Bloody Talon

The Bloody Talon serves as the only true entrance into the mountainous Kingdom of Highreach, an impassable fortress carved into the very mountains that threatens to crush any invading force. It is built of thick stone and guards the pass with reinforced oaken gates and steel portcullises that are defended by a slew of arrow slits and murderholes. It has been breached only once, taken during the Stahlheimian War of Annexation by the Stahlheimian Empire. In those days it was but a wooden palisade with a small garrison, and even then it was an arduous task. No modern army has tried to breach it, knowing that to try is almost certainly a death sentence for most of one's forces. It is so well fortified that beyond it there are relatively few castles or forts of any merit, save for Gryphon's Roost and the seats of powerful nobles, of course.