Crossroad Keep

Crossroad Keep is a fortress along the High Road south of Neverwinter. It plays a major role in the official campaign.

Initially, it is the stronghold of one of the main antagonists, Black Garius. In Act II, the player confronts Black Garius at the Keep and he is subsequently killed, after which Lord Nasher rewards the player with command of the Keep. The player can then recruit soldiers, build fortifications and shops, and basically run their own land from the keep. The keep also becomes one of the main sites of battle against the forces of the King of Shadows in the official campaign.

Rebuilding
When the keep first comes into the PC's possession, the area is almost completely in ruins due to neglect. Though Lord Nasher grants the player a stipend of 70,000 gold to help refurbish the keep, in order to raise further funds and prepare the keep for war the surrounding areas and the keep itself must be repaired in order to attract merchants, peasants, and other recruits that will aid the PC in his/her cause. The player can also pay keep fees directly out of his/her pocket. It is highly recommended that the player saves as much gold as possible as repairing the keep is anything but cheap.


 * Keep Interior
 * Personal Suite - 15,000 gold. Contains a locked drawer to store equipment
 * West Wing - 15,000 gold. Grants access to the War Room which contains a key the locked drawer in the personal suite.
 * Library - 15,000 gold. This area will be automatically rebuilt by Nasher in Act III if the PC hasn't already done so.


 * Courtyard
 * Smithy - 10,000 gold. Allows PC to recruit a blacksmith and an armorer to improve Greycloak troop equipment.
 * Merchant Shop - 10,000 gold. Allows PC to recruit two general merchants.


 * Fortifications - Increases Land Security and draws more peasants which in turn bolsters militia.
 * Patching up the Walls - 25,000 gold
 * Reinforcing the Walls - 50,000 gold
 * Building Towers on the outer walls with arrow slits - 75,000 gold


 * Surrounding Areas - Increases Road Security which in turn draws more merchants and funds.
 * Widening the trail to the keep for merchants - 10,000 gold
 * Cobbling the trail - 35,000 gold
 * Extensive work on nearby roads - 50,000 gold
 * Bridges and Watch Towers - 100,000 gold


 * Old Church Ruins - Available only in Act III and can be converted into either a church or monastery.
 * Church of Tyr - 50,000 gold. Offers a quest for good-aligned paladin or cleric PCs to acquire a special weapon. For evil-aligned PCs, the church offers a chance for redemption.
 * Sun Soul Monastery - 75,000 gold. Offers a special quest for monk PCs to get extra training and feats.


 * Tower - Available only in Act III and can be used as either a headquarters for the Neverwinter Nine or a Wizard's Tower.
 * Neverwinter Nine Guard Tower - 50,000 gold. Offers a chance for the PC to spar with Nevalle and gain +1 BAB boost. Also has a merchant that sells items tailored towards the non-spellcasting classes.
 * Wizard's Tower - 100,000 gold. Has a wizard's merchant that sells items for alchemy and equipment for the spellcasting classes.

Residents
Aside from the PC and companions, certain NPCs also take up residence at the keep if the PC recruits them or certain requirements are met.

Automatic

 * Aldanon - serves as the keep sage. Joins automatically at the end of Act II or earlier if the library is rebuilt.
 * Daegun - serves as a scout. Joins automatically in Act III.
 * Kana - adjutant and handles the keep's day to day operations. Automatically joins the keep.
 * Nevalle - serves as Nasher's liaison. Automatically joins in Act III.
 * Sal - owns the Phoenix Tail Inn. Automatically joins the keep. Depending on the number of merchants and peasants, he will also recruit minstrels and bards to sing at the inn. Note that due to a bug he is actually present both at the Keep Inn and the Sunken Flagon tavern in the Docks in Neverwinter.
 * Uncus - serves as a fence (buys stolen goods). If the PC is a member of the Shadow Thieves, he also serves as a second 'unofficial' adjutant that helps the PC run a corrupt keep and also serves as Axle's liaison. He joins automatically if the PC is a Shadow Thief but City Watch PCs have the option of turning him away.
 * Master Veedle - in charge of repairs to the keep and the surrounding areas. Automatically joins the keep.

Recruitable

 * Bevil Starling - serves as a sergeant. Joins in Act III if the PC talks to him in Act II before West Harbor is destroyed. Note that there are several bugs in his conversation file that may make it impossible to recruit him for the Keep while speaking to him at West Harbour after becoming the Keep's Captain. Strangely enough, he still spawns at the Keep later on and can be recruited there.
 * Caelryna Seerar - serves as a merchant. Can be recruited once she is rescued on Mount Galardrym.
 * Calindra - serves as a miner and gives the PC gold for each ore deposit discovered. Can be recruited by the PC in Port Llast if the PC helps her find her missing friend.
 * Deekin Scalesinger - serves as a merchant. Can be recruited in Neverwinter's Merchant Quarter.
 * Edario - serves as an armorer for the Greycloaks. Can be recruited at Highcliff only after the the miners Pentin AND Calindra have been recruited.
 * Guyven of the Road - serves as a scout. Can be recruited if the PC finds him at the Bonegnasher Approach (Act I), Githyanki Approach (Act I), and at Ember (Act II) and is nice to him at each encounter. He has a history of being bugged and may not always appear - in order to recruit him for the keep, you need to tell him "You will always have a place at my fire" when talking to him for the third time, however, while talking to him, it is possible to miss this conversation option.
 * Ivarr the Blessed - serves as a priest at the church of Tyr. Joins only if the PC decides to build the church ruins into a Church of Tyr.
 * Jacoby - serves as a weaponsmith for the Greycloaks. Can be recruited at Fort Locke only after the smithy is built.
 * Jalboun of the Two Blades - serves as a sergeant. Joins only if the PC bribes him and manages to keep him alive during the battle with Sydney Natale.
 * Joy - dances at the Phoenix Tail Inn and improves keep morale. Can be recruited by the PC in the Neverwinter Merchant Quarter near Blacklake Gate during Act III.
 * Katriona - serves as a sergeant. Can be recruited at Old Owl Well.
 * Khulmar - liaison for the Ironfist clan. Joins the keep only if an alliance is forged between Neverwinter and the Ironfist Dwarves.
 * Kistrel - knits the PC a cloak. Joins only if it is befriended by the PC in the Glowstone Cave.
 * Lasshiva - liaison for Batha's lizardfolk tribe. Joins only if an alliance if forged between Neverwinter the Lizardfolk.
 * Light of Heavens - serves as a sergeant. Can only be recruited if the PC defeats her 3 times in a duel.
 * Mephasm - offers to enchant the PC's items for a price (the PC must give him his/her favorite weapon or armor at end of 3 transactions). Can be summoned in Act III if the PC bargains with him. The mechanics of determin
 * Orlen - helps to look after the farm land and manage the peasants. Can be recruited by the PC at West Harbor during Act II before it is destroyed.
 * Pentin - serves as a miner that gives the PC ingots for each ore deposit discovered. Can be recruited at Old Owl Well only if he was previously saved from the orcs in the Bonegnasher Lair.
 * Rolan - passes on his secret teachings to the PC if he/she is a monk. Joins only if the Sun Soul Monastery is built.
 * Startear - takes residence in the keep only if the Wizard's Tower is built.
 * Torio Claven - provides information for potential recruits. Joins only if the PC saves her from execution and requests that she be transfered to the keep.
 * Wolf - provides quick travel around the keep. You must have a good reputation with the beggar children of Neverwinter(side with them during any event in the city).

If you recruit NPCs for the Keep, many of them will remain in their old locations, along with their new counterparts at the Keep:

Deekin remains in the Merchant Quarter

Bevil remains in West Harbor (well, actually it isn't even possible to recruit him due to several bugs, but even if it were possible, the player would end up with two Bevils - one at West Harbor, second one at the Keep)

Jacoby remains in Fort Locke

Sal remains in Duncan's tavern in the Docks

Companions
This lists the locations of your companions in the keep when they are not in your party. Note that unlike the Sunken Flagon companions in your party will continue to follow you & will not be found in their designated positions.
 * Khelgar Ironfist - Phoenix Tail Inn near the counter
 * Neeshka - Phoenix Tail Inn behind Khelgar
 * Elanee - Courtyard next to the merchant shop
 * Qara - Keep in the hall by the library entrance
 * Grobnar Gnomehands - Keep basement near the workbenches
 * Casavir - Keep interior opposite from Torio Claven
 * Bishop - Phoenix Tail Inn near the entrance
 * Sand - Keep inside the library
 * Zhjaeve - City Watch Headquarters in Neverwinter
 * Ammon Jerro - Keep basement near the summoning circle
 * Construct - Keep basement in front of the workbenches

Events
Events are usually triggered if the Keep stats (such as number of peasants and merchants) meet a certain requirement.
 * Ziffer and Village Charter - triggers if there are 30 or more peasants at the keep. Offers the PC a chance to get more taxes thus increasing the keeps fund. It is recommended to only lightly tax them or not at all.
 * Ziffer's men volunteer to be Greycloaks - triggers only if the Village charter is signed and Unrest is low and the peasants are not taxed heavily. Bolsters the Greycloack ranks. It is recommended that only the men that meet the standards be accepted if not overall Greycloak quality will decrease permanently. Note that accepting Ziffer's men will most probably increase Unrest by 1, because the overall number of soldiers is bolstered by Ziffer's volunteers and if the number of soldier units is greater than the double number of peasants, unrest is increased by 1. Since Ziffer's cutscene triggers when peasants are at 30, you basically end up with at least 90 soldiers (50 from Nasher, at least 40 from Ziffer) vs. ~80 (30-40 peasants * 2).
 * Captain's Company - triggers if Greycloak training is best of the best and Katriona is recruited. +20% morale, -10 Unit Strength. The bonus is bugged, it actually adds a flat 20 to morale, but since morale is capped at 6 anyway, it just rises to 6. Unit Strength diminishment is not properly implemented and will do absolutely nothing.
 * Merchant Caravan - triggers if there are 50 or more merchants at the keep. The PC gets to choose one of the 3 merchant Caravans to set shop at the keep. The Circle of Friends (major lawful shift, civility +1), Forgotten Lords (minor chaotic chift, civility -1, tithe +10%) and the Fated Winds (major evil and chaotic shift, civility -2, tithe +20%), none (merchant number cap lowered from 100 to 50).
 * Raven's Allies - triggers after 3 events. Accepting the Raven Allies Mercenaries will decrease Greycloak civility and quality but adds +25% to unit strength.
 * Dobson - trigges only for City Watch players, 13 or more time units after acquisition of the Keep. Make an example of Dobson (lawful shift, civility +2, morale -2, merchant growth -1.0%), pardon Dobson (chaotic shift, morale +1, merchant growth +0.5%), try to extort gold (chaos shift, civility -1, morale +1, merchant growth +1.0%).
 * Sheriff from Leeves - triggers if Land Security is 10 or more, City Watch player only. The reward is bugged - total success reward is exactly the same as medium success reward (medium reward is not supposed to include morale bonus, only the total one does). Also, general Keep civility bonus is not increased in either case (supposed to be +1 on total or medium success) due to a bug in the conversation and if only two men are sent to the village, no penalties are applied (supposed to be -1 to morale). Land Security modifier/time unit bonus is not applied either. Success or failure is calculated based on the current unit strength, not on the unit strength available at the time the troops were deployed, so 50% in this case may be a much higher number than actually deployed.
 * Daerred and his group - triggers 3 times through the campaign at specific key points. If the PC accepts them and gives them legitimate work (by asking them to investigate Port Llast, then the King of Shadows, then the Illefarn Empire), they will survive their quest and give the PC a gift. If the PC has lied to them, or given them the mission to investigate the guardian, they end up dead in the King of Shadows' lair.
 * Receive gift from Greycloaks - triggers only in Act III if the all sergeants have been recruited, greycloaks have best weapons and armor, training is best of the best and greycloak quality is elite, morale is high and Captain's Company is formed.

Greycloak Special Missions
These special mission are made available only during certain keep times. Keep time increases 2.5% every time you enter a new area in the keep (moving from the courtyard to the keep interior). The outcome of the special missions depends on how well trained and equipped the Greycloacks are. It is recommended to assign Jalboun to special missions since he increases the outcome by 3 points.
 * Old Man Morris - 10%<=KT<=15%.
 * Doman the Ogre - 20%<=KT<=25% and Jacoby must have been recruited.
 * Escort Tax Collectors - KT=27.5%, 10 or more peasants and the Tax rate > 0.
 * Bugbears - 37.5%<=KT<=45%.
 * Undead Scouts - 52.5%<=KT<=62.5%
 * Shadow Priest - 70%<=KT<=77.5%
 * Find Shadow Reaver's base - 85%<=KT<=100% and acquired the True Name Scrolls from Sydney.

Note:
 * These missions can become bugged when a mission is started but not allowed to end. Please refer to the Bugs section below for the description of this problem and a solution.

Keep Ruler Feats
If the PC meets certain requirements, he/she also gains an epithet feat which reflects his/her lordship over the keep.
 * Warden of the Keep - Greycloak civility must be high, the Church of Tyr must be built, Joy and Light of Heavens must have been recruited, Uncus and Caelryna must not be in the keep, and the PC must be good aligned. You can not become Warden if you joined the thieves in act II, as joining the thieves prevents you from refusing Uncus.
 * Dreadlord of the Keep - Greycloak civility must be low, the Wizard's Tower must be built, Uncus and Caelryna must have been recruited, Joy and Light of Heavens must not be in the keep, the Church of Tyr must not be built, and the PC must be evil aligned. You can not become Dreadlord if you joined the citywatch in act II. This is not a restriction itsef, but later you can not bring the greycloak civility down by giving Uncus these special orders and Greycloak civility will stop at medium.

Bugs

 * Special missions may get stuck and never complete if you reassign men while they are on a special mission (only happens on missions with a duration >=2 time units, because usually Kana leaves the castle and you can't reassign men, but if a mission takes longer to complete, she returns and you can reassign the men before the special mission is over, thus breaking this mission as well as all following special missions). The dialog option which allows you to reassign men should not be available until the mission is down to 0 time units. Example: You tell Kana to take care of the Ogre's Revenge quest. She exits the Keep interior. Exit the Keep, then re-enter and she will be there again. The special mission is still running, but despite that, you can still talk to Kana and re-assign your men (let's say to Patrol the Land). If you do, it should actually be clear to you that you've just re-assigned your men from a special mission to patrolling! So this mission will never complete, since there is no way to re-assign men back to a special mission and since all following special missions depend on completion of previous ones, no new special missions will be ever given.

If you assign men to a special mission right before a time cap (which trigger if you need to proceed in the main quest), you don't need to worry, while Kana will say that you should check back later, once you proceed in the main quest, time cap will be removed and the special mission will be properly completed, AS LONG AS you don't reassign men from a special mission to something else.


 * The smart tithe variable is not set properly (set as a local INT, but checked as a global INT, so always returns 0), so you will never get a bonus to merchant growth, nor a free bonus to merchant taxes, even if you pass the Appraise check with Kana ("[Appraise] How are tithes handled exactly?").


 * Keep Timer will advance by 1 TU (time unit) if you just talk to Veedle, but don't actually order him to build anything. This way all time units may be wasted. TUs should only be increased if you actually tell him to build something.


 * Many bugs were introduced by Obsidian in the process of switching from Hollows to Crossroad Keep: Morale bonuses were originally based on a 100 scale in earlier versions of the game, while the release version has a morale score between -6 and 6, but some decisions like building the Captain's Company still give you a +10 or +20 bonus to morale, which was supposed to be a percentage, but due to changes introduced in the final version of the game these numbers turn into a flat 10/20 bonus, allowing you to max out morale right away. Other conversations give you a bonus to the Land Security modifier (a percentage bonus by which land security is increased every time unit), which isn't even implemented in scripting in the final version of the game. The game gives you civility bonuses based on long outdated variables that aren't used in the final game version, resulting in no increase to civility. Depending on your decisions, the game may give the Daerred adventurer troop ability bonuses that are not used in the final version. Injuries and losses are not properly implemented, so assigning a sergeant to Ogre's Revenge special mission is pointless, as a presence of a sergeant will result in a reduction of injuries sustained by your soldiers during this mission, but since injuries are not implemented properly anyway, it really doesn't matter.


 * Training is bugged. It's supposed to work like this: If you assign your soldiers to training, they have to train a certain number of time units before reaching the next level of training (up to a max of 5). If a sergeant like Katriona is assigned to training as well, the number of time units needed to reach the next level goes down. Once the next level is achieved, the number of training time units is supposed to be reset to 0, but is never reset due to a bug, which means the training time units accumulate and thus men will reach a new level of training every time unit, regardless if a sergeant is assigned to training or not, so in the unfixed version of the game it is really pointless to assign sergeants to training.


 * The game forgets after each special mission where you deployed the soldiers before and always reverts back to training, even if you had assigned them to patrolling or whatever, even if training is already at 5 and thus maxed out!


 * Training slipping is not implemented properly - once your unit strength reaches 150, 300, and 600, Kana is supposed to warn you that there are too many men and training is slipping, training is supposed to go down by 1 at this point, however, in the final version of the game, Kana will only warn you once (on 150) and training will NOT be decreased, despite her warning.


 * Orlen will act as if there are enough peasants in the Keep, even if there are actually not enough (he's supposed to complain if there are less than 30 peasants at the Keep, but the check for peasants number is bugged).


 * The Golemcraft book in the Keep's library is not removed if the player party already has a copy in their possession (you can get one earlier while saving Aldanon), which may result in player ending up with two copies.


 * Jacoby's, Deeken's, Uncus's, Edario's, and Caelryna Seerar's stores are using an outdated and buggy store/appraise function which was fixed and updated in later game patches, all merchants in Neverwinter use the new fixed function, but Obsidian forgot to fix the merchants at Crossroad Keep.


 * Land and Road sergeant security modifiers are still applied even if soldiers are assigned a different activity. This doesn't make any sense, as it would imply Katriona is patrolling the roads and the lands AT ONCE all by HERSELF, increasing their security by 5, just by her presence. Also, this is inconsistent with other activities: For example, if you assign a sergeant to training or recruiting, you obviously only get the sergeant bonus if the soldiers themselves are assigned the same activity as well.

Deleted Content

 * Kana was originally supposed to be recruited first by the PC before she takes post at the keep.
 * Teelah from the Moonstone Mask was supposed to arrive at the keep seeking refuge because she missed her caravan that was headed for Waterdeep. If the PC allows her to stay, she dances in the Phoenix Tail Inn.
 * Another dancer named Jazren was supposed to arrive as well and dance at the Inn.
 * There was supposed to be another area in the keep that needed to be rebuilt. It could either be turned into a gambling den by Uncus or a park by Naevan.
 * After completing the Sheriff of Leeves event, if the Greycloaks were successful two Halflings were supposed to take residence in the keep.

Tidbits

 * It was originally intended that the PC's base of operations would have been the Hollows, a burnt down tavern in the docks district of Neverwinter. Most likely it is the burnt down building next to the Flagon, as it stands out as being the only ruin within Neverwinter itself.