The Old Fort (Patreon)

Along the roads of the old empire are a number of fortifications that either date back to the empire itself, or to those who sought to claim these lands after the collapse. This particular fort was built directly on the old road, and you can find stones that were salvaged from the road itself as well as other old imperial structures mixed into the construction.

No part of the original structure remains in good shape. The gates have been replaced with thinner wooden gates after the old ones rotted out; the curtain wall has collapsed on one side where the hill side gave out under the weight, and the tower is slightly canted and the upper levels have fallen away leaving it open to the rain and wind.

The wooden inner structures are both far more recent than the stone structure, and even they are slouching and showing their age. The whole structure seems to be just barely holding back the encroaching forest and swamp – and is now home to those who would be unwelcome in the “nearby” towns about two days travel away.

The current tenants have dredged the old well, shored up the outbuildings, and have tried stacking the stones from the fallen wall up along the crest of the ridge where it stood – making it so something sneaking in will likely disturb the stones to alert them if nothing else. In the south centre of the courtyard is a dug out fire pit and spit roast large enough to handle a whole catoplepas should the need arise.

Thanks to Andy Solberg who’s lizardfolk infested fort along the old Poldaran road in the Tales of the Iron League game inspired just about every detail of this map.

This map was drawn at 4 squares per inch and 1200dpi. For VTT users this means each square is 300 pixels in size. Assuming 10′ squares you would need to resize it to 140 pixels per square, for 5′ squares the usual 70 pixels per square

The Old Fort map is available with and without grid at 1200dpi here https://dysonlogos.blog/2020/05/11/the-old-fort/