Rimewatch Keep
“I tell myself I'm keeping Ebonmoor safe. At night, I still see the faces of the people we turned away.”
— Sergeant Willem Grast, Rimewatch garrison
Rimewatch Keep is a fortified cliffside stronghold controlling the Ebonmoor end of the principal crossing from Vexenford. Under House Wilthorne, it has changed from a military gateway and trade post into one of the island's most severe quarantine checkpoints.
Overview
The keep occupies high ground above the water and the crossing, giving its garrison control over travelers, cargo, and access to Ebonmoor.
A small fishing and farming settlement developed beneath its protection during more peaceful generations. Docks, homes, markets, and services grew around the garrison because merchants and travelers regularly waited there before crossing.
The Rotmire Blight changed that relationship. Rimewatch now exists primarily to control entry, and the community beneath the keep lives under the same suspicion applied to outsiders.
History
Rimewatch predates the current political relationship between House Wilthorne and House Valkenmar. It was built during an older period of rivalry to guard the crossing, coastline, and approaches to Ebonmoor.
As relations stabilized, the fortress became a gateway rather than a frontier bastion. Trade and diplomacy passed through the crossing, and the settlement beneath the walls prospered from the traffic.
The destruction of Velmere, now the Gloom, changed Rimewatch's purpose almost overnight. The crossing was militarized, inspections hardened, and preventing possible Blight exposure became the keep's defining duty.
Present Day
Rimewatch remains under strict military control. Travelers are searched and examined before passage, and suspected illness may result in detention, refusal, exile, or worse.
The checkpoint's necessity and cruelty are difficult to separate cleanly. Every traveler turned away may represent a danger kept off the island or a person abandoned on the wrong side of the gate.
The bridge remains open, but movement is tightly restricted. The relationship between soldiers on the two sides of the crossing has grown more distrustful as Ebonmoor and mainland Faulmoor pursue increasingly different priorities.
The village beneath the keep continues to function, though fishing, farming, trade, and ordinary hospitality all operate under the pressure of quarantine enforcement.
Notable Locations
The Watcher's Gate
The Watcher's Gate is the principal inspection and holding point at the Ebonmoor end of the crossing. Travelers and cargo are processed here before being allowed farther onto the island.
The Iron Spire
The Iron Spire is the keep's forge and armory. Its work increasingly serves the garrison first, leaving less capacity for civilian commissions and repairs.
The Stone Flask
The Stone Flask is an inn and tavern near the fortress, historically used by merchants, soldiers, and travelers waiting to cross.
Notable People
Captain Edric Faulke commands the checkpoint and is publicly associated with uncompromising quarantine enforcement.