Gwydberg

Gwydberg Castle (from Elder Speech Ard Gwyd: Sycamore Mountain) was a castle in Lower Angren and the former center of the cult of Morrigan.
Situated atop the sun-glittering mountain, the castle was defensible enough to counter many attacks. Its demise was brought not by a foreign army, but by the unconsciously casted curse of a priestess wronged by the castle's rulers.
== History ==
Since ancient times the intersection below the Holy Sycamore of Ard Gwyd had been considered as a seat of unnatural power, thought by Aen Seidhe elves to be an incarnation of Mori Rígain. When Nordlings reached the area, they adapted elven beliefs into the cult of goddess Morrigan and built a castle on the mountain around the sacred tree. Many religious writings were produced here and the sanctuary became a destination of pilgrimages. The popularity of religion brought splendor to the castellans, who rose to position of counts of Gwydberg.
The situation changed around the late 1250s, when Countess Ailen of Gwydberg banished the last of priestesses, Vela, because the latter accused Ailen's husband Constans of raping her. Unconsciously, Vela cursed the castle and the Sycamore heard her plead. In a disastrous storm the fortress was severely damaged and ravens started to attack the inhabitants forcing them to flee. The sole residents of the former sanctuary became were priestess Vela and cursed Ailen's daughter, Iola of Gwydberg.
Gwydberg remained a ruin until early 1270s when it was reached by two expeditions, one led by Kala of Gwydberg, Queen Cirilla's vassal, and another by merchant Bruno Messmer. Members of the latter discovered that the Sycamore was in fact a prison of an otherwordly entity trapped here millennia ago. Depending on circumstances, the castle remained abandoned or became a possession of either Kala, disenchanted Iola or Bruno's men.
pl:Gwydberg
Category:Fortresses
Category:Mountains