Wyrmhall

Wyrmhall (Ironclaw)

Ironclaw / Wyrmhall before its structural collapse

A strategic fortress nestled deep in the swamp lands west of Cormyr, it is one of few bastions as such and is operated by the Irungarten family, providing a defensive position, staging point and oversight of the farming of minerals, fluids and geyser gas from the region.

Wyrmhall is several hundreds of years old and was built by the Purple Dragons to aid in holding the western boundaries against a variety of threats.

While it is no longer a royal property but held by a private family, it is still regarded as a stop over for Purple Dragon forces traveling the area and indeed soldiers of Cormyr are welcomed and sheltered with open arms.

The Irungarten family takes obvious pride in their charge, having modeled the castles exterior and interior with their crests, banners, and imagery, reminding the swamp population of their presence at every opportunity.

The fortress provides barracks for up to 100 soldiers, and secure storage in its undercroft and inner vault.

Reaching Wyrmhall is a trivial matter so long as you know one of the several routes that lead to its gates, however many of these routes are precarious if not deadily depending on time of day, season and the travelers experience.

The Iron Garden and Irungarten Transformation

Wyrmhall's original character as a Purple Dragon waypoint has been dramatically transformed under Irungarten stewardship. What was once a military staging post is now the industrial heart of the most aggressive magical resource extraction operation in the Farseas.

Also known as Ironclaw, Wyrmhall sits atop the West Gate to Oghrann — the ancient dwarven ruins that provide access to the The Spirit Road — giving the Irungarten family strategic control over one of the three entry points to the swamp's most significant ethereal infrastructure.

The Black Fields

The landscape surrounding Wyrmhall, known as The Black Fields, has been visibly mutated by the byproducts of Irungarten's elemental distillation process. What was once swamp has become something else: soil that shifts colors, plant life that has adapted to Hydracephelate runoff in unsettling ways, and atmospheric distortions that make the region immediately identifiable from a distance.

The Black Fields are the production site for Hydracephelate — the most strategically valuable substance in the Farseas — generated by the Irungarten process of accelerating elemental death in grey-silver brine tanks and harvesting the residue.

Tycho's Tower

At the top of a thirty-story tower rising above the fortress city, Tycho Irungarten oversees his domain through a device called the Clutch — an arcane surveillance apparatus that gives him continuous oversight of Wyrmhall, the surrounding tar lands, and the network of outposts under Irungarten control. He entrusts minor progeny with small tasks from this vantage, testing their value in the operation.

Strategic Position

Wyrmhall's position makes it the single most strategically significant privately held location in the Farseas. It controls:

  • The West Gate to Oghrann (and thus one Spirit Road entry point)
  • Hydracephelate production for the entire western swamp
  • The grey-silver brine battery arrays housing the Irungarten's living fuel sources
  • The hostage Papa Croakus, head of the Swamp Gods pantheon

Any power seeking to challenge the Irungartens must contend with all of these simultaneously.