through, archiving, preserving, compiling, and distributing the mountains of documentation produced by The Watch. In one of the most well-known elements of this role, Fort Stiofán is responsible for publishing the huge, encyclopedic tomes that detail the vital developments in our war against The Enemy. These volumes are a Watcher’s go-to source of information for confirming everything we know and theorize about our foe. Additionally, Fort Stiofán uses the same news distribution system established in Runner’s Haven to collect documents for archival and redistribute the published copies.

Each floor features a long table down the center, flanked on either side by dozens of bookshelves reaching towards the walls, which in turn are floor-to-ceiling cabinets of records and other resources.

At the end of the room is a door into the Oratory Tower. Fort Stiofán uses the two floors of the Oratory Tower adjacent to the archives as specific wings for magical records. Unlike Fort Conchúr, which keeps copies of these records in bookshelves alongside other library materials, Fort Stiofán's archives hold the original copies of these valuable sources of information. These spaces are used by designated archivists to carefully store and tend to these records. Those who wish to view the record are either given a copy or are carefully supervised by these archivists to minimize the potential for irreplaceable damage.

Near the entrance to the stairs is a back room that’s directly adjacent to the messenger tower, where the Watchers on-duty work to copy, sort, and categorize new additions to the archives as they arrive. This offers them a bit of privacy to work without being approached for help while not on desk-duty.

Those who do work the desks can be seen sitting at gaps in the bookcases that cover the walls, with the back rooms just barely visible behind them. Instead of books, the shelves on this wall contain supplies such as parchment, wax seals, envelopes, scroll ties, quills, charcoal, ink, blotting tools, etc.

In addition, some of these shelves also hold a few fancier tools that watchers can check out and use in the archives, such as a pair of joint quills that let you write multiple copies of a report at once, mathematical tools for diagrams (LIKE MAPS!!!), and other useful things made from invention and magic alike.

Messenger Tower

The tower in the back is the messenger tower. The only surviving tower that was a part of the original castle layout, it was once part of a pair. It now holds the garrison’s rookery and a series of magic chutes to shuttle messages to and from the rookery and their intended recipients on every floor of the garrison. 

On the seven main floors, the layout is the same. Two walls hold chutes that send messages between floors (one for up, one for down), one wall has a door to the rest of the floor, and one wall has a thin, steep staircase up the tower. In the center of the room is a large round table and chairs.

Each floor of the messenger tower is staffed by a handful of messengers. Their job is to send messages dropped off at the tower up/down the appropriate chute. In addition, if a message comes through the chute that’s destined for someone on their floor, one of those messengers has to track down the recipient (or the recipient’s room/workspace) to deliver it. 

Thankfully, the messengers don’t need to stop and individually examine every message that comes through the chute to determine if it's destined for their floor or not. The chutes are enchanted to have messages stop at the appropriate floor, where they’ll accumulate in the boxes you see above. The chutes are made of the same copper that the roof of Fort Stiofán is made from and has become similarly oxidized over time. Enough people are fond of the green color that no one bothers to keep it shiny (some are even semi-superstitious about it and get upset if anyone suggests cleaning them up). 

Since sticking messages in the chute only takes a few seconds and only one or two messengers need to leave the room at a time (if they’re efficient), the messengers staffing each floor have a lot of time to socialize around the center table. Packs of cards, art projects, dice games, storytelling... anything you can do when stuck around a table for several hours, the messengers in the towers have probably done it at least once. Ironically, being assigned to tower duty is an extrovert’s heaven, while hitting the roads for long-distance deliveries out in the world is the ideal task for a more introverted messenger.  

Raven Master’s Quarters

The Raven Master’s quarters are located on the eight floor of the Messenger tower and feature two private rooms and an office space. Ideally, you’d have two different Raven Masters on staff for accountability reasons and on the off chance that one of them is called away for an emergency, hence the two separate rooms. The office space would be where  the Raven Master can perform their extremely important work, though there would probably be more tables, storage spaces, and reference materials in the office space than what can be seen here. While the door to the stairwell is usually left open so that the Raven Masters are accessible while working, it can be closed and locked to ensure absolute privacy if they need to work on something confidential. 

Rookery

The remaining height of the messenger tower above the Raven Masters’ quarters is the rookery. 

Across the nearly two-story high walls are lattices of perches for the ravens to perch upon while they hang out in the tower. Little alcoves are built into the walls for the ravens to rest within as well. The space is covered in a bedding of hay that can be easily swept up when the bird poop accumulates and can be used to create little nests if the ravens so choose.

In the center, a thin spiral staircase leads up to the roof of the tower and allows easier access to the higher perches and alcoves. At each cardinal direction, a total of eight large windows (arranged in stacks of two) allow ravens to fly to and from the tower. 

Look, at the end of the day, the rookery is heavily, heavily inspired by the owlery in the Harry Potter books. That’s essentially my only point of reference for a space like this. I tried to get creative and make it my own, but... eh. At its core, it’s a place for birds to sit, sleep, and be taken care of.

Oratory Tower

The large tower on the right is colloquially known as the oratory tower. It was built alongside the guard towers when the outer wall was added and is the strongest part of the keep. 

As the name implies, the top floor of this tower is a private place of worship for Watchers to practice their religious/cultural traditions in peace. The interior is plain, but elegant, with a high ceiling, eight large, circular windows at the cardinal and intercardinal points for anyone who needs a directional reference, small alcoves for shrines, altars, or other displays, and several communal storage closets. 

The closets hold items such as prayer mats, small tables, candles, incense burners, and other items, with a place to request any additional needs, including both restocking items that have been used up and the addition of any new items that weren’t previously stored there. However, sometimes someone requests something that’s unsustainable to keep stocked (fresh flowers, expensive or rare relics, seawater, etc.). In those cases, a notice is placed on the storage location explaining why that item can’t be stocked by The Watch, but that individual Watchers are more than welcome to store their own items in those spaces if they wish, with the understanding that The Watch isn’t responsible for preserving, restocking, or protecting them. If the item is expensive or rare, they’re encouraged to keep it in their personal chest and bring it with them to the oratory instead. 

All practices are welcome in the oratory (heck, you don’t even have to be “practicing” anything at all); the only rule is to preserve the peace of the oratory. Anything that involves significant noise (worship music/dance, loud sermons, anything involving animals, etc.) should take place outside on the rooftop or courtyard, where they won’t disturb others in the oratory. However, quiet, spoken words (prayers, small groups, other spoken rites, etc) are allowed; honestly just be courteous to others in the oratory and you’re fine. Each outpost has an oratory such as this, albeit much smaller than Fort Stiofán’s.

Medical Ward

The two lowest floors of the Oratory Tower are used as Fort Stiofán's Medical Ward. Since such wards need higher ceilings in order to provide good ventilation and lighting from the windows between each bed, the floor/ceiling between the tower's first two stories was removed to create a single, taller one. 

Much of the layout of Fort Stiofán’s medical ward is based upon historical plans found in this very handy research paper on circular buildings with a section specifically on hospital wards, combined with the various quirks of Fort Stiofán’s layout. 

The ward is divided into five sections: the lobby, the nurses’ station, the lavatory/bath, the nurses’ office, and the ward itself. Only the nurses’ office in the small wing above the first-floor lavatory is a true “second story”; everything else is located on the ground floor. 

The space marked in blue is the nurses’ station in the center of the ward. It has two windows; one looking over the lobby, and one looking over the ward. This allows the nurses on staff to keep track of the bedridden patients and new arrivals from the same space. It functions as both a check-in counter and a typical nurses’ station where they can work when not directly interacting with the patients. 

The yellow line is the door out into the first floor of Fort Stiofán. There’s also another entrance into the lobby through the outer hall with the living quarters, but the door is tucked under the stairs, so you can’t see it in either image. 

Speaking of the stairs, the red is the stairs up to the second-floor entrance, which is also accessed through the outer hall with the living quarters. However, unlike the first floor, there is no entrance into the lobby from the inner area of Fort Stiofán’s second floor. Instead...

Marked in green are the two balcony-esque areas of the second floor that allow someone upstairs in the loft-like nurses’ office to easily communicate with others in the nurses’ station and lobby. The layout of the nurses’ office is arguably the most difficult feature of the ward to describe in writing, recreate in Minecraft, AND depict in the blueprints. In the nurse’s office are a desk, a large bookcase for paperwork, and a small room that’s actually closed off from the sound of the ward below with some sleeping arrangements.

The lobby would probably just have chairs, maybe a few tables, normal lobby stuff. Most of the time, a nurse will look you over in the lobby first, rather than immediately letting you into the ward. If your issue can be fixed with a few simple instructions, medicines, or a quick procedure that’s not squicky enough to require a more private setting (i.e. a few quick stitches), then you’ll never enter the ward at all. Since beds are limited, the ward is reserved for treatments that take time to perform, require extended supervision, or have a significant recovery period, much like the same reasons why you’d stay at the hospital in our world. 

The lavatory/bath area is just... that, I guess. It probably has facilities for people who need assistance from the nurses for whatever reason, but otherwise, it’s just a normal place to wash up. I probably won’t flesh it out too much.

Finally, there is the “labs” area I have marked on the annotated map of the second floor. I intend for this area to function as a smaller, more practical version of Fort Conchúr’s research floor. Less space is needed, since the goal is to simply produce medical products, rather than experimenting with and creating new ones, but there’s still plenty of counter space for some experimental work as well. However, I’m not entirely sure where I’m going to put the doors to this space yet. You’d want it to be close to the ward so that the medicines can be accessed quickly, but the only second-floor entrance is through the outer hall, which feels like a somewhat roundabout route when the lab space is directly adjacent to the tower. Then again, the nurses’ office has the same problem. Maybe I need to put a stairway in the office space that allows easier and faster access to the ward itself? Not sure yet.

First “floor”: Lobby (top-left), Lavatory/Bath (top right), Nurses’ Station (center), and the actual ward (bottom)

Second “Floor”: The Nurses’ Office (top-right). The slightly shaded sections are the areas that lack floors and technically a continuation of the first "floor"

Garrison Exterior

Inner Courtyard

Pictured in the following sections are two zoomed-out versions of the entirety of Fort Stiofán. Within the outer walls of the garrison are the tavern, smithy, some general workshops, bathhouse, and a large courtyard. The walls themselves hold four large towers, each with rooms where guards will take breaks, eat meals, and sleep between their patrol shifts. 

In the image at the bottom of this section, the buildings around the courtyard from left to right are the:

Watch Bathhouse

General Workshops

Blacksmith 

Tavern

The tavern is located closest to the oratory tower in the courtyard area of Fort Stiofán. There, Watchers can gather to share a meal and/or drink with their peers or other companions outside of The Watch. The main seating area (approx. 50x50 feet in size) features six tables, each approx. eight feet long and five feet wide, if you include the benches. Six people can sit comfortably on a bench, while eight will fit if they give up on personal space. This means that the tavern has a max capacity that ranges from 72 to 96 people, depending on how tightly the patrons have been packed into the benches. The bar and kitchen are to the left of the door, while the stairs are to the right. On the second floor, there are rooms for rent for anyone visiting the garrison. Each room has a small washbasin for visitors to bathe in.  

The smithy is a building with a large patio area, featuring three huge fires for the smithing and repair of all things metal. The building holds various tools, materials, and a small shop for Watchers to purchase weapons/armor or request that someone repair or augment some that they already own. 

The general workshops are buildings with a wide variety of tools and devices for all sorts of crafting and repairs. They're multi-functional, with lots of different crafts taking place in the same space.

Despite being considered a luxury in other places, bathhouses are a priority in every garrison and outpost of The Watch. This ensures the health and cleanliness of the Watchers at these locations, minimizing the strain upon medical and cleaning staff. 

Outside the Walls

Outside the walls are the tannery, stables, pastures, fields, and scattered homes for Watchers that have sacrificed proximity to the garrison for more personal space.  

Since many Watchers are farmers and other laborers who help keep The Watch afloat, it is often more convenient to live outside of the walls rather than within the garrison itself. Bear in mind that these fields and small clusters of towns likely radiate further outwards from the garrison than I drew here. I may have gotten tired of littering tiny squares all over the empty space with no rhyme or reason…  ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ 

The tannery is outside the walls because tanning the leather necessary for the weapons, armor, and tools used by The Watch is stinky. In addition, anyone who wants to dye fabric and leather has to do so in this area. There’s a small door in the wall so that these facilities are easily accessible to the people working in the workshops, who use the materials created in the tannery.

In regards to the stables, I’m still not sure how many I’ll have or how I’m going to implement other aspects of boarding horses (namely pastures), but hopefully I’ll tell you more as I figure it out. 

The Stiofán tributary is an offshoot of the Guardian River. As indicated on the map, the river itself is about two miles to the south, barely an hour’s ride away.

[thewatchau]

Settlements of House Marvin: Imforis

Most of the lore in the upcoming series will be edited compilations of dozens of posts from the last two years. While there are some minor new details sprinkled throughout, I’ve attempted to post significant new information in a “Watch AU Fun Fact” post so you don’t have to read all of these HUGE posts to find them.

Other Posts in this Series:

Minor Settlements of House Marvin: Sallabaile • Kiltieve • Imforis • Glasbaile • Forest Ruins

Posts Related to this Series:

Regional Capital: Monacoil • Watch Locations: Rúnach Hold Outpost

Related Series: House Marvin Masterlist

In This Post:

Summary

Name Origin

History

Layout

Trivia

Additional Art

Summary

Imforis is a booming town on the road between Monacoil and Rúnach Hold in House Marvin. It is home to the Greenwood family, mostly Nora, Breas, Hank and Ellie

Name Origin

The town was originally named Imeall Foraoise, which roughly translates to “forest border/fringe,” referencing its proximity to the Western Forest. It’s name has been shortened over time to “Imforis.”

History

Imforis started out as nothing more than a few scattered dwellings along the edge of the Western Forest, mostly home to sap harvesters, herb growers, foragers, beekeepers, etc. The town was not well-off at all.

However, when The Watch became active, Imforis started seeing a lot of traffic to and from the Rúnach Hold. Since then, while the population hasn’t boomed per se, the trade has. More amenities became available and the population has slowly increased.

Since much of Imforis's growth has come from the volunteer efforts of Watchers that pass through, many of which would later settle in this village long-term, this has created a culture largely in favor of The Watch and its actions.

Layout

Imforis is still small and spread out, especially when compared to other towns that have prospered since the founding of The Watch, but when compared to their past state, the growth is striking. There wasn’t even an inn until the Watch started passing through. Instead of traveling to another town to attend school (or be taught by their parents), the children of Imforis were built a schoolhouse. The doctor is also new; before now, villagers had to rely on a herbalist who knew the plants of the forest for their medical care, and if things took a turn for the worst, it was either the nearest town or pray.

Most houses have small vegetable patches and either keep chickens or hunt in the forest. A large farm sprang up even more recently and well, they’re trying, but the proximity to the Western Forest can have weird effects on the animals (a note, be careful with eggs).

Many of the houses along the forest edge were built in the Feadhainn Era, and a few have managed to maintain the old architecture. However, most of the buildings in Imforis are either imperfect reconstructions of their original forms, or else simply rebuilt with modern architecture.

Trivia

Imforis was created by tumblr user @theshapeshifter100​

Additional Art

Town layout, created by tumblr user @theshapeshifter100​

[thewatchau]

Locations of The Watch: Guardian Spire

Most of the lore in the upcoming series will be edited compilations of dozens of posts from the last two years. While there are some minor new details sprinkled throughout, I’ve attempted to post significant new information in a “Watch AU Fun Fact” post so you don’t have to read all of these HUGE posts to find them.

Other Posts in this Series:

Overview • Domhainn Outlook • Iolla Beacon • Guardian Spire • Gáire Roosts • Rúnach Hold • Agrona Bastion • Pa’Gille Caverns • Runners’ Haven • Fort Stiofán  • Fort Conchúr  •

Other Related Series: Membership in The Watch, The Watch Masterlist

Summary

Guardian Spire Outpost is a Watch Outpost located high in the Southern Mountains of House Jameson, Duilintinn, near the source of the Guardian River.

Name Origin 

Guardian Spire is named for the awe-inspiring height of its main tower and its proximity to the Guardian River. Like other Watch Outposts, it is often referred to by the second word of its name, i.e. "The Spire." 

History

Very little is known of the history behind the Guardian Spire’s construction. According to local tradition, at some point between the Dragon War and the Waldren Occupation, some Stone Walkers just appeared, built the tower, and left. Its location high in the Southern Mountains meant that the tower was left untouched by most of the lowland power struggles in the Waldren Occupation and Interim Years. From time to time, a group of bandits would hide in the tower, or a migrant community would try to take up residence within, but the lack of nearby resources made it impractical for long-term settlement. 

The group of adventurers led by the future King Sean became aware of the tower during the quest to found the kingdom, but hesitated to immediately repurpose it. After Duilintinn’s founding, research began almost immediately into the nature of dwarven architecture and their cultural conception of property. With the help of Grancinco, it was confirmed that the dwarves consider the purpose of a creation to be more important than its ownership, and, in fact, appreciate knowing their work is fulfilling its purpose. 

Concerns ameliorated, preparations to use the tower as a government hub in the Southern Mountains began almost immediately. Since this was still prior to House Jameson’s founding, embassies of that nature in the more remote parts of Duilintinn were necessary to Cordoire govern the provinces it was still responsible for. For several decades, this was the primary purpose of the Guardian Spire. 

Later, when preparations began for the formation of The Watch, King Sean was also planning to create a fifth Noble House to take responsibility for the lands of the Southern Mountains. Conveniently, the creation of another regional capital (Noefrach) allowed the Guardian Spire to be decommissioned as a government hub and instead converted into an outpost for The Watch, which it remains to this day. 

Layout 

High in the Southern Mountains, a tall watchtower of carefully hewn stone seemingly seeks to compete with the peaks above. The spire is an incredible product of dwarven masonry techniques combined with modern architecture and invention, unlike any other architecture in Duilintinn. Each massive, identical brick is half a story tall, featuring precise, brutalist dwarven craftsmanship that supports the spire's incredible heights. A Watcher at the very top with a spyglass can view nearly half of Duilintinn with ease.  

Within the tower walls are rooms for storage, meetings, research, and living quarters, and the wider building at its base holds yet more amenities. Only a few buildings for fields and training grounds are scattered outside the spire’s echoing heights. Like all outposts and garrisons, it contains workshops, kitchens, living quarters, bathhouses, a communal place of worship, training grounds, meeting rooms, stables, a rookery, a library, and storage buildings. In particular, the rookery- located at the top of the tower- is huge to make up for the difficulty in delivering messages on horseback in the mountains.

Note that the image at the bottom of this post is slightly inaccurate. In reality, the mountainous landscape where the spire is located has far more rocky terrain than depicted there; I’m just not that good at drawing mountains. In addition, I think I screwed up the scale again; if you refer to the map of Duilintinn, you’ll see that the fork in the road is much further away from the outpost than shown here. 

Travel Difficulties 

Due to the inaccessibility of The Spire in its spot high in the Southern Mountains, this outpost communicates with the rest of The Watch almost exclusively via raven.

It's not impossible to travel to the outpost on foot or horseback, but it's certainly not easy either. The last half-day of the trip is on downright mountainous terrain; a messenger could be horribly delayed if something goes wrong on that leg of the journey. In this case, ravens are a far more consistent method of communication. As a result, the top of the spire is home to a massive rookery for all of these ravens.

Unique Functions 

In addition to performing the standard tasks of every Watch Outpost, Guardian Spire:

Keeps a watchful eye on the southern half of the kingdom from its high altitude perch

Offers a different perspective on the strategies and big picture of various operations of The Watch

Maintains border patrols along the Southern Mountains

Acts as the primary contact between the government officials of House Jameson and The Watch.

Trivia

Early in the development of this AU, Guardian Spire was called the Coastal Ridge Outpost

Art

(In order, from most recent to most outdated. If two depictions contradict each other, the topmost one is the most accurate unless otherwise noted.)

[thewatchau]

Settlements of House Marvin: Sallabaile

Most of the lore in the upcoming series will be edited compilations of dozens of posts from the last two years. While there are some minor new details sprinkled throughout, I’ve attempted to post significant new information in a “Watch AU Fun Fact” post so you don’t have to read all of these HUGE posts to find them.

Other Posts in this Series:

Minor Settlements of House Marvin: Sallabaile • Kiltieve • Imforis • Glasbaile • Forest Ruins 

Posts Related to this Series: 

Regional Capital: Monacoil • Watch Locations: Rúnach Hold Outpost

Related Series: House Marvin Masterlist

In This Post:

Summary

Name Origin

Geography

History, including a section about its relevance to Lord Marvin

Summary

Sallabaile is a small, isolated town located deep in the swampy fen at the center of House Marvin’s Draoidh Valley. It is also the birthplace of Lord Marvin.

Name Origin

Sallabaile roughly translates to “home of the willows,” referring to the tall, fast-growing wildlife in the region. 

Geography

The central part of the Draoidh Valley is particularly overgrown, swampy, and hard to navigate, especially during the summer fog. This is why the main roads through the region travel along the edge of the valley’s basin. As a result, most towns located within the center of the valley are very isolated from each other. 

History

During the Waldren Occupation, perspectives of magic shifted wildly across the Feadhainn Valley. By the Interim Years, Waldren’s culture of magical skepticism was considered to be the “traditional” or “conservative” view by many, despite magic’s ancient roots in the Feadhainn culture which came before. Even as some people took Waldren’s departure as a chance to return to the old ways, others doubled down in their fear and mistrust of magic, especially in more rural, isolated areas. 

Sallabaile was one such town; despite its proximity to the Western Forest, it was extremely traditional/conservative in its views, especially about magic. 

Lord Marvin

Sallabaile is the birthplace and childhood home of Lord Marvin the Magnificent, who lived there for several years with his father, mother, and grandmother. Every day, he would walk through the swamp and fog to try to make a bit of money and support the family. However, soon after Marvin accidentally unlocked his magic, he and his grandmother - who was also a mage - ran away to Monacoil, which was far more mage-friendly than the small backwater town. To date, Lord Marvin has never publicly returned to his childhood home.

[thewatchau]

Locations of The Watch: Fort Conchúr

Most of the lore in the upcoming series will be edited compilations of dozens of posts from the last two years. While there are some minor new details sprinkled throughout, I’ve attempted to post significant new information in a “Watch AU Fun Fact” post so you don’t have to read all of these HUGE posts to find them.

Other Posts in this Series:

Overview • Domhainn Outlook • Iolla Beacon • Guardian Spire • Gáire Roosts • Rúnach Hold • Agrona Bastion • Pa’Gille Caverns • Runners’ Haven • Fort Stiofán • Fort Conchúr  • 

Other Related Series: Membership in The Watch, The Watch Masterlist

In This Post:

A Summary of Fort Conchúr’s features and location

The History of Fort Conchúr

The Architecture of Fort Conchúr, with sections focusing on the Outer Ramp and each floor of the Central Keep

Summary

Fort Conchúr is a garrison of The Watch located in House Jackie, Duilintinn, close to the border of House Jameson and House Marvin.

Fort Conchúr technically serves the same purpose as Fort Stiofán and its stone walls are full of similar activity: bards, messengers, patrols, intense discussions of the threat at hand, etc.

However, Fort Conchúr’s closer proximity to the Western Forest allows this garrison to be a launching point for any hunts or attacks upon The Enemy hiding beyond its borders. The atmosphere within has evolved to differ from its northern counterpart accordingly. Unlike Fort Stiofán’s environment of hushed concentration, analysis, defense, and anticipation of The Enemy’s movements and actions, Fort Conchúr seeks a way to strike first.

Together, the offensive tactics from Fort Conchúr and defensive tactics from Fort Stiofán function as a cohesive unit. They are in close communication with one another, with messengers and ravens constantly traveling between the two garrisons. While each garrison is solely responsible for supplying and maintaining their four outposts, neither garrison will send orders to one of their outposts without conferring with the other garrison except when time is critical. However, despite all of this contact between them, Fort Conchúr and Fort Stiofán could not feel more different to the Watchers who live there.

Fort Conchúr is the garrison that never sleeps. The Watchers within don’t just seek to watch The Enemy and anticipate his plans. Rather, in everything they do, they seek a way to actively fight back. Watching, in their minds, is no good if we cannot react to what we see… and I’m not inclined to disagree with them.

Note: The additional ring around the central keep in the image above is an outdated feature of Fort Conchúr that has since been retconned. 

History 

Fort Conchúr was built during the Feadhainn Era, and still retains the circular architecture and intricate stonework of that age to this day.

When Lord Jackie began his life as a vigilante, he took up residence in Fort Conchúr, which was nothing but a ruin at the time. It would become a sort of HQ for the young hero, later expanding to welcome all members of Sean’s questing party.

After Duilintinn's founding, Fort Conchúr was repaired in a series of government-created civil projects over the course of several years. Most notably, this was when the modern wooden floors were added. The original floors were at least a thousand years old by the time Duilintinn was founded. Despite how long Feadhainn’s architecture had lasted in most other respects, gravity and exposure to the elements left most of the upper floors of these structures in a weakened condition.

After the repairs had been completed, barely a few months passed before The Watch was founded and the structure was chosen for its use. To this day, the original reason why Fort Conchúr and Iolla Beacon (a similarly decrepit Feadhainn structure that was chosen for The Watch) were being repaired is unknown. Perhaps it was nothing more than a public works project to bring the kingdom together, or an attempt to preserve the land’s ancient heritage.

In the three years between the announcement of The Watch and its eventual implementation, thousands of workers were hired to prepare the garrisons and outposts for their new residents. Hundreds of carpenters, woodworkers, blacksmiths, and other craftsmen were hired on behalf of the king to get the job done as efficiently and effectively as possible.

Since the initial plan was to build barracks-style living spaces, the Guard Coalition were also consulted on how to safely, efficiently, and practically house as many Watchers as possible into the limited space they had in each garrison. While the Guard Coalition discouraged the use of barracks-style housing in Fort Stiofán, they agreed that it was ideal for a more action-focused garrison such as Fort Conchúr, where people spend most of their day on the move, return to their rooms exhausted, and pass out instantly.

The same guilds who constructed rudimentary plumbing in other areas of Duilintinn (The Order of Stone and Ocean Men) were recruited to construct the bathhouses and other necessary facilities in all of the outposts and garrisons.

The garrison was put into official use by The Watch in January 1603.

In 1604, three heavily armed, angry-looking fighters entered the garrison in the middle of the night. The Watch hadn't implemented any sort of identification system yet, so they were assumed to be Watchers until they began to attack Watchers in Fort Conchúr's living quarters. Thankfully, many of the Watchers inside were still awake and sprung to action; only five Watchers were severely injured before all three attackers were killed or incapacitated, and all five injured Watchers eventually recovered from their injuries. The two attackers who survived the initial response by the surprised Watchers both resisted medical care and died soon afterward, refusing to explain their actions. While their motivations are still unknown to this day, this event led to the implementation of a membership certificate for all Watchers that proved their identity before they were allowed to enter areas exclusive to The Watch.  

Architecture 

Fort Conchúr is a massive circular fortress, built in the ancient style seen in Monacoil and Iolla Beacon. This architectural style was developed in Feadhainn, using precise stonework and as few corners as possible. The stone walls and echoing halls of Fort Conchúr’s imposing stonework are constantly illuminated with entertainment, color, and life from the creativity, joy, magic, and invention from House Jameson and House Marvin.   

Outer Ramp

Though difficult to tell from my drawing, Fort Conchúr is built into the side of a hill. Fort Conchúr is very focused on the military side of fighting The Enemy, and having a body of water in front and a hill at its back is a pretty tactically defensive position. At the very least, the forces of The Enemy would have to get across TWO rivers and at least one outpost in order to sneak around the back to gain a height advantage. That high ground also happens to be in the lands of the most martially skilled region of the kingdom: House Jackie. Anyone who attempted this would most likely be facing a fight on two sides as fighters from House Jackie in the east come to reinforce the fighters from Fort Conchúr in the west. Plus, fortresses built into the sides of hills are just cool. 

While the central courtyard of the fortress is dug about two stories below ground level, the hill’s slope has been preserved, giving the garrison an interesting layout. As depicted in the image below without the central keep, you can see that there are multiple gates and layers of buildings along the outer wall. Note that, with the exception of the stairs and hillside (of course) none of the surfaces are angled or ramped in any way. Rather than lowering to meet the ground, the hillside is rising to meet the end of the path to the courtyard. 

Stores

On top of this ramp are dozens of shops, which are fairly self-explanatory. Just like Fort Stiofán has a number of workshops built around its main courtyard for repairs, supplies, entertainment, etc, Fort Conchúr has some within its walls as well. The main difference is the sheer amount of shops. Some are run by former Watchers who wanted a more sedentary lifestyle but didn’t want to leave the garrison. Others are locals trying to do their part or make an extra buck. While the workshops at Fort Stiofán are sponsored by The Watch, many stores in Fort Conchúr are not. There are a few that are run by The Watch, offering free services to Watchers who need them to keep the garrison running, but the additional shops that would not be found in Fort Stiofán are independent efforts. 

Living Spaces 

I referenced the structures seen underneath the walkways along the outer walls of Fort Conchúr. You can’t see much of them except for the doors and windows I added to indicate how many stories tall they are.

It’s hypothesized that this area under the ramp was originally designed for stables during the Feadhainn Era. The doorways on the lower floors are far larger than the doors in the rest of the garrison, so the rooms on the first floor were probably used as stalls or washing/grooming bays. The upper floors were likely used for storage for feed and tack, or perhaps living quarters for stable hands. It’s hard to say; nothing except the fortress itself has survived since the rooms were used for their original purpose. 

Today, the spaces are filled with bunks to house the Watchers living in Fort Conchúr. Unlike in Fort Stiofán, privacy wasn’t the main priority when planning living spaces for the Watchers of Fort Conchúr. Instead, it was safety and mobility in case of an attack. Since Fort Conchúr is a military research base, Watchers come and go far more than they do at Fort Stiofán. The latter is a place of work, but in the former, the garrison is simply a staging point for further operations. To this end, living spaces are large, shared rooms that resemble a hostel. Each room holds multiple bunks, a washbasin, and nothing more. There aren’t assigned beds; Watchers just collapse in the nearest bunk at the end of the day. 

Covered walkways with arched openings and large windows line the inner side of the ramp outside these quarters, offering shortcuts to Watchers who, say, don’t need to walk all the way down the ramp and up two flights of stairs to get to their room on the third floor. There are still security checkpoints at the doors to the living quarters, regardless of what floor you enter from, but non-watchers are allowed to wander the walkways or take the stairs down to the ground level instead of the ramp. 

In addition, three awkward-shaped spaces in this section of the garrison, which’s original purposes are unknown, are now used for bathhouses. This is different from the bathhouses of all other outposts and garrisons in The Watch, which were constructed specifically for the organization in the preparatory period from 1599-1603, not placed in pre-existing structures as we see with Fort Conchúr.

Central Keep

The central keep of Fort Conchúr was built primarily as a final stronghold in case of an attack. Round towers are remarkably strong, and the keep’s large size allows it to shelter thousands if necessary. Nowadays, it not only protects people, but the ideas upon which rest the hope of success for The Watch. Councils of soldiers discussing battle strategy, mages experimenting on unfamiliar magic and testing new spells, scouts reporting their findings from the deepest fringes of Enemy territory we dare tread… 

Everything new we learn about and from The Enemy passes through Fort Conchúr. Dark magics, horrible monsters, psychological horrors… the Watchers in the western garrison are not only the first to know when new danger is upon us, but they are the first to begin seeking out countermeasures as well. Fort Stiofán may seek to understand The Enemy, to find an answer that will finish this war once and for all, but in the meantime, Fort Conchúr is the garrison that has to react to his evil every single day. 

The results of their decades of effort are all found, created, perfected, and stored within the central keep of Fort Conchúr. It’s reasonable to assume that, if it falls, The Watch will fall with it.

First Floor: Great Hall 

As I started taking screenshots of the inside of Fort Conchúr in Minecraft, I quickly realized that the limitations of a first-person view (or even a third-person view) would make it impossible to represent the true layout of each floor without taking dozens of pictures or filming a video tour. So instead, I returned to my roots and, surprise surprise, I made a map. 

Or technically I made eight maps. This is the first one. 

Featured on the first floor are:

• 4 main entrances, each with spaces for a guard room

• 2 kitchens, each with 3 fireplaces and 2 large ovens

• 2 messenger rooms 

• 2 large staircases to the upper floors

• and a large open space in the center of the floor

Many of these features are very similar to those found in Fort Stiofán. 

The guard rooms fill the exact same purpose as their counterparts in Fort Stiofán, but likely don’t feature a messenger desk. As you can see, two of the entrances are directly adjacent to the messenger rooms, while two others have a (currently empty) space between themselves and the messenger rooms. 

I’m still not sure what I’m going to use that empty space for, but my biggest plan is to turn those spaces into a mail-room type area, where the mail coming into or destined to leave the garrison is stored until someone comes along to deal with it. In a way, it’d fill the functional hole left behind by the lack of a messenger desk at the entrances. However, that still might be subject to change. 

The messenger rooms function identically to the messenger tower in Fort Stiofán, but differ slightly in layout. Instead of a single tower, these are actual rooms, with dedicated stairways into the messenger room on the floor above (and below, on upper floors). In addition, Fort Conchúr has two messenger rooms on each floor, rather than Fort Stiofán’s one. Tbh, I haven’t come up with a lore reason for this yet, and I may even end up converting one of the rooms to something completely different if I decide it doesn’t make sense for Conchúr to have both. However, for now, Conchúr has two. 

The open space in the center is still unfinished (in Minecraft, not in canon), but I do have an idea of what it’ll eventually look like. It’s similar to Fort Stiofán’s great hall in that it takes up both the first and second floor and features tables and seating for Watchers to gather and socialize. However, it differs in how it opens up directly into the kitchens through two large archways on either side (you can see the pillar between the arches on the map). 

Finally, the stairs are... well, stairs. They’re closed off from the rest of the garrison for noise-dampening purposes, lest the echoes from the lower floors reach the quieter areas on the floors above. 

Second Floor: Hall Balcony

Fort Conchúr’s second floor functions very similarly to the second floor of Fort Stiofán, but instead of seating areas with windows looking into the great hall, Fort Conchúr has a combination of meeting rooms, messenger rooms, and seating areas along the outer edge of the balcony-esque floor. There’s no wall around the central open area; it’s just a big hole. Although I’ll probably add a railing or something later. 

Although you can’t see it in the diagram, the seating areas get some natural light from the windows along those two sections of the wall. The four rooms also have at least one window. 

Finally, the stairs take their usual form by the time we hit the second floor. Throughout the rest of the keep, each flight of stairs is enclosed by a section of wall that somewhat juts into the circular layout of each floor. Near the center of this wall, a door leads to a small landing, with stairs leading up or down in either direction.

Third Floor: Research Hub

The third floor of Fort Conchúr is the central research hub of the garrison. The main rooms have numbers penciled in, which I’ll be using to identify each room and its purpose.

#1 is the Medical Desk. This is the place where people seeking medical attention are checked in and given a superficial once-over before being admitted to the Medical Ward (#2). Due to all of the research that takes place, strict record-keeping of all medical care is necessary, both to accumulate useful data for the researchers and to protect the patients from any unsanctioned experimentation. Thankfully, the latter is more of a precautionary measure than something born of experience. 

#3 is the alchemy, medicine, and enchantment room. Basically, it’s for researching and producing any goods that impart an effect upon someone through magical or mundane means. It’s located close to the medical ward to provide the latter easy access to any medicines they might need. It’s likely got all sorts of surfaces, tools, and storage spaces for that sort of work, but I haven’t designed/built anything in detail yet. 

#4 is the magical training room. Essentially, it’s a longer room specifically for two people to either a) learn/teach magic as a master and apprentice mage, b) spar magically with each other, or c) test new applications of one's focus (aka new spells). Generally, no one is allowed to use the room alone; even if you’re testing new spells, someone should be there in case something goes wrong. The room itself is heavily warded in case of an accident, but that’s more to protect the rest of the building, rather than the person inside. For everyone’s safety, you have to be at least a journeyman mage (or accompanied by one) to use the space, since novices and apprentices are more likely to lose control of their magic. The door is also enchanted to lock itself automatically when the room is in use, to prevent any disastrous interruptions. 

#5 is the magical research room. While the training room is used to practice and test one’s ability to use their magic, this space is used to learn more about its nature and effects. Of course, the facility’s primary goal is to neutralize The Enemy’s magic by finding a way to free those under his control and uncovering a means of defeating him. However, other useful applications of magic are also researched in this area. 

This floor also features some meeting rooms for researchers who need to have a private meeting or table space for less tactile work (aka paperwork). Thanks to the nature of research, everyone who frequents this floor is painfully familiar with the lab reports they’re required to fill out after each experiment or procedure. There are some Watcher’s whose job (in part) is to a) make sure that paperwork is completed and b) assist anyone who’s struggling/not making an effort to sufficiently document their research. After all, The Watch is a group, and an individual’s research does no one any good if that information remains trapped in their head. 

In addition, a few private bedrooms are located near the medical ward. These rooms either function as operating rooms (to avoid upsetting others in the medical ward) or can be used by the doctors if they need a rest or want to remain on-call after their shift. Although, personally, I might hesitate to take a nap in the same rooms where surgeries take place, the doctors and nurses who perform these procedures might be less squeamish. 

Finally, there are two messenger towers (or one, see the first floor’s post) and two sets of stairs that function exactly like the others in the previous floors.

This floor of Fort Conchúr has a reputation for being notoriously maze-like. There’s a pretty good reason for this reputation; unlike every other floor of Fort Conchúr, the layout of the rooms on the research floor is asymmetrical. On most floors, even if the purposes of the individual rooms are different on either symmetrical side, if you wander over to the wrong one, you can just turn around and head directly to the one that you know is located across the floor. In addition, the hallways on each floor usually form a complete loop or branch off in identical ways. However, the third floor is cursed with a layout that, at first glance, looks like it might be symmetrical, but is anything but. And there’s a good chance that, when you realize your mistake and try to get to the other end of the floor, you’ll find the hall ending abruptly at the door to the medical office instead of continuing in a nice loop around the floor! And since only a handful of the rooms have doors on more than one wall... you’re starting to see why this is a hassle, right? Thank God the magical training room only has one entrance, otherwise people would constantly be trying to cut through it as a shortcut. The medical reception has to put up with enough confused Watchers passing through on a daily basis as is. 

Fourth Floor: Watcher Storage  

Welcome to storage land! Home of boxes. Lots and lots of boxes. 

Okay, that’s only a slight exaggeration.

Watchers at Fort Conchúr are assigned a chest in a shared storage room, unlike the chest-bed storage in Fort Stiofán. At Fort Stiofán, everyone has semi-private quarters with a piece of furniture that doubles as a bed and a storage unit. Since the rooms are lockable, you aren’t given a lock for the chest, and have to bring your own if you have valuables. However, in Fort Conchúr, everyone sleeps in large, hostel-style rooms of bunked beds, while large rooms of chests are used to store personal items. Since these storage rooms are not locked, Fort Conchúr does provide a lock, which Watchers use to secure their belongings in an available chest. However, these chests are not large, and full-time residents of the garrison are encouraged to bring as little with them as possible. Everything you’ll need to do your job will be provided to you at Fort Conchúr.

Unfortunately, after doing the math and realizing just how many chests would be required for every Watcher to have one if every bed in the garrison was filled, I realized that I might need to rethink the concept of “chests”. At the time, I was imagining a typical, rectangular-prism-shaped chest that’s rarely taller than your hip and opens from the top, but I couldn’t fit nearly fifteen hundred of those in a single floor. 

So instead, we’ve got lockers.

I know, I know, it’s stupid sounding, but since they rise all the way to the ceiling, it’s a far more efficient use of the space. When converted to real-world measurements, each box is a cubic meter, which holds most everything except the larger varieties of armor and weapons. Those last two things are kinda important, I know, but I also haven’t figured out where the Watchers of Fort Conchúr are going to store their food yet, so trust me when I say that more storage options will eventually come to this garrison. I’m just not sure where yet. 

In the two box-less spaces near the door to the stairways, there will be some sort of desk where new Watchers can get a lock and key from someone before they find themselves an empty chest. The people manning these desks also function as witnesses to deter any attempts to break into someone else’s box. 

And yes, I’m calling them boxes because I refuse to call them lockers more than once. This is a dignified high fantasy universe and calling the boxes “lockers” makes it sound like the garrison is a high school or something.

As with the other floors, there are two (or one, again, see the post about the first floor) messenger towers and two staircases.

Fifth Floor: Quiet Floor

This is a fun one. The fifth floor is essentially the “quiet floor” of Fort Conchúr, partly to make up for the lack of private quarters, and partly to fulfill the role of the garrison’s “place of worship”. It’s slightly less private in comparison to the equivalent space in Fort Stiofán’s Oratory Tower, but that seems to be a trend when comparing Fort Conchúr to its sister garrison. 

Like Fort Stiofán’s Oratory Tower, there are small alcoves in a few of the walls for shrines, altars, etc. Two are located at either end of each of the thinner rooms on the edge of the floor, while eight are located inside the corners of the center room. 

In addition, the same religious/spiritual items are stored on this floor as are stored in Fort Stiofán’s Oratory Tower, with the exact same policy regarding requesting and restocking these items. 

However, this is where the similarities end. Instead of circular windows facing the eight points of a compass, the two outer rooms have a single wall of windows facing east and west, while the center room is completely windowless. There are also two small sitting areas in the hallways with windows facing southwest and northeast. 

Since there are actually a few separate rooms in Fort Conchúr’s place of worship, the rules about quiet are slightly less stringent. You still have to keep it down, but since not every sound will be echoing across the entire floor, you don’t have to worry quite as much. The general policy is that the hallways must be silent (i.e. you shouldn’t be able to hear anything coming from inside the rooms) and that you should exercise common courtesy within the rooms themselves. Most of the time, the result is the same; quiet religious/spiritual stuff is held inside, noisier stuff is held outside. 

TL;DR: The fifth floor is Fort Conchúr’s equivalent to the top of Fort Stiofán’s Oratory Tower, and more or less functions the same with a few minor differences due to its position and layout.

Sixth Floor: Library

Okay, I’ve been really looking forward to talking about this floor, because it’s already featured in a lot of my writings, sketches, and novelization plans, not to mention it’s a key part of Kat Emerald’s (@livingemerald‘s character) story-

Yep, we’ve finally gotten to Fort Conchúr’s library!

There are two rooms on each side of the floor; a messenger room and an office for the librarians. Since so many documents and messages travel up to the library for archival and storage, there’s a small closet in the messenger room in case there are too many for the messengers on staff to drop off at once. Rather than leaving them on the table, any overflow is sorted into shelves in this closet in order to keep these messages organized and semi-private. Oftentimes, the librarians will ask the messengers to leave documents in this closet until they come to pick them up and deal with them, since the offices don’t have very much storage space. 

Since Fort Stiofán is responsible for archiving and creating official distribution copies of Watch literature and research, Fort Conchúr’s library has less staff than in its sister garrison. As a direct result, its offices are smaller than the back rooms of Fort Stiofán’s archives, where Librarians focus on the daily upkeep and management of the library itself. The offices are accessible through a door behind the front desks, right outside the doors to the stairs where Watchers enter and exit the floor. 

The differing roles between Fort Conchúr and Fort Stiofán are also the reason why Fort Conchúr’s library only has a single floor in comparison to Stiofán’s two and why the two garrisons have different names for their libraries/archives. A library is a collection of reading materials for the purpose of public use. An archive is an extensive collection of materials for the sake of storage. Therefore, Fort Conchúr has a single library, rather than the combined library/archive we colloquially call Fort Stiofán’s archives. 

Since the library is open at all hours, there’s a small private bedroom in each office. It’s something of an unspoken rule that one of those rooms belongs to the well-loved, but slightly enigmatic Librarian Katerina Emerald, who rarely leaves the library floor. The fact that she hid a wolf in that room before the pair had him certified as a familiar was an open secret among library staff, and to this day, no one questions Kat’s unofficial claim to the bedroom. 

The library area itself is made of two types of sections; the center stacks and the outer seating areas. While the stacks are pretty self-explanatory (typical close-set library shelves), it’s kinda hard to get a sense of the other two areas from the map alone. Luckily, I’ve been working on a sketch of this area on-and-off for months now:

It’s not finished, obviously, and the angle of the curve definitely isn’t accurate, but this gives you an idea of what this area would look like. 

Tables and chairs are in the center of the open area. Rugs made by artistically-inclined Watchers add some color and homeyness to the area. 

Instead of flame-based light sources, glowing spheres of magic hover over the tables and shelves to supplement what little natural light enters through the pair of tiny windows on either side of the floor. 

Along the wall are a mixture of shelves, storage cabinets, drawers, and baskets that hold books, magical records, and various tools and materials for writing and researching (for more about these supplies, see the description of Fort Stiofán’s archives).

Speaking of Fort Stiofán’s archives, this is another difference between Fort Conchúr and its sister garrison. Since Fort Stiofán holds onto all of the original copies of magical records, it keeps its magical records in a separate room on the archive floors. By contrast, Fort Conchúr can keep their copies of these records interspersed with the other contents of its library without worrying about irreplaceable damage. Note that these records are only stored in the two outer sections; the center stacks are exclusively bookshelves. 

For a more engaging description of Fort Conchúr’s library, here is an excerpt from a prompt I wrote last year about Bard Emily Keyes’s first visit there:

“...

With a groan, Keyes lifted her head and stared blearily at nothing in particular, taking in where exactly her flight had led her. Curved walls of perfect, neat stonework, their deep grey hue undaunted by the browns and blacks of leather bound tomes lining every surface... 

A bright bulb of magical light suddenly bobbed into view, too bright to look at as the glare forced her to turn her face back into the table.

...”

Seventh Floor: Meeting Rooms

The seventh floor of Fort Conchúr is solely meeting rooms. Just a whole bunch of meeting rooms, for all of your meeting needs. The rooms along the outer wall have windows, the ones in the middle don’t. There are tables and chairs. The messenger rooms and stairs are the same as on the other floors. That’s... it. 

Yeah, it’s not quite as exciting or interesting as some of the other floors. Then again, the description of the library on the sixth floor was massive, so I hope that makes up for how this one is so short. 

Eighth Floor: Rookery and War Table

Finally, the eighth floor of Fort Conchúr, aka the Rookery! It looks a lot different than Fort Stiofán’s rookery, but essentially serves the same function. 

The messenger room on this floor looks the same as that of the other floors (I forgot to draw the tables though, oops), but with a second room attached for the Raven Master’s quarters.

In the center of the rookery is a unique feature of Fort Conchúr: a huge round war table. Strategists of The Watch will gather around this table to coordinate the scouting and fighting groups that engage with The Enemy’s forces near the Western Forest. Being in the rookery allows them to send, receive, and react to messages from the field as quickly as possible, although it also comes with a few downsides (mostly related to bird poop). 

Large windows along the outer wall allow the ravens to fly in and out of the rookery with ease. In the large open spaces near these windows, tall wooden perches rise up from the floor to the ceiling. A set of alcoves are set in one of the walls on each side of the floor (the straight, slightly wider wall by the stairs marked in red) for nests. 

Speaking of that slightly wider wall, do you see the wall in the middle of the stairs? Beyond that wall, the stairwell's ceiling gives way to the open air, allowing you to climb the last few stairs up to the roof. Without that door, the stairwells would be transformed into mini-waterfalls every time it rains. 

Exterior

Very little in an “encyclopedic” sense has been written about the area immediately beyond Fort Conchúr, which mostly features some rice terraces for agriculture nestled into the steep hillside down into the Draoidh Valley. 

However, I wrote a prompt describing the setting a while back that sets the scene quite well:

“

The first time you travel to Fort Conchúr from the east, sighing in relief to see the endless horizon of House Jackie’s plains break against the trees and mountains of House Marvin in the distance, you wonder if you’ve mistakenly arrived at an outpost, or maybe a large village.

This can’t be the fabled western garrison of The Watch, where mages and warriors strike out, seeking The Enemy’s darkest secrets and deepest weaknesses! A few stone towers- barely a few stories tall- poke over the horizon, and the walls don’t even look high enough to stop a band of brigands!

You wrack your mind for where you made a wrong turn, trying to figure out where you’ve ended up. The only place you can think of is Mulladún, the regional capital of House Jackie on the coast of the Agrona, but even that seemed too large for the structure you’re moving towards right now.

Maybe whoever lives here can help point you in the right direction…

And then you reach the edge of Draoidh Valley, cross the border into House Marvin, and look down.

Below you lies a massive stone garrison, built into the hillside about halfway up the side of the valley. The towers and walls were not small at all, but massive, reaching high enough to peer over the steep slope and survey all of the land around them. From this vantage point, you can see the waters of Loch Glas shimmering like a mirror in the distance. 

The road carefully winds down towards a gate on the garrison’s eastern side. As you travel closer, you notice wide terraces cut into the hillside just beyond the walls. These structures, constructed hundreds, if not thousands of years ago by their ancient predecessors, hosts the crops and pastures necessary to support such a large garrison. 

Like the eponymous structure at the Iolla Beacon outpost, Fort Conchúr’s stone architecture is a remnant of the civilization that tamed this land for centuries when the age of souls first began. Nothing remains of them now but the fragments of their language- preserved through place names and scraps of expressions passed down through the generations- and ruins such as these.

But Fort Conchúr is hardly a ruin. Not anymore. The Watch refurbished it years ago, just as it had Iolla Beacon, replacing the rotting floorboards and shoring up the few cracks that had dared mar the legendary stonework of forgotten masters. Not even Duilintinn’s finest architects have ever come close to matching the skills of their ancestors. 

Now in the shadow of this great fortress, you understand why people say that Fort Conchúr is impenetrable.

”