Overlook

“	...the place seemed immeasurably huge. Mostly the towering walls had been constructed of a grey-white stone but in places blocks of different colors had been worked in, along with silver, copper and gold, to scrawl the whole with cabalistic patterns..	”
–Murgen, She Is the Darkness

Overlook was Longshadow's fortress and was the southernmost building of significance in the Shadowlands and the southern continent as a whole. Situated a mere 2 miles south of Kiaulune (an ancient city also referred to as Shadowcatch) and several miles north of the homeworld shadowgate, its purpose was to protect Longshadow from the shadows which infested the glittering plain.

Though the fortress had been under construction for 17 years at the time of Shadow Games, the overall size of Overlook put the Tower at Charm to shame. At night, the towers shone like lighthouses, in order to keep rogue shadows away. The exterior walls were more than 100 feet tall in places, and were covered in gold and silver runes and protective spells. On its north wall, there were 200 yards between two crystal-topped towers. Longshadow kept a relatively small garrison of soldiers equipped with "cruel halberds, wearing armor of wood and strange, ornate animal helmets".

Longshadow never completed his fortress. After his capture at the end of the Shadowmaster wars, Overlook became the headquarters of Sleepy's fugitive Black Company throughout the 5-year-long Kiaulune wars.

Shadow Games[]

Longshadow hosted the other 3 Shadowmasters at Overlook to discuss the approach of their enemies Lady, Shapeshifter, and the Black Company. In his crystal-walled chamber at the top of a tower, he mocked them and threatened to kill them with large shadows in the future should they fail to destroy their common enemies descending from the north.

Dreams of Steel[]

Longshadow ordered his ally, the Howler to abduct Lady. But the Howler unintentionally kidnapped Soulcatcher: Lady's unaligned sister who was masquerading as her. Neither Longshadow nor the Howler realized the error until it was too late. Soulcatcher was deposited in one of Overlook's cells, and kept in a drugged stupor. She was secretly rehabilitated by her loyal imp Frogface, and melted her way through the stone wall to escape. When Longshadow's garrison attempted to recapture her, she summoned a brutish demon which plowed through the unprepared men. Meanwhile, above her in one of Overlook's towers, Longshadow worked for six sleepless days and nights healing the Howler of agonizing sorcery which had resulted from a stab wound he sustained from the Lance of Passion.

Bleak Seasons[]

In Bleak Seasons, Murgen observed Overlook for the first time through spectral eyes, that is, ghost-walking with the disembodied spirit of the comatose wizard Smoke. He observed:

“

Longshadow's fortress was gargantuan. Overlook dwarfed every human construction I have ever seen, including the Lady's monstrous tower at Charm. Already two decades in the building, Overlook's construction had become the main industry of Shadowcatch-the city that was called Kiaulune before the coming of the Shadowmasters...
The builders worked day and night. They knew no holidays. Longshadow was determined that his fortress be complete before his enemies overtook him. If he won that race he believed he would become master of the world. No power of heaven or hell or earth ought to be able to reach him inside a finished Overlook. Not even the darkness that brushed him every night with its terror. Overlook's outer walls reared a hundred or more feet high...
Brass and silver and gold characters shone on the steel plates that sheathed the rude stone of the wall face. Battalions of workmen did nothing but keep those runes polished and gleaming.
I could not read them but I knew they anchored massive defensive spells. Longshadow's spellwork overlaid everything that was part of Overlook, layer upon layer. If he was allowed enough time every exterior surface of the fortress would be hidden beneath and behind impenetrable tangles of sorceries.
Once the sun went down Overlook became a conflagration of light. Bright crystal chambers topped every tower, making the place seem a forest of lighthouses. The crystal domes were places whence Longshadow could observe safe from his terrors. The overpowering lights left no places for shadows to hide.

”

She Is the Darkness[]

At the start of the events of She Is the Darkness, Overlook and Shadowcatch to its immediate north were still recovering from a devastating earthquake which left Shadowcatch in ruins. Following the advice of the turncoat Mogaba, Longshadow would allow refugees from Shadowcatch to reside within Overlook's walls, but only to guarantee eventual continuation of the construction.

The Howler flew to Overlook to report his defeat at the Battle of Lake Tanji to Longshadow. This meeting was observed by the invisible spy Murgen.

Longshadow left Overlook, a rare departure, and joined Mogaba on the Plain of Charandaprash. After his defeat at the Battle of Charandaprash, he returned to his fortress with the last of his shadowweavers.

Siege[]

Main article: Siege of Overlook

Overlook itself was besieged and seized by the Taglian legions serving the Black Company leaders Croaker and Lady. Much of it was wrecked by continual fireball projector fire and sorcery, resulting in the collapse of at least one tower and the staining of its ivory exterior.

Kiaulune wars[]

After much of the leadership of the Company was imprisoned in magic stasis by Soulcatcher beneath the glittering plain, Overlook was next occupied by Sleepy the Annalist, her key ally Ky Sahra, the wizards One-Eye and Goblin, and what remained of the Black Company. From the tower, the Company and their new Shadowlander allies waged the losing Kiaulune wars against Soulcatcher's Protectorate. The fortress was eventually reduced to dust by Catcher, who spent two years analyzing the sorcery imbued in the structure's walls to create spells that obliterated the stone within.