Crandalholme Fortress

Summary
The Crandalhome fortress, once a rich thriving fortress, now the remnants and ruins of what life once existed in Varkhest. The fortifications run deep into the ground supporting itself, while also stretching down further into a small underground city beneath the ruins.

The local legend tells the tale that the fortress was seen sinking into the ground on one muddy day, almost by magic intervention.

History
The ruins, once teeming with life, used to be a formidable fortress that some wanderers found solace from the outside world. One day its denizens found themselves developing feverish symptoms; a plague had struck. The citizens decided to move to the underground areas of the fortress so that they could isolate themselves from the afflicted. One day a man wearing a mask that resembled a bird's beak, a plague doctor of sorts, appeared seemingly out of nowhere.

The doctor promised them that their worries of the sickness would soon be over, as long as they did everything he told them. “Your children are extremely vulnerable to the illness. You must take their lives to end their suffering, and to slow down the spread of the disease.” the doctor spoke to the people. The citizens reluctantly followed the doctor's orders and killed their children. About a week passed, and the plague didn’t seem to die down.

“The immune systems of your women are lacking. You must slay them if you wish to stop the spread of the plague.” The doctor spoke to them again. The men were desperate to survive, they feared that their lives would come to an end soon; they did as the doctor asked and slayed the women of the settlement. About a week passed, and the plague didn’t seem to die down.

Only a small population of men were left. The plague had certainly reached them, and they became extremely ill with the plague. Their bodies ached with the worst pain of their lives, they became unable to move, all they were capable of was groaning in agony.

One day the doctor returned to the fortress, pleased with the result of the plague. Slowly, one by one he searched through the settlement, bludgeoning each of the surviving afflicted. The doctor savoured the sight of blood draining from his victims, it made him feel alive. Blood stained the roads. Crandalholme Fortress’ inhabitants were now very much dead. The doctor found power in the death of life forms around him. Not only was the power absorbed by him in the form of dark magic, but the doctor found pleasure in seeing death. Crandalholme Fortress was merely a name soon to be forgotten, as a result of the mysterious Dr. Hallow.