Dorduum—

 

Here are my notes on Doomguard.

 

Abbot Qualinor

 

History

 

Doomguard Keep was originally located on the Astral plane, and represented the beginning of a plan by a powerful Baatezu Lord to dominate the world of Mystara. This Lord—whose name is not known—located a “leak” in the essence of the Astral plane that allowed him to exercise a certain amount of control on the Prime Material Plane. The fiend built a keep at the site of the leak, from which to launch his assault.

This occurred a little of a century ago, when Thyatians were first settling Karameikos. My great-grandfather was a wondering cleric for the Church of the All-Father at the time, and learned of the Baatezu plan. He gathered his paladins, traveled to the Astral plane, and defeated the Baatezu forces there. He also managed to seal the leak, which caused the Keep to be brought over to our plane of existence. My great-grandfather named the Keep Doomguard, for its new purpose: to guard the site of the breach from future invasions.

Since that time, my family has worked to convert the Keep from a symbol of Evil to a site of Good. Using various wards, we have hidden the location of Doomguard from the Baatezu. It has been over a century, and the forces of Hell have not retaliated. So, I feel that the time has come for the final step of the Keep’s conversion.

 

Location

 

Doomguard is located about thirty miles due west of Threshold, in the Black Peak Mountains. It is a situated over a valley,  with its back to the mountains themselves. The underground stream that feeds the Foamfire runs underneath the keep, at a depth of about one hundred feet. The land in the valley is not overly fertile, but the area has a great potential for various mining opportunities.

 

Doomguard Keep

 

Enclosed are my sketches of the Keep. Although my scribbling may make the Keep appear to be unstable, nothing can be further from the truth. The entire structure, including most of the interior is made of solid stone. Despite the building’s age, the black rock of its walls show no sign of wear, meeting in perfect right angles. The spikes upon its walls end in razor-shap points, and each floor is completely level. It is a masterpiece of construction.

 

 

 

 

These exterior sketches will give you a feel for the look of Doomguard. The four claw-like towers are solid stone, curving to a height of about eighty feet above ground level. Smaller teeth-shaped structures could very well serve as cover for archers. The scale of these features will become more obvious as we examine each floor in detail.


Ground Level

 


Let us begin with ground level. Here is a sketch of the floor plan…

 

 

This level has a height of about thirty feet, though that figure includes the floor, which is a few feet thick itself. The exterior walls are a full ten feet thick, and the walls of the Throne Room and Hall are four feet thick. All other interior walls have a thickness of one foot.

            The main exterior doors are solid oak, replacing the bone doors that originally came with the Keep. The throne room doors are also oak, and equally thick. Between the two is a large, iron portcullis. Oddly, though there is a locking mechanism for keeping the portcullis open, there is no winch for raising it. The other doors on this level are a full eight feet wide, twenty foot high, and also made of sturdy oak.

            Both sets of double doors, the two doors that lead from the gate to the halls, and the four doors that lead to the towers all lock via crude drop-bar arrangements. It should be noted that all of the stairwell doors lock in such a way as to keep intrudes in the stairwell.

            The throne room itself is lines with massive stone pillars. Around the base of each pillar is a ring of three gargoyles; each pillar also sports three torch sconces. The dais, upon which the throne used to sit, rises to a height of about three feet. The secret door, which leads to a staircase down (underneath the staircase pictured here), swings inward on a simple mechanism. Since the throne is missing, it is not quite as secret as it used to be.

            The purpose of the other six rooms on this level is unclear.

 

Roof Level

 

Although two of the towers are solid stone on this level, false doors identical to the other tower doors have been installed to confuse intruders. The two true tower doors also have sturdy iron portcullises barring entry.

 

 

Stairs lead up the fifteen feet to the platforms that form the roof of each tower. The earlier aerial elevation makes this arrangement more clear. The entire roof, and each platform, is lines with large, teeth-like protuberances. As a final touch to the defenses, an iron grill (not shown) is situated directly above the ground-floor gateway, such that hot oil or water can be poured onto intruders trapped between the two gates.

            The main structure on this level appears to be a stable, whose rooms are about twenty feet high. The exterior door is of the same quality as the double doors on the ground level, though it lacks a portcullis. The stalls inside are, surprisingly, also made of stone. At the rear of the stable are two rooms, perhaps for grooms, and a staircase leading down to the halls of the ground level. The tower doors, stable door, and stable stairway door all lock via the typical bar mechanism.

 

Basement Level

 

Two of the tower staircase from the ground floor lead down to this level. A third staircase leads down to the dungeon level. A final staircase leads from the secret door in the throne room to an escape tunnel, which descends to a depth of about 60 feet. Unfortunately, the tunnel ends abruptly after running 100 feet, for its remainder was not brought over to the Prime material plane.

 

 

The main room on this level contains a perfectly round, 20-foot radius stone slab that rises from the floor to a height of about four feet. It is unclear whether this feature was a meeting table or an altar, for etched into its surface is the dim outline of a pentagram. Efforts at removing the etching have met with little success, and might consider covering the surface with wood or another stone slab.

            The double doors into this room both lock via the typical bar mechanism. The other siz rooms also have locking doors, although these are of the modern keyhole variety. These locks were installed by my father, and the keys are enclosed.
Dungeon Level

 

 

The final level of the Keep contains six small cells. The keys to these cells, plus the keys to the room in the basement, are enclosed with this message. Also enclosed are two skeleton keys, one which works with each basement-level room, and one which works with each of these cells. Two copies of each key are provided, for a total of 28 keys.

            The circular feature on this level is a well, on a foot-high dais. This well originally contained substances other than water, but my grandfather cleared it, and had the shaft extended until it reached the underground spring. Unfortunately, a winching/bucket mechanism has not been installed.