The donjon itself is colossal, larger than many full castles in the lowlands. Indeed, more residents can comfortably sleep in the Severed Keep than in all of Fort Wenjansk in the house’s fallen capital.

When the refugees from Wenjansków first discovered Falthringor, the keep was entirely empty. Many tapestries, errant tools, and pieces of furniture were left lingering across the rest of the castle, but whoever left Falthringor behind made sure to thoroughly cleanse the Severed Keep first. No one is sure whether the halls had been pillaged in the centuries since by some other people—the giants? another great house?—prior to House Wenjansk’s arrival, or whether the ancient Duscarn purged the tower of its contents prior to fleeing.

Only scant evidence remains of what the tower may have once held: worn staircases suggest hurried footfalls, nicked stone walls imply armed combat, and blackened ceilings evoke rampant fires. Whatever happened here is lost to time, but it seems the previous residents may have met a violent end.

Luckily, the chambers of the tower make for perfect bedrooms, though the lack of proper ventilation demands that most food be cooked elsewhere and carted in. The ample arrowslits and high crenellations also made the tower a perfect fit for the house’s archers. Because of this shared function, the Wenjansk heirs have become quite close with the bowmen. The future of the house is now symbolically tethered to the fate of the archers. Some even say that it is the archers who will truly choose the High Kestrel’s successor.