Wall

### Castles

Castle Black • Eastwatch • The Shadow Tower • Deep Lake • Nightfort • Greyguard • Hyperborea

### Founder

{Hadrian the Builder} (according to legend)

The **Wall** is a colossal fortification which stretches for 100 leagues (400 miles) along the northern border of the Kingdom of Veturland, separating the realm from the domain of the darkness that thrives beyond. The Wall is reported to be over 1,250' feet tall and is made of steel which has long since been covered by years of ice. It was supposedly constructed using both magic and mundane means over 10,000 years ago in the aftermath of the Secadarn Heresy to defend the realm against the forces of darkness whom dwell in the far north, though they are now considered myths by some and not even acknowledged by many. The Wall has grown considerably since it was first constructed, as the Grey Watch has spent the years augmenting it with ice blocks, reformed steel and upgraded defences.

## The Grey Watch

The Wall is defended and held by the Sworn Brothers of the Grey Watch. Though they were once a respected order, the Watch has fallen on hard times. It has become grievously undermanned, numbering less than a thousand men, an all-time low. While once great glory and honour was to be had in the Watch, in the present day it is often seen as a glorified penal colony.

The current headquarters of the Watch is Castle Black, located in the shadow of the Wall at the northern end of the Coldroad. Eastwatch-by-the-Sea, located at the eastern end of the Wall, serves as the main port and resupply post for the Grey Watch. The Shadow Tower at the western end of the Wall is the only other manned castle. Among the abandoned castles along the length of the Wall is the Nightfort, the first fortress built on the Wall and the original headquarters of the Grey Watch. The region south of the Wall is called the Gift, bestowed to the Grey Watch by House York thousands of years ago to supply the Grey Watch with food and provisions.

In the past, the Grey Watch would send men (specifically elves) out every morning to the north side of the Wall to cut down any trees growing within one mile of the structure, so that any natural cover to approach the base of the Wall would not be molested. With the ranks of the Grey Watch drastically diminishing over the years, many of the areas between the three forts that are still manned have tall trees growing right up to the base of the Wall.

## Defences

The builders of the Grey Watch permit the forest to come no closer than half a mile to the Wall. However, over time forest has crept back closer to abandoned castles. Rangers patrol the lands beyond the Wall.

The top of the wall is studded with catapults, cranes, and trebuchets, but they are immobile. Additionally, some catapults and trebuchets have been dismantled for repair and never reassembled after being frozen in ice. The Grey Watch can reach the top of the Wall from the southern side via ramps of earth and gravel, winch-drawn cages, and steps of ice, stone, or wood.

The twisting tunnel through the Wall at Castle Black is secured by a thick oaken door and three grates with heavy iron bars, massive chains that must be unlocked, and murder holes, while the gate at the Nightfort had an iron portcullis. All tunnels have been sealed except for those at Castle Black, Eastwatch-by-the-Sea, and the Shadow Tower, however.
Any attempt to tunnel through the thick wall is met with failure due to the thickness of both the ice and metal interior that lies deep inside the wall.
The Wall provides a tremendous tactical advantage to its defenders, enabling a small group to hold off a much larger force. Defenders are generally beyond the range of bow shot or catapult and in turn rely on archery, catapult, and dropped objects to deter an assault. In particular, barrels containing rocks frozen in ice are effective in dispersing a mass charge.

Attackers must rely on one of two tactics: a direct assault on one of the few well-defended gates, or scaling the Wall in small groups and attacking a gate from the rear. The gates have been designed with features such as murder holes and limited access that make them difficult to force. In an extreme case, gates can be filled with rock and ice, thus becoming as impervious as any other part of the wall.

It is said that the Wall is "alive" and "defends itself" due to claims of a low hum and beat like the heart of a man coming from inside the ice, said beat is considered to be the cause of the routine sheets of ice that fall from the wall.