The Moathouse

Now a ruined keep of small size the moathouse has an exciting history of battles and monsters. It lies approximately 10 miles east of Hommlet, on the road toward the deserted town of Nulb. An overgrown and rugged path two miles long leads off the main road to the moathouse itself.

Moathouse History

When the Temple of Elemental Evil was built, this keep arose at the point where the evil influence reached farthest west. Building it was a great deal of work, because the area was wet and unstable. The builders had to drain the surrounding lands and dig down to the limestone to build a foundation (once they did, they allowed the water to return, channeling it into a moat around the fortress). The construction crews complained and whined, 'Why here?'
    The reason is that this fortress is over the site of an ancient shrine to Tharizdun. In time-lost days, clerics of the Dark God erected a great obelisk within a natural cave in an attempt to commune with their deity. When Tharizdun was imprisoned, they sealed the cave and diverted a minor underground stream so that even if the top of the shaft leading down to the cave were discovered, it would appear to be a pool.
    The original master of the place was a cultist of the Dark God named Noustan. Posing as a cleric of Zuggtmoy, he compelled the forces of evil to build here. The moathouse served its purpose, but each time the forces of good struggled against Elemental Evil, this outpost was the first to fall. The first time, when the moathouse was still new, a piched battle between two sizeable forces tore gaping holes in the walls, destroying the mostly wooden second story of the main structure, and the place was looted. The second time, as the temple was rebuilding itself, a particularly devious and vile cleric named Lareth the Beautiful took control of the moathouse. Lareth commanded a small number of troops, mostly humans and bugbears, who occupied only the dungeon of the moathouse. Shrewd and opportunistic, Lareth professed to serve both Lolth and Zuggtmoy at various times but was actually a cleric of Tharizdun. He and his servants were slain by the small band of local heroes who helped defeat the temple, with the aid of locals such as Y'dey and Elmo.
    Since then, the moathouse has fallen into even worse condition, and the dungeon has been relatively quiet - except for the ghouls and ghasts. These horrors seem to always be present, no matter how many are destoyed (this is due to the influence of Tharizdun's shrine, but no one knows that). Occaisionally Elmo comes out to the place, just to make sure all is quiet, and Spugnoir explores a few rooms in the dungeon from time to time, looking for magical treasure rumored to belong to Lareth. Over the years, even a few groups of adventurers have stopped by, but they always report what everyone else does - nothing new stirs in the moathouse.
    Until now.