Thread:Litus the Mus/@comment-3462718-20130810012505/@comment-3462718-20130810033511

WEll, it's not described in the book Doomwyte (it's only canon mention) but I wrote a description for it in my story "Tales from Bowlaynee Castle". This is it, copied and pasted.

"Bowlaynee Castle was comparatively small for a fortress. It was an unusual structure, resembling a village more than it did a palace. Perched against a sheer cliff wall, overlooking the deepest and largest gorge in the Highlands, the castle was a safe haven for many northern goodbeasts and their families; its position and defenses made it practically immune from any sort of surprise attack.

The main building itself was technically the back wall of the structure; a somewhat dull rectangular block, much longer than it was wide, and only two stories high. The building rose above the black cliff face as if it were part of it, with not even a hairs-breadth of ground between the back wall and the edge of the gorge. Two tall, square towers rose high from the left and right sides of the building; the rest of the building had a long balcony above and a columned porch below, running the length of it; many archways and doors opened onto the porches, leading to rooms and corridors within. From the watchtowers at the ends of the palace, two thick stone walls projected straight outwards for some distance, encompassing a veritable maze of stone and wooden outbuildings of varying sizes. These walls were topped with gleaming spikes of glass and crystal; sharp, deadly, and impossible to climb over unnoticed. A third wall connected these two; this one had a battlemented top, with a broad walkway for sentries and a tall metal portcullis blocking an open arch in the base. A third tower arose from the dead center of this wall; the workings to raise the portcullis were inside it, as were the gatekeeper's quarters.

Atop this tower, in an open-walled, thatch-roofed structure, hung the pride and joy of Bowlaynee Castle, and all who dwelt within. It was called the Eye of the Bruinne; a beautiful, silver-plated gong, chased with golden carvings in a language long forgotten and studded around the rim with small rubies, one particularly large one adorning the center. The gong, which was as tall as a full-grown hare and half again as wide, had been forged by some skilled craftsbeast in ancient times; it had been given as a gift to the first Laird of the Castle by that same beast, in gratitude for that long-ago monarch's saving his life. The Eye of the Bruinne was used as most fortresses would use a notification bell; however, to be allowed to ring it was an honor that was only conferred on a small army skilled and rigorously trained beasts, as the ancient treasure was always treated as carefully as possible for fear of damaging it. These beasts took turn at the post, alternating each week or so. "