Lakeside Keep

Two modest timber-framed houses huddle beneath the crumbling remnants of what was once a mighty watch. The ancient stone towers stand like weathered giants, their battlements broken and walls worn thin by centuries of harsh winters, while snow gathers in the cracks and crevices of forgotten masonry. The inhabited dwellings nestle almost apologetically among these decaying sentinels, their warm lights and rising chimney smoke a stark contrast to the cold, empty shells of the turrets that loom protectively—or perhaps ominously—overhead. It is a place where practicality has trumped glory, where settlers have claimed the ruins not to restore them, but to shelter in their lee, maintaining their simple homes while the proud towers continue their slow surrender to time and the elements.