The keep itself nearly fills a narrow cleft high in the mountain. It is not a place reached casually, for the only proper approach is by a perilous bridge linking the fortress to one shoulder of the mountain. Those who dislike heights would do well to conduct their business in Suzail and let others carry goods to and from this remote hold.

The Bridge

The bridge to Hornshield is a windswept span of some ninety feet, lit at night by rows of flickering lanterns and watched at all hours by archers. A ballista is trained along its length, ready to hurl heavy javelins down the bridge at anyone attempting a direct assault. Attackers would need to leap high, cling beneath the bridge, or otherwise perform acrobatics of uncommon nerve to avoid such fire, and there is a drop of some two hundred feet awaiting any who slip.

In times of danger, the defenders can withdraw massive stone support rams back into the walls of the keep. When this is done, the hinged bridge falls away from Hornshield and slams against the shoulder of Eastmount, the eastern flank of Mount Shalandragar, hurling anyone standing upon it into the cleft below. When the danger has passed, the bridge is hauled back into place by immense steel chains. These chains provide another possible route into the fortress for desperate intruders, though flaming oil or well-timed heat metal spells can make that approach unpleasant in the extreme.

The Artisans of Hornshield

Hornshield today is a small but thriving community of craftsmen. Its people include brasscasters, locksmiths, glassblowers, glasscutters, chainmakers, and armorers. Their best-known goods are preframed windows, the pride of the local glassworkers. These are sold frame and all in the cities of Cormyr and in nearby ports around the Lake of Dragons.

Much of the raw material used in Hornshield, and much of its finished work, is carried to and from certain warehouses in Suzail by a small, well-paid staff of wizards. At least one of these mages is always a spy in the service of the War Wizards, stationed in the keep to ensure that no enemy of Cormyr gains control of Hornshield’s armorers or is secretly outfitted by them.

Hornshield has no shops in the usual sense. A visitor wishing to purchase goods must go directly to the maker and bargain there. Delivery to addresses in Suzail can be arranged, which is just as well, since few sensible merchants care to haul fragile windows or heavy chains down from Shalandragar by ordinary means.

Life Within the Keep

All of Hornshield’s families dwell within the labyrinthine rooms of the fortress. They govern themselves through a collective council of elders and devote most of their attention to security, craft, and profit. Prominent families include the Nelduks, the Seshores, and the Tilthar.

The folk here have little patience for dreamers, idlers, or those who speak much and make little. They take great pride in their efficiency and output, and some refer to Hornshield as the most truly useful settlement in all Cormyr. Travelers who have heard the wider Cormyrean opinion—that Hornshield is a fortress full of half-mad craftsmen—are advised to keep such thoughts to themselves. Visitors who wear out their welcome have been thrust onto the mountainside with no more than what they had on their backs, and the keep doors barred behind them.

To reduce their dependence on outside food, the Hornshielders have begun constructing rooftop gardens roofed in glass. These are intended to grow food in the thin mountain air and make use of the skills of their own glassworkers. A spring deep within the keep provides drinking water, and from it the locals brew a strange, potent mushroom mash ale. The drink is very much an acquired taste; at first sip, it seems rather like drinking furry, moldy water.

Wards and Watchfulness

Hornshielders are wary of all strangers, and especially of wizards. The elders fear that some avaricious mage, perhaps a Zhentarim, will one day appear and attempt to enslave the whole community. To guard against such a fate, they keep a War Wizard on hand with a crystal ball for swift communication with the Palace of the Purple Dragon in Suzail. Their archers are also supplied with arrows of wizard slaying.

Visitors are treated with courtesy if they bring useful ideas, unusual tools, or items of interest, but they are kept under escort and are not encouraged to linger. Hornshield is a place that values trade, not company.

Long ago, preservative enchantments were laid upon the stones of the keep. These magics make detection and directional spells almost useless within its walls, a fact that no doubt comforts the elders and vexes anyone hoping to pry too deeply into the keep’s hidden chambers.

The Arrows of Beholder Slaying

One of Hornshield’s most guarded treasures is not gold, but a small store of enchanted arrows. A now-dead mage of the keep, Aumrathar Uernhands, was one of the few wizards in Faerûn ever to master the making of arrows of beholder slaying. Hornshield still possesses more than forty of these precious shafts, carefully hidden away.

Word of Aumrathar’s craft spread around the Dragonreach a generation ago, and adventurers have come seeking the arrows ever since. The Hornshielders know that such weapons may one day be needed for their own defense, and with Aumrathar dead there will be no more of them. Accordingly, they will sell no more than two arrows to any group in a single visit. The price does not fall below 7,500 gp for the first arrow and 9,000 gp for the second. They have no urgent need for coin, but a few well-sold arrows can fund Hornshield’s needs for three seasons or more, so they bargain with patient inflexibility.

The Smoking Mountain

Hornshield is an echoing place of hammers, furnaces, vats, chains, and hurried workers. The noise of its labor carries through the keep, while smoke from its workshops often streams so thickly from the cleft that from afar Mount Shalandragar can appear almost volcanic. Caravan workers and shepherds have been known to call it the Smoking Mountain, and the name suits it well enough when the forges are hard at work.

Places of Interest in Hornshield

Restaurant and Tavern

The Weary Worker

The Weary Worker is the nearest thing Hornshield has to a public house. Patrons wise enough to avoid the local mushroom mash ale will find the fare simple but skillfully prepared. The damp chill that lingers through much of the keep is held at bay here by thick, hot soups, stews, and sauces, all served in generous portions.

It is not a place of refinement, nor is it meant to be. It is a warm room in a cold fortress, much used by tired craftsmen, escorted visitors, and those whose business in Hornshield has not yet worn thin.

Trade and Exports

Hornshield is known for brasswork, locks, chains, armor, glasswork, glasscutting, and especially preframed windows. Its armorers are watched closely by the Crown, and its magical arrows are sought by adventurers of means. Goods may be bought directly from their makers and shipped to Suzail by arrangement.