Demongate

Demongate is the second fortress in the Steelhold series, set hundreds of years after the Fall of Steelhold and the rise of the Bloodkin.

History[]

Background[]

Demongate was originally founded by the northern Dwarves after rumors were heard of a Bloodkin invasion in the Southlands. Rather than assist their brethren, it was decided that instead that the mountain passes, previously not guarded as dwarves do not fight dwarves, would be garissoned to prevent invasion of the mountainhomes. Funded largely by the Knights of St. Zane, the largest and most vulnerable passage was to be defended by the fortress of Demongate.

The Quiet Years[]

The fortress was founded without issue. Sir Brenzen took over military matters (much to the chagrin of Vlad) while the fortress's civilian authority wound up in the hands of Thane. The fortress established itself rapidly, escaping the scarcity that often plagues young forts.

After the first year, Thane tired of running the fort and allowed Sir Brenzen to take over the civilian section. Sir Brenzen went about constructing the forts defenses (constructing the initial keep) and training the military, which he attempted to populate with Knights. However, most of the trained soldiers wound up in Vlad's squad instead. After the dwarves' obvious contempt for Brenzen's preachiness got to him, Sir Brenzen passed authority over to Gnora.

Gnora, despite her utter lack of any qualifications or training, proved to be a very effective overseer. Gnora properly equipped the military (somewhat lacking in equipment for some time), trapping the entrance and fighting off the first goblin attacks with minimal casualties, one of which was Brenzen's only disciple, Olin. Gnora also breached the caverns and discovered adamantine, which she refused to touch out of the belief that it was cursed. However, the fort was infiltrated by Corley (and possibly another, unrelated vampire) who had apparently broken with the Bloodkin. Gnora then returned to the fields, leaving the freshly proven fortress in the hands of Tarmid.

Tarmid ran the fortress effectively, keeping the dwarven population alive and rooting out a vampire. He also constructed Demongate's school before handing control over to Brother Cornelius, or Padre as he was known to his flock. It is around this time that Evening Prayers began; this highly enibriated group would gradually expand to hold most of the fortresses officials, and would act as a shadow government in years to come.

At the end of his year, Cornelius appointed Vladimir Uristovitch Demongate's Baron and next Overseer. Historians debate the ammount of alcohol that went into this decision. Surprisingly, Vlad did not destroy the fortress; instead he raised morale and the standard of living considerably, expanded and reogranized the military, completed the magma pumpstack begun by the previous Overseer and defeated many forgotten beasts. Unfortunately, the 'human' repitle-man vampire sent as a diplomat to the fortress was also defeated by Vlad, setting up future conflict with valuable trading partners. Having served his minimal year, Vlad returned to simply being the highest-ranking official and military strongman of Demongate, allowing a miners guild leader named Helgarde to secretly take control of the civilian population. (WIP)

Demongate's decline[]

(WIP)

Overseers (In Chronological Order)[]

Notable Residents[]

Alive:

Brother Cornelius
Thane
Thanatos
The Fractal Entity
Lokast
Sir Brenzen
Tarmid
Dantheman
FallenAngel
Beef Vanderhuge
Flame
Torvald
The Host
Zaerosz

Dead:

Olin
Captain Archmage
Jim the Fifth
Helgarde
FallenAngel
Vladimir Uristovitch
TalonisWolf
Gnora
Dantheman
Artyom Barkov

Unknown:

'Joyce'
The Masked Dwarf

Notable Architecture[]

(WIP)

Vlad's Tomb
Castle Helgarde
Surface Palisade
Church of St. Zane
DWEORH Headquarters (formerly Miner's Guild House)
The Stone Spider
Guardian's Meeting Chambers
The Demon Fortress
The Arena

Groups[]

Major Events[]

Military[]

The military, under the leadership of Vlad was, unlike Steelhold, is actually organized. The following squads existed as part of the ordinary force (although the knights are theoretically outside the command structure). By the year 666, the situation had changed; most of the military had been wiped out, with the portrayed squads reduced to a fraction of their former strength. During the year 666, however, the military was reformed under Sir Brenzen to its current state, with six full squads of soldiers.

1st Axe (Formerly Vlad; currently commanded by Tun Logenkazud)
1st Sword (Thanatos)
1st Hammer (Thane)
1st Crossbow (Formerly Dantheman; currently commanded by Rith Zesiden)
1st Hellguard (Melbil Arbanas, maces)
2nd Hellguard (Beef Vanderhuge, spears)
Knights of St. Zane (Currently just Brenzen, who has regained the position of Militia Commander)
Scribes of St. Zane (In addition to their other fortress duties, the Scribes serve to provide crossbow support to the melee forces. Tarmid has proved particularly adept at this role.)
Zaerosz serves as the fortress's lone bowdwarf, wielding an artifact longbow.
The Fortress Guard (Currently one member, the Captain of the Guard).

Currency[]

Demongate has no official currency, but it does have a small coin vault where coins of various denominations are stored. These coins were produced during varying years of the fortress's history, but the relatively small number of coins prevents them from being used in widespread circulation.

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