Winterfell

Winterfell is the ancestral castle and seat of power of House Stark and is considered to be the capital of the North. It is in the center of the northernmost province of the Seven Kingdoms, on the kingsroad that runs from Storm's End to the Wall. It is situated at the eastern edge of the wolfswood, north of the western branch of the White Knife and Castle Cerwyn. Winterfell is south of the northern mountains and southwest of Long Lake, one hundred leagues (three hundred miles) southeast of Deepwood Motte.

### Notable places

Crypt, Great Keep, First Keep, godswood, Winter town

## Layout

Winterfell is a huge castle complex spanning several acres and protected by two massive walls. There is a village outside, the winter town. Winterfell has been built around an ancient godswood and over natural hot springs. The water is piped through walls and chambers to heat them, making Winterfell more comfortable than other castles during the harsh northern winters.

Inside the walls, the complex is composed of dozens of courtyards and small open spaces. Weapons training and practice take place in those yards. The inner ward is a second, much older open space in the castle where archery practice takes place. It is located next to Brandon's tower. Inside Winterfell stands the inner castle, which contains the Great Keep and the Great Hall. Winterfell's towers and halls have diamond-shaped window panes.

### Inner Castle

* The Great Keep is the innermost castle and stronghold of the castle complex. It was built over natural hot springs to keep it warm. Its walls are made of granite. The Great Keep contains bedchambers for House Stark as well as king's solar. The building is connected to the armory by a covered bridge. From a window on the covered bridge, one can see the entire yard. Beneath the Great Keep are cellars with narrow windows.

* The Great Hall is used for receiving guests and the place where the household dines together, including the King of the North. It is made of grey stone and has wide doors made of oak and iron, which opens to the castle yard, and a rear exit leads to a dimly-lit gallery. Inside it can hold eight long rows of trestle tables, four to each side of the central aisle, and the hall can seat five hundred people. There is a raised platform for noble guests, and the walls are covered with banners. The hall contains the high seat of the old Kings in the North. The seat's cold stone has been polished by the many kings who have sat upon it, and its massive arms are decorated with the carved heads of snarling direwolves.

### Courtyard and Other Buildings

* The First Keep, a squat and round drum tower, is the oldest surviving part of the castle but is no longer in use. Around it lies a lichyard where the Kings of Winter would bury their loyal servants. The keep has gargoyles atop it, which are rumoured to be built after the Andals arrived.

* Brandon's Tower, named after Brandon the Builder, is once the tallest watchtower in Winterfell. It's currently serving as sentinel tower, garrisoning the large amount of Winterfell's guardsmen.

* The ancient godswood of Winterfell has stood untouched for ten thousand years, with three acres of old packed earth and close-together trees creating a dense canopy, which the castle was built around. At the center of the grove stands an ancient weirwood with a face carved into it, standing over a pool of black water. Across the godswood from the heart tree, beneath the windows of the Guest House, an underground hot spring feeds three small pools, with a moss-covered wall looming above them. The godswood is enclosed by walls, and is accessed by a main iron gate, or smaller wooden ones.

* The glass garden is a greenhouse heated by the hot springs, which turn it into a place of moist warmth. It is used to grow fruits, vegetables and flowers. The garden has green and yellow glass panes locked in frames.

* The crypt of Winterfell, located near the First Keep, is where members of House Stark are buried. The underground crypts are long and narrow, with pillars moving two by two along its length. Between pillars stand the sepulchers of the Starks of Winterfell, the likenesses of the dead seated on thrones, with iron swords set before them to keep the restless spirits from wandering, and snarling direwolves at their feet. The crypts are deep under the earth, cavernous and bigger than the complex above ground. They are accessed by a twisting stone stair and a huge ironwood door that lies at a slant to the floor. The stair continues below to older levels where the most ancient Kings in the North are entombed.

* The Bell Tower is connected to the rookery by a bridge. The bridge is covered and runs from the fourth floor of the tower to the second floor of the rookery.

* The maester's turret is below the rookery.

* The Library Tower houses the library at Winterfell. A stonework staircase winds about its exterior.

* The Guards Hall is in line with the Bell Tower, and further back, the First Keep.

* Winterfell has undercrofts and cellars. The castle also has dungeons, including tower cells.

### Walls

Winterfell is a huge castle complex spanning several acres, defended by two massive walls of grey granite with a wide moat between them. The outer wall is eighty feet high, while the inner is one hundred feet high, with a wide moat between them. There are guard turrets on the outer wall and more than thirty watch turrets on the crenelated inner walls.
The great main gates have a gatehouse made of two huge crenelated bulwarks which flank the arched gate and a drawbridge that opens into the market square of the winter town. There is a narrow tunnel inside of the inner wall stretching halfway around the castle, allowing travel from the south gate all the way to the north gate without interruption. The Hunter's Gate is close to the kennels and the kitchens. It opens directly onto open fields and the wolfswood, so people can come and go without having to cross through the winter town. It is favored by hunting parties. The Battlements Gate is a small arched postern in the inner wall. It crosses the moat between the walls but does not have a passageway through the outer wall