HorgenHold

Cidades de Immoren — Rhul

The Gatehouse of Rhul

A stronghold commands the southern borders of Rhul, older than the memory of the human nations it watches and grander in its low immensity than any fortress built by human hands: Rhul’s great gatehouse, the Horgenhold. The fortress and its defenders have repulsed Molgur and Orgoth and have since stood untested by the comparatively fledgling Iron Kingdoms.

The main trade route out of Rhul is the mighty Black River, a coursing waterway that runs from Armsdeep Lake through all of Llael and then through Corvis, where it branches into the Dragon’s Tongue River, which reaches Five Fingers and continues south all the way to Caspia and the Gulf of Cygnar. The Black River slices through the Silvertip Peaks to the south of the Armsdeep, making it the easiest path through the tall mountains that shield Rhul better than any walls. The Horgenhold sits at the base of the Silvertips, overlooking both the river and the narrow road that follows it through this pass.

The Horgenhold is a sight unlike any other. Its walls are carved from the same stone as the cliffs it rises out of, the rough face of the mountain turned to sleek-faced bulwark. From every aperture and crenellation, a multitude of cannon barrels stare out to challenge any who approach. The innumerable buttresses shoring up the exterior walls have been likened to dozens of clenched, defiant fists, daring any who would style themselves enemies of Rhul to approach.

The rushing Black River is bridged by the Holdspan, an extension of the fortress. This bridge is tall enough to accommodate nearly any vessel capable of traveling up the river and sits above a series of iron gates that can be raised up from the riverbed via great geared mechanisms to narrow traffic or block it entirely. Like the Horgenhold itself the Holdspan hosts cannons all along its length, a fair number trained upriver to catch any vessels attempting to avoid inspection. Few passing the imposing gate have had the temerity to try.

The outer walls of Horgenhold seem impenetrable, but they are only the beginning of the fortifications. The fortress extends deep within the mountain, and every chamber of it is built to withstand assault. Should a foreign army manage to breach the Horgenhold, their fight would begin anew within its walls. Its long, tight corridors are riddled with portcullises, murder holes, and mechanikal traps. Coded runes and diagrams are carved along the walls and floor throughout the fortress to aid in coordinating defense; without proper training, these marks are incomprehensible. The entire garrison drills regularly in preparation for the unlikely need for defense.

The chambers abutting the walls themselves are dedicated to defense: besides embrasures for the cannons there are armories, warjack hangars, and mustering rooms. The next layer is chiefly barracks for the garrison’s thousands of dwarves and ogrun. A variety of clans contribute to the fortress defenses, and these have affiliated into several distinct groupings and companies, each with its own housing and facilities. These groups can become territorial, but even lawful feuds are to be set aside while within the Hold, and duels must be coordinated with the senior officers. Past the barracks are the kitchens, mess halls, parade chambers, workshops, shooting ranges, shrines
to the Great Fathers, and other shared facilities needed to keep the garrison in fighting shape.

The fortress contains a small but fully outfitted warjack machine shop and armory along with sufficient crew to keep its fighting machines ready for battle. While ’jacks are not created here, they can be nearly entirely rebuilt if the personnel are given the time, and additional parts or supplies can
be requested from Ghord as required. These mechaniks earn a bit of extra coin during slow weeks by hiring their repair services to the mercenaries
who stop at the fortress for resupply. Fortress supply officers keep a close watch on ammunition inventory to prevent opportunistic mechaniks from undermining fortress defenses by selling off vital powder stockpiles.

Deeper within the fortress are the levels given over to civilian control. Here one can find a mix of dwarves and non-dwarves, Rhulfolk and foreigners. Some are merchants or adventurers, stopping for brief business or just passing through. Others are the civilian part of the Horgenhold’s infrastructure. Taverns such as the Churned Riverbed run by Barl Stonefast (male Rhulic Ftr2/Exp7) serve ale and pies at exorbitant prices paid by soldiers eager for a taste of home.

These levels also house a host of refugees from occupied Llael. They were admitted — after due consideration and questioning — when Khador invaded their homeland, and most have done their best to integrate usefully with the civilian economy under the fortress. A small human minority
has been present in Horgenhold for centuries, but their numbers swelled considerably after the war and required additional facilities to be set aside. With the Protectorate’s crusade now making a claim on that war-torn region, the greater part of the refugees in the Horgenhold have followed their hosts’ urging to repatriate. Many have started new lives as Rhulic citizens and distrust Llael’s new foreign governors.

Within the bowels of the fortress are its vast storerooms and cisterns. The enormous chambers can hold enough coal, blasting powder, water, and dried and canned food to keep the Hold supplied for up to a year. The storerooms are amply braced in Rhulic fashion to minimize the chance of collapse from above in the face of catastrophic bombardment. These measures were put to the test in 537 AR, when an ogrun custodian got careless while evicting a pack of skiggs from one of the powder magazines. Thankfully the construction held, and since the repairs the storerooms are regularly swept for extraordinary vermin. The deep chambers are also home to one of the banks of steam engines that powers the river-blocking gates under the Holdspan, ensuring Rhul could deny passage even if the machinery within the bridge itself were to be knocked out.

Every vessel not bearing recognizable Rhulic clan standards — and many
that do — are inspected as they pass Horgenhold. Each of the gated archways beneath the Holdspan has a small dock for transferring inspectors. The hold also has a half dozen paddle-wheel cutters, small boats with oversized steam plants and light cannon mounted on the fore, just large enough to chase down runners while carrying a squad of soldiers and a light warjack. The cutters sometimes conduct inspections on the river, usually if traffic is backed up or a ship is too large to hold position under the bridge for long.

History

The Horgenhold’s history goes back millennia. There are records of a fortification at its location as far back as 3000 BR, before the rise of the priest-kings, set there to watch the Black River for signs of Molgur incursions into Rhul from the south. Work on the Horgenhold itself began around 1000 BR, when the Grand Moot noted the human kingdom of Rynyr on the rise to the south, and decreed the construction of a citadel.

Oversight of planning for the fortress was entrusted to Clan Udo, inheritors to the Great Father, who is one of three major patrons of battle. Udo’s master builders worked with masters of Clan Orm, who specialize in masonry, to honor their progenitor with a fortification of unrivaled size in dedication to its purpose. Dwarves from many clans joined the Udo in this labor, yet it was a century before the Horgenhold was deemed functional and three more before they considered it complete.

The Rynr petty lords and kings living just south of the fortress never dared challenge the might of Horgenhold, so its true test came in the winter of 542 BR, when the Orgoth advanced into Rhul having conquered Rynr. For three months, the defenders of the Horgenhold battled the Orgoth legions with hammer, sword, and axe. They fought through snow-blinded mornings and nights luminous with the fell fires of Orgoth sorcery. Above the din, the dwarven priests’ passionate descants to the Great Fathers and the Claywives clashed against the chanting of the Orgoth warwitches and the anguished battle cries of their slave soldiers. Legends claim that when the invaders finally relented, the Black River was so thick with corpses you could walk across it.

The Orgoth managed to penetrate the outer gates and walls of the Hold but were brought to a halt by its array of internal defenses. So steep were the Orgoth losses that they declared Rhul to be unassailable and never marched on the dwarven kingdom again. Dwarven historians refer to the battle as the Lesson of the Horgenhold, and no other army or nation has since dared to learn it for themselves. Although it is not well known outside Clan Udo, this lesson has two meanings, as the Horgenhold was almost lost during this battle. While enemy casualties outnumbered the defenders by a large margin, the Orgoth nearly exhausted those who manned the walls. This was the closest Rhul ever came to facing invasion, and it was a bitter lesson that prompted the extension and reinforcement of fortifications.

During the Occupation era, the Horgenhold was already the gateway for river trade between Rhul and the subjugated human lands. The dwarves inspected all crafts approaching up the Black River, but Rhulic commerce with the outside was limited. The plight of their neighbors had the dwarves’ sympathy even as the Moot remained adamant they would not risk the lives of their own citizens on any offensive outside their borders. During the Rebellion when the humans rose up against their oppressors, the Horgenhold served as an occasional haven for Immorese freedom fighters, and some of the exchanges
of mechanikal acumen between the rebels and the Rhulfolk that led to
the inception of the Colossals took place in the fortress’ halls. Today
the Horgenhold is a cannon-studded signpost warning enemies away from Rhul’s southern borders as well as a center for recruiting.

Life in the Hold

Command of the Horgenhold is traditionally entrusted to the eldest sibling of the stone lord of Clan Udo. The present commander of the garrison, Champion Gornrick of Udo (male dwarf Pal12) coordinates the fortress from the headquarters located in the uppermost levels. Responsibility for the Horgenhold’s readiness and watchfulness rests ultimately on Gornrick, but details of the fortress’ day-to-day operations are delegated to the four holdmasters: Holdmaster Guvul of Redhammer (male dwarf Ftr10), in charge of marshaling and disciplining the bulk of the soldiers, including the elite Forge Guard; Holdmaster Kalmon of Rockfast (male dwarf ArcMk5/Ftr2/Exp2), responsible for the cannons and other engines of war; Holdmaster Kurtol of Shieldbearer (male ogrun Ftr11), oathsworn to Clan Udo and korune to many of the fortress’ ogrun; and Holdmaster Dragha of Sigmur (female dwarf Ftr4/Exp4), in charge of supplies and logistics.

Champion Gornrick is responsible not just for the Horgenhold itself but also for the network of watchtowers and lesser fortresses along Rhul’s southern border that it anchors. He prefers to spend his days touring and personally overseeing those forts and towers and is found within the Horgenhold less than half the time, entrusting its general administration to his capable holdmasters.

The fighting dwarves are largely the responsibility of Holdmaster Guvul, alongside the ogruns’ overseer Holdmaster Kurtol. Guvul is in charge of overall military preparedness, organizing patrols of surrounding countryside, and authorizing mercenary contracts. He is a veteran of the Forge Guard and served several mercenary tours abroad throughout his career, including fighting for Ord during the Scharde Invasions and for the ill-fated loyalists in the aftermath of the Lion’s Coup. Like many in Rhul, he is wary of the new Menite neighbors to the south but also considers them a better alternative to the Khadorans. The Menites have also proven to be reliable in paying their mercenary contracts. He considers combat experience as mercenaries the final phase of training for his men, and through Menite contracts they have gained seasoning.

The units stationed at the Horgenhold spend roughly two-thirds of their
time patrolling the miles of battlement and the surrounding area, with the remainder of their time reserved for drilling and exercising. Because the feuding that has traditionally helped keep Rhulic clans in fighting form is forbidden here, the holdmasters arrange supervised mock battles every season. These battles can become quite intense and often result in injuries or even the occasional fatality. Such hazards are considered an acceptable risk to maintain Rhul’s defenses.

The Horgenhold boasts acres of chambers suitable for training exercises, from full parade grounds and firing ranges to temporarily unoccupied barracks wings. The parade grounds, firing ranges, and surrounding countryside allow the men to drill their formations and practice taking the field. Running exercises in the empty wings acclimates them directly to defending the fortress and lets them simulate urban combat. Periodically, temporary fortifications are erected across the river for exercises, allowing their warjacks to test their guns and the Forge Guard to whet their warhammers against metal and masonry.

Holdmaster Kalmon is responsible for the guns and walls as well as for what goes on within those walls. He commands the engineers, artillerists, and provosts. Kalmon was sent to the fortress from Lakeforge a decade ago as a dubious promotion amid rumors of scandal. He misses the workshops of Lakeforge and hopes to return there in honor after proving himself as custodian of the Horgenhold. A shrewd leader, he keeps the fortress’ crews of masons and mechaniks about their business with a minimum of friction with the troops.

While Rhulic law is maintained in Horgenhold, the fortress also has its own interior laws. Clan lords who have donated warriors to the defenses have authorized their subordinates to be disciplined by the holdmasters. Overall disciplinary policy is left to Holdmaster Guvul, but actual policing is performed by the Hold provosts under Holdmaster Kalmon’s purview. The provosts are respected for their impartiality and dedication to keeping the peace within the Horgenhold, which also involves scheduling authorized duels between soldiers with irreconcilable differences. Their regular patrols through the barracks help keep the garrison’s soldiers honest, and they are quickly dispatched to quell the situation — with glove and truncheon when necessary — if troops from rival clans threaten feud. Their other main duty is policing the civilian quarter, a task that requires greater attention than policing reliable soldiers who better understand Rhulic law.

Rhul and the Menite Faith
Some of the humans who have moved into the Horgenhold have been surprised to discover that local Rhulfolk are not alarmed about the neighboring city of Leryn being occupied by the Protectorate of Menoth’s Northern Crusade. Indeed, the Forge Guard has periodically hired out mercenary services to Protectorate emissaries and is willing to establish long-term contracts.

Generally most Rhufolk do not understand the Menite religion, nor do they comprehend the distinction between the Morrowan and Menite faiths. At
first glance, the True Law of the Menites seems at least loosely analogous to the Codex of the Great Fathers. Deeper analysis demonstrates the benevolent Rhulic religion is much closer to Morrowan philosophies, but this is not widely understood. A religion based on law and order seems eminently appropriate to Rhulfolk, and thus they are willing to give Menites the benefit of the doubt. Wider exposure has demonstrated the fundamental differences between these faiths to those Rhulfolk who travel abroad, but it is only slowly that soldiers of Horgenhold are coming to understand the pervasive zealotry and fanaticism possessed by most Sul-Menite crusaders. Even with that understanding, they consider these matters a human concern so long as the Northern Crusade makes no threatening moves on Horgenhold.

Within the Walls

Holdmaster Guvul commands the warjack-mounted guns and field artillery that accompany soldiers to battle, but the dozens of stationary cannons that cover the Horgenhold and the Holdspan and their crews are under Holdmaster Kalmon’s command. Every yard of rock, river, and road within five miles of the fortress is pre-sighted for artillery, and a sophisticated array of powerful telescopes atop the fortress let them spot and scrutinize vessels coming up the river well in advance. The armament ranges from pintle guns for sweeping enemy infantry off the ramparts to high-angled mortars and long-barreled cannons. Boats bring weapons from Lakeforge as needed to replace older guns deemed no longer up to snuff.

The crews drill regularly, and the road and far cliffside bear the scars
of thousands of dense cannonballs fired in lieu of explosive shells as the Horgenhold’s defenders honed their skills over the years. The fortress is riddled with reinforced magazines, and a network of railcart track and gear-driven lifts extending all the way to the bottom storage chambers ensures that should an enemy present itself, the guns will not go hungry.

The ancient walls of the fortress that have stood for generations continue to endure with little need for maintenance. Most of the daily work of the Horgenhold’s engineers and mechaniks goes into the modern features of the fortress, like the lifts, the gates on the river, and the steam plants. The systems are doggedly reliable and have built-in redundancies, so service in the Horgenhold is not especially challenging for a mechanik or engineer. Many are glad when they are detailed to travel with mercenary units on defensive postings abroad, where they can advise and oversee their comrades’ safety in the field.

Holdmaster Dragha’s own small army of dwarves and ogrun coordinate procurement and distribution of consumables and equipment throughout the Horgenhold, which is no small task in a fortress its size. Essential supplies are delivered regularly from deeper in Rhul according to contracts with various clans, great and small. Most of the supply contracts are generations old, and a few small clans, notably the Obdurr and Whitghrd, have built their entire reputations on regular deliveries to the Horgenhold. Barges offload barrels and crates onto the docks across from the Hold, where stout ogrun stevedores and squat laborjacks whisk them across the bridge and down into the supply chambers in the bowels of the fortress.

Dragha’s predecessor was known to use her position to play favorites with units in the garrison, leaving a reputation on the supply division that she was not thrilled to inherit. Under her, the goods are counted, catalogued, and distributed with stern precision. Skimming provisions or sloppy bookkeeping can land an offender’s entire unit in hot water and result in them being docked ale or hooaga. For all that she can be a stern taskmaster, Holdmaster Dragha’s honesty and competence in the task of keeping the fortress fed and stocked have earned her the genuine respect and devotion of her staff. Some of the ogrun under her have even gone so far as to swear her their korune.

Blood & Coin

Like Hammerfell to the west, the Horgenhold is a center for mercenary organization. In the Rhulic tradition, units within the garrison are available to be hired for contracts abroad. This provides the soldiers and their clans the opportunity for good income. It also provides valuable combat experience for the troops, something hard to come by in a fortress unassailed since the Orgoth conquest.

The dwarves of Horgenhold once hired out to any party in the Iron Kingdoms willing to meet their price, but the invasion and brutal subjugation of Llael by Khador colored their diplomatic temperament. Rhul has long had mutually profitable financial dealings with Khador, but unlike their warm, neighborly relationships with Cygnar and Llael, the dwarves and the cold-hearted Khards have never been particularly fond of each other. The bloody massacre at Riversmet and the subsequent conquest of Leryn completely soured relations.

It was not only that these two cities were on friendly terms with the Horgenhold; in addition, a number of prominent dwarves living in Riversmet had died at Khadoran hands. Trade and commerce with Khador continues from other quarters in Rhul, but the Horgenhold keeps itself apart from these dealings. These dwarves have offered their aid instead to the Highborn Covenant, Cygnar, and local representatives of the Protectorate of Menoth.

Today’s Forge Guard carries the same name as the defenders who joined in fighting off the Orgoth in the Lesson of Horgenhold. Like their forebears, the Forge Guard focus their training on fighting man-to-man in close ranks. Some purport that generations of distrust of the Khadorans shaped the Forge Guard’s contemporary armament and doctrine. They are a favorite of commanders expecting to face Khadoran Man-O-War shocktroopers in particular, as the Forge Guards’ thick plate armor allows them to close ranks under fire and their piston-driven mechanikal warhammers are built to topple and smash.

Civilian Life & the Shadows

The civilian levels are a lively place, full of sights, sounds, and smells that cannot be found elsewhere in the austere fortress. One of the vaulted parade chambers is now a bazaar thick with tents and stalls offering goods from throughout Rhul and abroad. Mess halls have been converted into taverns and restaurants, and mustering rooms have been turned into theaters. Some bunk rooms remain simple hostels, while a handful have become expensive hotels with brick walls and soft beds instead of curtain partitions and simple cots.

Most of the civilians in the fortress are dwarves, there to satisfy the eager market of the garrison, but a sizable minority are humans or of other races: merchants and mercenaries, refugees and roustabouts. Gaining entrance to the fortress is simple for those traveling the road. As long as they pass inspection and consent to staying out of the garrison’s way, travelers are welcome. Stopping by boat is common but can be difficult for a lengthy stay, as the Hold has limited mooring for overnight visitors. When the few piers here are full, ships must anchor their vessels in the river and cross by dinghy or raft back to the bridge. A gobber going by Predd (male gobber Rog3) does good business ferrying travelers to and from their boats by raft. Coal and provisions can be expensive at the Horgenhold, so captains with ample fuel prefer to steam on through to Armsdeep Lake. This is a long and difficult stretch of river, however, and Horgenhold makes a tidy profit from the inevitable resupply that must take place here.

The local taverns are a good place to look for mercenaries. Holdmaster Guvul negotiates contracts for formal military units like the Forge Guard, but smaller companies and irregulars like the famous Gorten Grundback or Herne Stoneground can be contacted through civilian channels. Many mercenaries hire locals here to represent them when they are working abroad, thus maintaining a steady flow of offers. Horgenhold’s position on the border has also made it an occasional gathering point for human mercenaries hoping to be noticed by brokers come to hire dwarves. Additionally, Holdmaster Guvul sometimes hires freelance mercenaries to participate in training exercises with the garrison in order to expose them to fresh foes and techniques. Those participating do so at their own risk, of course, as there is no guarantee of safety.

Intrigue & Skullduggery

The goings-on of a fortress of the Horgenhold’s importance attracts the scrutiny of Rhul’s noble spymasters, Clan Jhord. The young Bartan Ghrdlar (male dwarf Rog 7/Spy1) is Clan Jhord’s chief agent in the Horgenhold. Dispatched to the fortress by his mentor and father-in-law Bulin Jhord (IKWG p. 255), Bartan shares Bulin’s hatred for the guild of freelance Rhulic spies called the Glomring. The skilled Bartan was raised and trained in the covert intelligence climate of the Rhulic capital but is inexperienced and does not yet fully grasp the subtler interactions taking place within the fortress
town. To impress his father-in-law he dedicates resources to harrying the Glomring that might be better utilized watching the Khadorans. At this point in their subversive game, Glomring agents routinely outmaneuver him, but that may change in time.

The Glomring has been operating in the Horgenhold for as long as it has been watching the Black River, though the Hold has little in the way of the inter-clan competition the mercenary shadow clan traditionally exploits. Instead, the lurkers who come to the Horgenhold make their services available to fellow dwarves in their competition with foreign interests. Their most experienced member, Nollos Domescaler (female dwarf Rog6/Spy4), attempts to keep an eye on all the covert activities in the fortress, maintaining a who’s who of agents and their identities as well as mentoring younger lurkers and helping manage their contracts. Rather than taking on contract assignments of her own, Nollos is on retainer with Holdmaster Kalmon to keep shadow business to the shadows. The boat would be rocked if Bartan Ghrdlar were to discover this arrangement, but Nollos is very good at giving him the runaround.

Though the fortress has officially severed ties with Khador’s military and refuses to enter into new large-scale contracts, Khadoran citizens are not forbidden to visit and trade; they are merely unwelcome. That hasn’t deterred Kayaz Pavel Krinitskiy (male Khard Ari2/Rog2) from expending
a small fortune in Khadoran silver fruitlessly attempting to establish profitable trading arrangements in the Horgenhold. Krinitskiy has spent more than two years in the Hold ignored or derided by his hosts, who gladly take his coin but offer him decidedly unfair terms for his goods. Since his arrival he has been carefully watched by the provosts, Clan Jhord agents, and the Glomring, who all are wary of kayazy interloping in the Horgenhold’s affairs. Krinitskiy seems to be harmless, however, merely a cheerful drunk known for making his rounds among the merchants with his daily offers of negotiations before settling into his cups at the tavern. He jokes that his profitless mission continues as a bureaucratic oversight, the obvious explanation for why after two years of no profits and now being stranded behind Menite lines, his sponsors in the Strevnost Public Trade company continue to send him capital and rotate out his bodyguards.

Unbeknownst to their doddering charge, the bodyguards sent by Krisnitskiy’s sponsors in the Motherland represent the real kayazy interest in the Horgenhold. A mix of talented spies, thieves, and assassins, the kayazy agents are active participants in the Horgenhold’s covert scene. Clan Jhord, the Glomring, and the holdmasters suspect their true nature but tolerate their presence as long as they aren’t caught acting directly against their hosts. These agents are involved in a complicated but subtle game of diversion, misinformation, spying, and counterspying: trying to ferret out details of the holdmasters’ mercenary dealings while the holdmasters endeavor to maintain secrecy and discretion. This might eventually escalate to violence, but until the agents are caught in wrongdoing they are protected by Rhulic law.

Given the delicacy of the situation the kayazy agents have not sought to gather intelligence about Rhulic security, but they are keenly interested in Cygnaran and Llaelese activity. They keep a close watch on the human population of the fortress, particularly new visitors.

The bladesmen led by Capo Sergei Relnov (male Umbrean Rog6/Enf5) are consummate professionals, and they clean up after themselves well. When Llaelese freedom fighters, Protectorate mercenary brokers, or Cygnaran merchants with eyes too wide for their own good go missing in or around the Horgenhold, any bodies found are discovered miles downriver with their identifying features removed — if they are found at all.

The kayazy policy of respecting their hosts is in danger of changing. The latest bodyguard rotation brought a disguised agent of the Greylords Covenant, Magziev Ihrin Kosposin (female Khard Wiz9). One of Relnov’s recent victims, an unhealthily nosy Illuminated One, carried evidence in his journals of a secret cache of Orgoth relics hidden somewhere in the fortress’ storage chambers. Kosposin’s task is to locate the artifacts — prizes the dwarves claimed after the Lesson of Horgenhold — and smuggle them back to Korsk. Unbeknownst to her, safeguarding the trove of cursed trinkets is a sacred task handed down by the caretakers of a particular shrine to the Great Fathers. The duty currently lies with the priestess Juror Anlost Huldr (female dwarf Clr6/Bcp3) and her husband Gerhard (male dwarf Pal8), a veteran Knight of the Patriarchs. Kosposin is not the first human to come sniffing after forbidden power in the Horgenhold’s cellars, and the last one was not the first that Anlost and Gerhard laid to rest.

Fonte: No Quarter 29

Forte Horgen: o Forte Horgen é um único e imenso cas-telo atarracado, sobre um penhasco íngreme, com vista para o principal rio comercial usado como entrada para Rhul. Uma grande estrada entre Leryn e Martelo Caído passa di-retamente pelo Forte Horgen, e dezenas de canhões estão apontados permanentemente para a estrada e para o rio. O Forte Horgen tem um passado colorido, e já foi testado bre-vemente pelos orgoth, depois que eles conquistaram o velho reino humano de Rynr. Suas perdas neste castelo foram tão devastadoras que nunca mais testaram Rhul.

Manter o forte é a responsabilidade da Casa de Pedra Udo, embora anões de muitos clãs voluntariem-se para servir aqui. O forte também serve como quartel-general de centenas de batedores que patrulham as montanhas do sul e os outros for-tes e torres de vigia menores ao longo da fronteira. Todos es-ses anões estão em alerta, devido à ocupação de Llael. Muitos anões aqui sentem a queda de Leryn em seus corações; alguns têm amigos ou mesmo família na cidade llaelesa. O forte re-cebeu refugiados llaeleses e nyan (veja o GPRF, na página 45), e nenhum deles foi rejeitado — embora sejam revistados e interrogados meticulosamente antes que sejam admitidos.

Em épocas de necessidade, a passagem fl uvial pode se fechar para o tráfego, por meio de um portão feito de imensas barras de ferro semi-oxidado, que se erguem do leito do rio em gigantescas correntes e engrenagens. A guarnição da fortaleza revista navios suspeitos, antes de permitir que continuem viagem. O Forte Horgen possui uma quantidade impressionante de telescópios para ob-servar navios que chegam. Vários barcos fl uviais rápidos também são mantidos de prontidão, caso contrabandistas tentem fugir. Desde o início da guerra, a guarnição da fortaleza, já vasta, foi bastante reforçada. Até mesmo os khadoranos entendem que qualquer tentativa de evitar ou sitiar o Forte Horgen custaria um número de soldados des-proporcionalmente grande.

Fonte: Guia do Mundo dos Reinos de Ferro