Qwes

Qwes is a set of ruins located in the Southern Wastes of Nordmaar, and are situated to the southeast of the city of Wulfgar. The ruins were once a Solamnic outpost that were built around 200 AC, and housed a complement of knights, squires, retainers and a force of Nordmen. The stone fortress of Qwes was designed to defend the realm of Nordmaar from the ogres of the Khalkist Mountains. For the next century, Qwes served as a waystation for Solamnic caravans, and also acted as a training ground, where the Solamnics were more than pleased to train the Nordmen in archery and normal combat.

With the outbreak of the War of the Lance in 348 AC, Qwes was the first settlement to come under attack in the northern realm. The fortress was decimated by the Red Dragonarmy, and all its inhabitants were killed. The fearsome power of the red dragons and the kapak draconians serving Dragon Highlord Phair Caron were so great, that the battle was literally over in mere minutes. All that remained of the smoking fortress was a two-storey ruin and the broken remnants of several watchtowers. At night, a spectral version of Qwes appears which is a representation of how the fortress appeared before the War of the Lance.

The ground floor of the fortress housed a great hall, kitchens, a storeroom, and a chapel dedicated to Paladine, Kiri-Jolith and Habbakuk. A set of stairs in the south-western section of the ground floor led to the upper floor. On the upper floor was a warrior’s hall, and the quarters for the servants, Crown Knights, Sword Knights and Rose Knights.

In 422 AC, the ruins were used as a staging ground by Caeldor the Betrayer and his undead minions, who were mounting a strike into the realm of Estwilde.

References

• Spectre of Sorrows, pp. 134-140