A Geography of Haarth: Old Keep
The A Geography of Haarth post series is traversing the full range of locales and places from The Wall of Night world of Haarth. Each locale is accompanied by a quote from either The Heir Of Night, The Gathering Of The Lost, or both.
And now we’re in “O”!
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Old Keep: the original Keep of Winds (stronghold of the House of Night), now abandoned.
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“Loose tiles rattled and slid, bouncing off tall towers into the black depths below, and the wind whistled through the Old Keep, finding every crack and chink in its shutters and blowing the dust of years along the floors. It whispered in the tattered hangings that had once graced the High Hall, back in those far-off days when the hall had blazed with light and laughter, gleaming with jewel and sword. Now the cool, dry fingers of wind teased their frayed edges and banged a whole succession of doors that long neglect had loosened on their hinges. Stone and mortar were still strong, even here, and the shutters held against the elements, but everything else was given over to the slow corrosion of time.”
~ from © The Heir Of Night, The Wall of Night Book One: Chapter 1 — The Keep Of Winds
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“Think what you would of Haimyr the Golden, Jehane Mor reflected, listening, but he could tell a good tale. He made their arrival at the Keep of Winds, in the middle of a formal Derai feast, sound full of portent, an opening hung about with the frayed darkness of ancient story—then let that darkness deepen into the blood and horror of the Darkswarm’s surprise attack and the disappearance of the Heir of Night. The request for the heralds’ assistance with the subsequent search became a flourish out of legend, and every step into the shadows of the Old Keep more fraught, sweeping the listeners through the Darkswarm attacks and into the final, deadly encounter with the Raptor of Darkness.”
~ from © The Gathering Of The Lost, The Wall of Night Book Two: Chapter 10 — A Pebble Falls
It was Malian exploring the Old Keep, in the early part of HEIR, that hooked me onto your work, Helen.
And that got a few rewrites, too, so am glad it worked — at least for you! — in the end.:)