Wolves Fall Castle

[jtougas]

Lord General Kerig Mallan stood atop the battlements of the castle and looked out across the border of the kingdom. He was glad for the fur cloak he had put on before coming up here. The first snows were falling early and it promised to be a long cold winter. Wolf's Fall Castle was the first of the six fortifications known as the "Wolf's Fall Line" to be finished. He had read the Chief architect's report written all those years ago. It had taken nearly 5 years to finish this castle due to the construction and the long Shendenflarian winters. Mallan knew that the area around the castle was once lush with trees. The first spring of the castle's construction was spent clearing the trees and turning the logs into lumber that was used for building the barracks and stables and the other buildings in the castle. almost 90 years had passed and there wasn't even a stump to mark the location of any tree. Mallan was grateful for the architect's careful attention to details. The walls were sturdy Shendenflarian stone and the design made for a strong and easy to defend structure. Mallan had held his post here for 10 years and the castle had never been attacked. The Wolf Nomads on the other side of the border doubtlessly knew that any such attack would be futile. Mallan drew his cloak around him tighter and headed back to the warmth of his modest apartments atop the barracks. Outside the wind and snow began to howl....

I worked a little on the ground layers of this tonight. I added a road and a couple of small hills on either side of the castle. I was going to add trees and tree stumps but realized that 1. trees around a fort wouldn't be realistic as it would hinder line of sight and 2. that all the trees in the area would have been felled for construction. No stumps because this map depicts the castle almost 90 years after it's construction and all the stumps would have rotted away. Next up buildings.... As always feedback is requested and appreciated

[atpollard]

Trees are a funny thing. While any fortification worth a darn would cut back the forest outside the wall at least to projectile range (to give your archers a good shot at approaching bad guys), there might be trees either left inside the wall or planted asap after it was built. Animals waiting near a stable will be in better shape if they can take shelter from the sun in the shade of a tree. The blacksmith needs to set his forge in a stone building with a roof to protect his tools from the weather, but he will do his hammering under an open shed or beneath the branches of a tree.

Some trees are grown and protected as part of the defense industry - wood for arrow shafts, wood for bows, wood for axe handles - all needing certain characteristics and potential candidates for inside a castle wall.

Or of course, your castle might have no trees.
I just wanted to point out that 'trees' or 'no trees' is completely YOUR choice - history and logic support either choice.