Stormwind Keep



The mighty Stormwind Keep (also called Stonewind Keep, Castle Stormwind, stronghold of Stormwind, Stormwind Castle, and after its reconstruction sometimes referred as Castle of New Stormwind  ) is the seat of power of the human kingdom of Stormwind. This keep is the residence of the Stormwindian kings, currently King Anduin Wrynn. Some of the nobles of the kingdom are also here.

The Keep offers a view of the whole city, so that the king can watch over the masses, and provide a powerful reminder of what deserves to be defended. Citizens make good use of the garden and the Royal Library, strolling the grounds and reading, and it has private areas - the king's rooms, guest quarters for prominent visitors, and a small royal armory for extremely rare pieces. The keep has fiercely devoted guards but also a considerable number of agents, posing as lesser noblemen or servants to the crown. There are also multiple secret passages.

First War
Stormwind Keep was destroyed by the Old Horde during the final days of the First War.

Second War
Once the kingdom was retaken after the Second War, a new castle was raised upon the foundations of the old one.

World of Warcraft
In its throne room, Katrana Prestor was revealed as Onyxia.

The statues of the Royal Gallery were damaged by the Cataclysm.

During the War Against the Nightmare, the keep was initially one of the places not caught in the mists of the Emerald Nightmare, although the horrific dreamforms of the Nightmare's victims converged on the keep, while it was defended by the keep's guards and King Varian.

During the Burning Legion's third invasion, the keep was infiltrated several times. First, demons disguised themselves as soldiers in the funeral ceremony for Varian Wrynn when the Alliance leaders gathered. They were exposed by their new allies, the Illidari. Later, the city was under martial law, with the keep being extra guarded. It was, however, infiltrated by the Veiled Hand, as well as the Uncrowned who ultimately stopped the demon cult. The center of the throne room had a big demonic rune painted on the floor, and the garden had a demonic portal summoned by the traitor Melris Malagan. Later, a nathrezim, disguised as a guard, tried to assassinate Anduin Wrynn.



Areas of Stormwind Keep

 * Petitioner's Chamber - First right as you enter the keep.
 * Garden - First left as you go down main hall of the keep.
 * Royal Library - Right from the Garden.
 * Royal Gallery - Straight from the Garden. (removed in )
 * Throne room - At the end of the main hall.
 * War Room - First door, straight ahead through the throne room from the main hall.

In the RPG
The mighty Stormwind Keep (or Stormwind castle) sits watch over Stormwind atop the cliffs north of the city. Brann Bronzebeard helped construct this fine building. It houses the King himself and many of the city's nobles. It was designed with the thought of another invasion in mind: if the city fell to an army vaster than it could handle, the keep itself becomes a means of escape, with several secret tunnels entombed deep within the rock.

Film universe
Stormwind Keep is depicted close to its World of Warcraft incarnation but its interior is different. It notably contains the throne room.

Notes and trivia

 * The Wrynn line allows the public into the keep, which Mathias Shaw considers dangerous.
 * After the death of Flameweaver Koegler and Sally Whitemane in the Scarlet Monastery during the Invasion of Pandaria, several items were transferred from the Monastery to Stormwind Keep, including the Greatstaff of Righteousness, Hand of Righteousness, Triune Amulet, and Whitemane's Embroidered Chapeau.
 * Varian's private chamber contained a map table.
 * The map for Warcraft: Orcs & Humans shows Stormwind Keep as Stonewind Keep. Within the game it is called Stormwind Keep or Castle Stormwind.
 * In Cataclysm, Stormwind Keep was entirely remodeled, inside, as well as outside. The path leading to the throne room is now open air and redesigned, complete with a grand walkway and a fountain. The throne room was redesigned too and the garden area before the Library now has a view overlooking the Stormwind Lake. Genn Greymane was also added to Stormwind Keep after the fall of Gilneas.
 * Stormwind Keep has a dirigible mooring.
 * Valeera Sanguinar knows how to infiltrate it.
 * At one point, Velen called it a palace.
 * The music played in Stormwind Keep is also played in the High Seat in Ironforge.
 * The Keep is regularly visited by school children and their School Mistress Miss Danna which tells the story of its destruction during the First War, then its reconstruction after the Second War.
 * The blog Movoto has done evaluations of Stormwind Keep to try and determine how big it is, what's its real-world equivalent location is and how much it would cost to purchase, based on the previous two factors. The answers, in brief, to those three questions are: 47,219 square feet, Caernarfon Castle, Gwynedd, Wales, and US $10,293,472 ($218 per square foot), respectively.