Castle Black

Castle Black is the main stronghold of the Night's Watch and the seat of their Lord Commander. The castle is situated along the Wall between Queensgate to the west and Oakenshield to the east, near the center of the Wall, at the northern end of the kingsroad. The village of Mole's Town is located half a league to the south along the kingsroad.

Despite there being nineteen strongholds along the Wall, Castle Black is one of only three still manned by the Night's Watch, the others being the Shadow Tower and Eastwatch-by-the-Sea.

## Layout

Castle Black is not a true castle, as it has no walls to defend it to the west, east, or south. Only the Wall stands to the north. It consists of several stone towers and timber keeps. Beneath the keeps and towers, there is a series of subterranean passages which connect all of the buildings. They are rarely used during the summer, but in the winter it is the only way to travel to different parts of the castle.

Castle Black has a small sept run by Septon Cellador but no godswood. Men who follow the old gods can travel half a league beyond the Wall into the haunted forest, where a small grove contains a rough circle of nine weirwood heart trees.

### Towers

* The Lord Commander's Tower, also called "Lord Commander's Keep", is where the Lord Commander's quarters are located.
* The King's Tower is a hundred foot tall round tower with merlons atop it, overlooking the gate and the foot of the wooden stair leading up the Wall. The entry door is made of oak studded with iron. Although it is reserved for honored guests and named for kings, no king has visited the tower in over a hundred years.
* Hardin's Tower has a broken battlement, from which stone has spilled into the yard below. It has a severe lean.
* The Lance is the tallest tower at the castle, though only a third of the height of the Wall. It is slim and crumbling.
* The Tower of Guards is the strongest of the towers. It lies next to the kingsroad and the Wall, and guards the wooden stair.
* The Silent Tower is a tower at Castle Black.

### Buildings

* The common hall is a great timbered keep where the brothers take their meals. Crows nest in the rafters.
* The rookery is the nesting place of Castle Black's ravens. Consequently, the maester's quarters are located in a stout wooden keep beneath it.
* The armory is where the equipment for weapons practice is kept. Donal Noye forges weapons and armor here.
* The old Flint Barracks is where most of the brothers reside.
* The vaults, located underground, contain food stores and the library. Castle Black's library contains records and old books that even the Citadel does not have. Amongst other topics, it covers drawings of the faces in the weirwoods, the language of the children of the forest, and scrolls from Valyria.
* The Shieldhall is a feast hall of dark stone. In years past, when the Night's Watch was much larger in number, its walls had been hung with rows of brightly colored wooden shields. When a knight took the black, his shield would adorn its wall and he would take up the plain black shield of the brotherhood.
* The Grey Keep is another building at Castle Black.

### Tunnels

There are a series of tunnels underneath Castle Black called wormwalks or wormways, which connect the various keeps and towers. These tunnels are mostly used during the winter, when the cold and snow, sometimes forty or fifty feet deep, make it impossible to travel above ground. The large library of Castle Black lies along one of these tunnels.

### Lichyard

Beside the eastern road from Castle Black is a lichyard with the graves of some members of the Night's Watch. Beside the lichyard are ancient tombs.

### The Wall

The gate guards the tunnel through the Wall, which is long, twisting and narrow. Three iron gates block the inner passage. Each of these gates is locked and has a murder hole above it. The outer door to the tunnel is solid oak, about nine inches thick.

The great switchback stair climbs its way up from Castle Black to the top of he Wall. It is made of wooden stairs, anchored by huge beams frozen into the Wall itself.

An iron cage attached to a winch is used to ascend and descend the face of the Wall. The cage can hold ten men and is located near Castle Black's well. Supplies and barrels of gravel can be transported to the top via the cage.

Facilities on top of the Wall include a small warming shed for the men on watch located next to the crane.

## History

Castle Black is an ancient stronghold, although the Nightfort, the first castle of the Night's Watch, is said to be twice as old. Castle Black at some point became the seat of the Lord Commander, taking over that role from the Nightfort at least six hundred years ago.

Lord Commander Lothor Burley hosted Queen Alysanne Targaryen and her dragon, Silverwing, at Castle Black in 58 AC. The dragon refused to fly over the Wall despite Alysanne's efforts.

Castle Black once held over five thousand fighting men along with their servants, but that has dwindled to a tenth of that number. According to Lord Commander Jeor Mormont, Castle Black now holds six hundred brothers.

Craster is said to be the son of a member of the Watch and a woman from Whitetree. When the wildling tried to show their child to the Sworn Brother, she was chased away from Castle Black.