Castle Montfort

"High tolls? Yes, I used to think so. Then half a dozen knights with men-at-arms came to rescue us from an Orc raiding party. Now I pay happily."

- Siegfried of Bogenhafen, Imperial Merchant, at Ludwig’s Nose

Castle Montfort is the fortress-capital of Montfort, which sits and guards the opposite end of Axe Bite Pass. It displays the finest example of fortification within the Old World, five mighty tiers of towering stone walls guard the pass at the western most end, another just slightly smaller fortress-garrison town sits at the pass's eastern end as well. The city is primarily a trade center charging a toll upon all whom enter through the gates of the pass, going both ways, even its own citizens.

It's craftsmen are renowned for their extensive mining operations and for the fine quality of their steel, weapons and armor, an influence of their very close association with the dwarves of the Grey Mountains. It is claimed Montfort's original foundation was Dwarfen, abandoned either during or soon after the war of the beards. Montfort and its lord stands as a stalwart bastion against the Greenskin tribes that now infest local valleys.

Overview
The main body of the castle is on the north side of the pass, with walls rising over sixty feet from the rock in five tiers, each independently defensible. The lower three tiers stop against the rock of a cliff-face, but the top two tiers and the keep are on a smaller peak and thus run all the way around. There is a well within the keep, which stories say is over a thousand feet deep. The water is certainly a long way down.

Double walls run from the lowest tier of the castle, closing the whole pass. They are anchored by a small castle at the far end and a large gatehouse in the centre. This is the only way to enter or leave the pass, and the place where tolls are charged. As a result, the town of Montfort is split in two. The town within the pass buys iron from mining caravans and forges it into useful goods before shipping them on, as the tolls are then a lower portion of the price. The town outside the pass provides services to merchants and is generally a more pleasant place to stay.

The craftsmen of Inner Montfort are the finest in Bretonnia, and their weapons and armour are highly respected. The inns of Outer Montfort are renowned for providing absolutely any sort of lodging you could desire, as long as you can find the right one. There is very little contact between the two towns, as even residents must pay to pass through the gate. It is said that a resident of Inner Montfort is more likely to have visited Altdorf than Outer Montfort; this may actually be true, as Inner Montfort is home to one of Bretonnia’s largest Imperial expatriate communities and the largest temple of Sigmar on Bretonnian soil.

Source

 * Knights of the Grail (RPG) -- pg. 79 - 81

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