Built long ago of dark stone, with gargoyles watching from seemingly every corner of the peaked roofs, Waldenhof is a town of perpetual gloom. As a traveller once remarked, “It looks like something right out of every child’s nightmare”. Though it has a dockyard at the bottom of the cliffs on which it looms, boats rarely come this far, in spite of the prospect of trade with the Dwarfs in the hills up-river. Castle Waldenhof dominates the countryside for miles around; many regard the sight of its black mass an omen of bad luck, for it is from here that Count von Carstein continues his cruel reign. The residents of Waldenhof lock and bolt their doors every night and let no one in, even should they be screaming for help. Only taverns are open in the evening, as is required by law. Some say this is because the inns of Waldenhof are favourite “hunting grounds” for the Count’s retainers.[1b]
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