Good Afternoon Adventurers,
After some much needed rest from my trip, I am finally starting to feel back to normal. Those flights across the ponds can really take it out of you. Anyways, I’m going to continue talking about my ‘ve got three more castles/ruins that I’m going to talk about today. I’ll also be sharing these to my social media soon because I’ve got a ton of photos to share. The three castles that I want to look at today are: Auchindoun Castle, Rait Castle, and Old Keiss Castle
Auchindoun Castle
Let’s start off with the castle that slightly resembles a castle in Project: Dancing Night. When I say slightly I mainly mean that based upon the tower/keep in the center of the walls. This one is square/rectangular while the one in the novel is going to be rounded. That castle will also be sitting on a “island” rather than on a hilltop, there might be a wall that goes around this castle but I need to figure out the exact size of the village/town that is built around the tower itself first.
The first thing that I noticed about this castle though was its location and how it sits atop the hill. All around it was just rolling hills and deep valleys. The sight was absolutely beautiful, but as you get closer, you can only imagine how difficult of a task it would actually be trying to break through those walls. The walls alone stood about fifteen to twenty feet tall and several feet thick. So walking up to it help craft this image that I have about this tower in Project: Dancing Night.
Now, standing in front of this castle was powerful and just as imposing. Though it was hard to imagine what the castle could have possibly looked like with the front wall missing. There might have been a tower to the left there in the picture, but I was more curious about what the entrance or gate may have looked like. The sloping stones in the center there kinda look like there may have been stairs there at one point. Those stairs then led up to the main hall on the left there where the lord/ruler of the castle would possibly host someone.
Here’s another look at that main hall and an even better look at the fireplace. You can also see the second floor a bit better as well. Now imagine what this would have looked like with a roaring fire in that fireplace. People moving and dancing about as a bard plays off to the side. Men and women milling about scrutinizing every minute detail that the lord has put into his own feast. Servants coming and going depending on their tasks. Maybe the lord is sitting at the head of a table, roaring with laughter as ale spills from his mug because he drank a bit too much.
Now, in this ruin, there was a pit that I got to take a look at, not really sure what it was used for exactly, but I do have some ideas on how I will use it in Project: Dancing Night.
Now, just to point out, this is not a very deep pit. So I don’t think it was meant to be a dungeon or anything related to prisoners. It was also gated off, so I wasn’t able to scamper on down into the hole(at least not without being caught first). So, again, I’m not really sure what this was for but that square little hole in the wall that looks closed off kinda reminds me of a secret entrance to an underground path beneath the castle. Could that have been the entrance to the castle dungeons? Maybe this castle was built over a gate to underworld/hell? Whatever the case may be, It was easily one of my top five favorite castles that we got to see over in Scotland.
Old Keiss Castle
Now Old Keiss was a really awesome Castle to walk to and check out. Sadly, it is fenced off and there were others around preventing me from trying to go inside of the structure. Still, it’s an awesome castle that sits on the coastline several hours north of Inverness. It’s only about a ten minute walk from where we parked, and along the way are two world war two machine gun nests that can be inspected.
So, obviously the first thing that I want to point out is that it’s on a cliff, which is really freaking cool. However, with the passing of time and obviously the dilapidation of the castle and erosion of the ground, I am left wondering what the entrance could have possibly looked like. Minus the missing corner, where I am assuming the gate once was, It would have been a pretty imposing castle. Sure, there isn’t a wall that wraps around the castle but the drop to the shoreline below would definitely kill you. So between the ocean cliff and the grassy field before the castle, you could basically see everything.
Then if you look closely at the interior, you can see that this castle may have had at least two, maybe three floors inside of it. You can see that there was a main hall above that arch in the first floor, so I am assuming that is where the lord world would host people. The space below that first floor is where I’m assuming the servants would sleep, cook, and do anything else that the castle may have required. There is clearly to see on what may have been the second floor, a fireplace, and the third floor potentially had one as well. However, since I was not able to get up close to the castle and check them out, this is all just speculation.
They even put a “Danger” stone in front of the ruins, along with the metal fence, just to prevent people from climbing up to the second floor. Which I get, but that doesn’t make me any less curious.
Anyways, looking at this castle gives me the same feeling as Bucholie castle did. I can Imagine it being owned by a small but powerful mercenary company. That, or a wealthy and vain noble who built his castle more like a mansion than a fortification. Especially since this castle looks like it was designed more for luxury and a display of power rather than actual military use. Don’t get me wrong, it’s still a solid castle that can respond to threats by sea. However, it is very open and exposed to large scale attacks by land.
Now that I think about it, if I were to put this into a story, then I’d start it off with this castle being the grounds for some sort of Renaissance festival. The field in front of the castle is large enough that you could fill the area with all of the traditional Renaissance boths, activities, vendors, etc. In a story however, the main protagonist could run into the steward of the castle—and old and wizened caretaker who has a story to tell. Then upon hear his tale, the young protagonist would slowly figure out that this steward is ancient and bound to this castle by choice now. long after the death of his past life. What that story is, who knows, but there is something there in that idea though.
A.G. Flowers 
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