Gates Keep
pop 13,000
Major Trade : Iron Ore
Governor Elect : Malak

 

Gates Keep sits on a road that is considered a very hard path to travel. Many years ago Gates Keep was founded by two men who would travel the road trading between Kah Ling, Tundras and Ba'ath Morgul. The two men were once royal guards for the king who retired into weapons trading. The road to Ba'ath Morgul was a treacherous road full of ambushing monsters and bandits. The road was also a bottle neck because of the mountains to the sound and to the north which added to the ever present danger. After years of traveling this road Jim Gates and John Keep got sick of the consistent need for escort and hired guards. The two men ventured to start a stopping point in which they could run patrols of men to keep the roads clear.

Jim and John started the town by the grace of the king. They asked for some money, soldiers and royal guards to help with the project and in return the king asked for monthly payment. Jim and John loaded 14 caravans full of supplies and men and headed out on a crisp spring day from Castle Tumult. On their way to their new location the two men stopped at New Hope and Hopesfall recruiting people who would come to work in the town.

Without many incidents the caravan made it to their location. A few soldiers were wounded on the way by some ambushes but the amount of people available made things easy. The people they recruited in Hopesfall and New Hope were carpenters, masons, medics and shitesweepers. It took a year for the town to really begin to take shape. They started the town right on the road, in the name of the king the built a toll town. They built the walls from mountain edge to mountain edge which was about three miles across. They built two large gates on each end of the town allowing for passage in and out of the town on the main road. Along the walls they build many archer towers and ballista towers to fend off any monsters from attacking.

The town began to charge a toll after a year of being settled in place for road upkeep, patrol upkeep and payment to the king. Gates Keep became a favored place for soldiers to get experience fighting as they would be sent out on hourly patrols to the east and west clearing it of any bandits and monsters. Many common folk made their way to Gates Keep to start businesses that would support soldiers and guards. Many brewers, armor smiths, weapon smiths and teamsters occupy the city as civilians.

Gates Keep favorite hot spot is the Red Rabbit Brewery which has become one of Aiteagens most popular ales. The ore available to the brewer of the ale allows for him to create the beautiful bright red ale that almost looks like blood. You can always tell when someone has had Red Rabbit ale for their tongue is stained a bright red color for hours. This was also designed to keep the soldiers and guards from doing their jobs drunk.

 

Chapter 2

 

Jim and John ran the city for a long time until “the uprising.” A large force of monsters years ago attacked many of the towns to the west. These towns were believed to not have survived and Gates Keep was one of them. During the uprising many civilians were killed in Gates Keep along with its walls and gates. Jim and John were killed in the process of this major attack. The king dispatched many teams of people out to the west to find out the fate of all the cities and towns.

One brave man by the name of Malak was the first successful person to make his way to Gates Keep. What he found was a town nearly a pile of rubble and no one around. With the help of a few outsiders he pressed his way into the area killing everything in his path that wasn't friendly to Tumult. Malak discovered almost have the townsfolk had secured themselves in the mines carved into the walls of the mountain side within the town. They were only the civilians and a few select warriors donned to protect them. Malak decided to pick up the pieces where Jim and John left off and started the rebuilding process.

Two years into rebuilding the town almost everything had been restored to its previous glory, even the Red Rabbit Brewery. They were paying their taxes to Tumult and providing jobs to the soldiers and guards and making the roads safe again. Then the skies turned black and the people grew scared but nothing happend. The people of Gates Keep learned a few months later as to what happened after soldiers had returned from their deliveries to what the fate of Castle Tumult was.

Gates Keep claimed its independence as a small town. Many of the guards and soldiers stationed in the town swore their allegiance to Malak and his town. The people swore their lives to Malak and to follow him without question for they believe they own him their lives. Gates Keep has discovered a new evil aside from the monsters and bandits that still try to inhabit the roads from Kah Ling and Ba'ath Morgul. A looming presence has made itself clear near or inside Castle Lockhart. There is no doubt to the people of Gates Keep that there is something going on inside that wreckage of a castle and swamp. The archers in the towers and guards on patrol report more undead attacks from the east that anything else. Malak sends adventurers all the time to the evil location to never see them return.

Gates Keep remains a great place for soldiers and adventurers to go to earn jacks and experience. There are many jobs to be held in the town and businesses are always welcome. Gates Keep has recently found iron ore in the mines in the northern mountains of the town. This has become a life line for the economy in Gates Keep and helps keep many miners employed.