Castle Solguard

**Overview**

Castle Solguard is the 3rd largest castle on Alpine Realm. It has an easy to access POI, /poi castle-solguard (Provided by player MaheEvil) which will let any visitor be able to access the entire city and it's surrounding lands, of which provide great views of this stunning monument. It's unusual and unique red palette make this fortress stand out among the taiga forest it stands in.

**Geography**

Castle Solguard is situated in a unique environment. It has a wide variety of biomes surrounding it, which only add to the city's diversity. The city is surrounded by a river on three sides, with the same river looping around far to the west, giving the city's land the feeling of an island. A large farmland covers the land just south of the city, just before the river and the Suncrest Peaks, a mountain range that acts as a natural wall past the river to the South and Southeast. To the north, past the river, is a large plains biome, which the Alpine Highway outskirts passes through. There are three roads that lead out of the city and connect to the highway. The North road is the most direct route to the highway. The East route leads through the Suncrest peaks and links up to the South road, where they both travel Southeast to link up with the highway. The South road goes around the Suncrest peaks through a swamp, after which it turns East, connecting the the east road.

**Roleplay Significance**

In terms of roleplay, Castle Solguard is very significant. It is the capital city of the kingdom of Solara (see Solara), one of the largest and most powerful kingdoms in Alpine. The city and kingdom have a very long-standing history on the server, not only roleplay wise, but project wise as well. The city might be small for a capital, but despite the size of the kingdom, most land is untamed, with the majority of inhabitants living in small villages throughout the land. The city is home to one of the most dedicated and elite military forces in Alpine: the Hearth Guard. The Guard is a defense force, never used outside of the kingdom. They specialize in foreign combat, mostly sue to their operations in and out of the nether. These well-trained guards are trained in warbows starting from the age of seven, until they are ready for basic arms training at eighteen.

Castle Solguard is home to the kingdom's monarchy. A king and queen call Solguard their home, however, the queen spends most of her time ruling her kingdom of origin, so she is more often than not away from the kingdom. However, King Sham Dayiclad (player Shampoto) rules his castle and kingdom almost entirely with one hand, as tasks in the kingdom are relatively easy. Most villages have local governments and councils to help themselves, and they are law-abiding citizens.

**Project Solara\* and the building of the city**

Shampoto started constructing the red fortress on January 11th, 2020, with construction and renovations still happening. Renovations and areas of improvement are still being spotted everyday, and the list of work seems to be growing. However, despite all the changes, the overall feel and theme of the castle does not change, and has slowly been developing into a very unique style. It has gone hrough at least 2 redesigns, walls, cities, and keep alike. The castle follows very basic patterns of realism, with structurally-realistic designs. Though the castle shares its own of fantastical inspirations, it does have a slight influence from real-world locations such as Malbork Castle and Trakai Island. Being over one year old, no clear finish date is in sight for this part of the project, but it looks as though it will be complete (interiors excluded) within the following six months. Castle Solguard is truly a testament to the changing of time and the adoption of new ideas.

*\*Project Solara is a recently-given name to the overall development of Alpine Realm's first kingdom with multiple settlements. This includes Castle Solguard, the port city Solstrom, and a few smaller settlements hopefully planned for the future.*

(PS. IF you're lucky enough, you might be able to find a sheep named "PJ" wandering around the keep. This is reference to a plush that Shampoto owns with the same name.)