Stonewatch Keep is the most important military stronghold in Redridge Mountains. The city walls here are very thick, and the castle is also extremely sturdy. The Stonewatch Falls next to it rushes down through the bridge. The majestic sound of water can be heard clearly from a long distance away, which is very spectacular.
For hundreds of years, this has been the forefront in the battle against the dwarves in the north and the gnolls in Redridge Mountains. For the terrifying enemies like dwarves who have heavy siege weapons, and gnolls who are crazy and fight without regard for their lives, if the city walls are not thick and the castle is not large, it is impossible to deal with them.
The existence of Stonewatch Keep ensures that the enemy cannot attack Lakeshire without occupying this place, let alone advance to Eastvale or even Goldshire. Therefore, Stonewatch Keep has become the safety core of the human forces in the entire Redridge Mountains. Its sturdiness has become more and more exaggerated under the continuous reinforcement of generations of kings.
A few years ago, when the Dark Portal opened, even the vanguard led by the then Warchief Blackhand himself almost suffered a defeat here. It was not until the main army arrived that they relied on a numerical advantage of more than ten or even dozens of times that of the defenders, as well as the terrifying magic of the elite warlocks of the Shadow Council, to blast the stone wall and successfully occupy this place.
Today, due to several damaged parts of the city wall, Stonewatch Keep has lost its past glory. There are damages and gaps everywhere. The difficulty of its reconstruction is also extremely great. Therefore, the reconstruction progress is extremely slow to this day.
Jess dismounted from a camp outside Stonewatch Keep. Perhaps it was because of the fresh air in Redridge Mountains, or perhaps it was because looking at the scenery down the mountain made him feel relaxed and happy. Along the way, Jess felt that his body and mind had relaxed a lot. I hope Gerred can recover to normal as soon as possible like him.
When a guard saw that he was from the Wizard's Sanctum, he directly led him across the bridge and into Stonewatch Keep to meet the commander here.
The commander of Stonewatch Keep has a crew cut. He sized Jess up and didn't say anything for a long time.
Jess stood in the middle of the courtyard of Stonewatch Keep and felt very uncomfortable. He was a little suspicious. Are these veterans who have experienced the war with the orcs more sensitive to dark magic or something like demons than mages? Did he reveal something somewhere?
"What are you doing here?" he asked.
"Jess Setho." Jess replied. "From the Wizard's Sanctum in Stormwind."
"There's no need to keep emphasizing that you are from the Wizard's Sanctum. I know what that place is." The commander put his hand on his waist and said, "There are also several mages in our castle. Mages are nothing special."
Jess said, "I was entrusted by a mage to come here and deliver something. A very important package."
The commander nodded and said sarcastically, "Things of mages are always very important."
"My boss asked me to deliver the package to Martin Hallor personally." Jess said.
"Martin Hallor." The commander looked at the people around him and asked, "Is that the young man who is bald in his twenties?"
The people beside him nodded in agreement. The commander said, "It seems that you really are from there. I'm just a little curious how a person like you can cross the entire valley alone and come to Stonewatch Keep. Didn't you encounter any trouble on the way? Gnolls, murlocs and so on."
"He is a mage, colonel." A soldier beside him reminded. "Mages always have their own ways."
"No need for your nonsense." After the commander who was called colonel finished speaking, he glanced at Jess and asked, "Is that horse yours?"
"No, sir." Jess answered honestly. "The horse belongs to the Mage District. After the mission is completed, I still need to return the horse. So it needs to be done as soon as possible."
"Call me Colonel Todman." Colonel Todman waved his hand and said to a young soldier beside him, "Take him to see those mages. It seems that the lake valley is really much more peaceful than before these days."
"Also feed that horse. Look at how that beautiful little girl is so hungry. Tsk tsk."
Colonel Todman stared at the package in Jess's arms until the guard led him into the interior of Stonewatch Keep. There are soldiers, guards, and civil officials coming and going everywhere inside. It seems very busy.
However, the people here are dressed differently from the army in Stormwind and the militia in Lakeshire. Jess asked the person leading him curiously, "Are you with Stormwind?"
"We are of course loyal to King Varian." The soldier leading him replied. "But after the war with the orcs, we have become an independent army led by Colonel Todman. We are responsible for garrisoning Stonewatch Keep to prevent the conflicts between the Blackrock orc tribe in the north and the Dark Iron dwarves from affecting here. Of course, we are also responsible for maintaining the surrounding security. Now the main problem is the gnolls."
"The mages of the Wizard's Sanctum helped a lot in the battle to recapture Stonewatch Keep last year, sir." While climbing the stairs, the soldier turned around and said with a smile, "Colonel Todman didn't mean to target you when he spoke like that. It's just that the situation is tense now. The gnolls are constantly coming up with new tricks, such as poisoning, setting off bombs, stealing and so on. They always want to cause some trouble."
"I understand." Jess said. "The Fork is also very tense all the time. The kingdom has deployed a lot of troops there."
"Really? Are the gnolls there still so rampant?" The soldier sighed and said, "I have an older sister who does business in Glen Town. She often needs to come and go to Lakeshire. I haven't been back for several years. I hope she is still safe."
When they reached the second floor, the soldier knocked on a wooden door beside him and said, "Several masters of the Wizard's Sanctum are usually here, reading books and doing research. When someone here is injured or sick, they all ask them for help. It's really too hard."
At this time, a middle-aged man with black hair opened the door.
"Master Morgans." The soldier said. "He is from the Wizard's Sanctum in Stormwind. He said he is here to deliver a package. If there is any problem, call me. I will be downstairs."
"Thank you." The middle-aged man said.
Morgans?
Jess still remembers this person. Morgans was originally a mage in Stormwind. However, he was expelled from the Wizard's Sanctum because he studied forbidden dark magic. Therefore, he has always held a grudge. In the end, he betrayed the kingdom and helped the Blackrock orcs capture Stonewatch Keep.
Obviously, he has not been expelled from the kingdom and the Wizard's Sanctum yet, and other mages have not discovered that he is involved with dark magic.
At this time, Morgans is not very old. He is probably less than forty years old. He has a thin horse face and a rather gloomy temperament.
He has long black hair and is wearing a close-fitting shirt and trousers. When looking at people, he slightly raises his head, appearing a little arrogant.
Morgans sized up Jess. Jess suddenly remembered that his warlock staff from an orc was still behind him.
Won't it be discovered immediately? He never expected that he would run into such a powerful mage here.
However, Morgans didn't care at all what was behind him. He just looked at the thing in his hand. Perhaps it wasn't the package from Malin, but the warlock bag on Jess's waist.
"You are sent by Master Malin? Come in first."