Arx Lupina: Ager Privatus of Avernus ex Flambeau

Arx Lupina, known by the locals of Bendorf hamlet as Wolffestung, is an old hill fort some 4 miles down the river from the city of Koblenz and less than a mile south of Bendorf. It is most conveniently reached by boat and has a dock of it's own at the foot of a 20 meter high very steep rock cliff. A narrow and winding set of steps is cut in the rock and leads to a small gate in the outer wall of the Ager proper. It can also be reached from the hamlet of Bendorf by following a narrow cart trail where the undergrowth seems to be recently and effectively burned away so that it is fit for travel most of the year.

The locals are reluctant to act as guides and offer vague and inconsistent directions to travellers curious and foolhardy enough to ask for them. If pressed, they might tell you that the hill has been used as a refuge during the violent tribe wars of the pagan ancestors and many still believe that the ancestral spirits haunt the hill and often take the form of some unnatural beast. A local noble established the small citadel to levy a duty from travellers on the river about five decades ago. But the curse couldn't be lifted.

He hung his young wife from the tower in a jealous outburst and soon ended his own life by diving off the cliff. The covenfolk fled and the place fell into disrepair. The ghost of the young lord Wolfenzeiger is said to have haunted the hill and the nearby pastures until recently, when a new and strange master took residence in the fort. Two shepherds swear to have witnessed a great battle between the newcomer and a giant man-wolf. Fire and strange lights were seen as far as old Dieter's mill north of Bendorf. But since the stranger clad in black robes arrived, no sheep have gone missing and not a single baby has vanished from her crib at full moon.

The citadel itself consists of two sturdy stone buildings, the tower and the hall. They are surrounded by a stone wall masoned out of roughly cut blocks. A wooden watch tower is constructed at one corner to keep an eye on the river as well as the hamlet. All trees and vegetation is burned around the wall from a 40 yard radius except a solitary oak tree near the main gate. Dead birds and foxes are sometimes seen hanging from the branches or nailed to the trunk and a small cage constructed of animal bones swings gently on the breeze. Young men trying to impress some girl are known to dare each other to carve their mark on the tree at new moon. So far no one has...