To commemorate and guard the site of Quendor's battle against Belegur in 398 GUE, King Zilbo I ordered the foundation of a military outpost, the famed Fort Griffspotter, in honor of the deceased military advisor, General Darborn Griffspotter. The caverns beneath were subsequently named the Griffspotter Caverns. Standing atop a cliff where the turbulent Frigid River Westlands flows southeats along the northern side of the fort, it was equipped with parade grounds, barracks, and an armory.
The reign of Duncanthrax (c. 660) saw the construction of the new captial of Quendor, Egreth Castle, to the southwest of this fort, and the implementation of remarkable cast-iron cannon emplacements, in order to guard the castle from attack by sea.
In 665 GUE the forces of Pseudo-Duncanthrax vanquished the Antharian Armada at the famous battle of Fort Griffspotter. This battle gave Duncanthrax undisputed control over the Great Sea. Once the captial was moved to Aragain by Dimwit Flathead in 770, the fort was quickly abandoned and remainded in that condition beyond even the mid-tenth century.
 IMAGE01: Battle of Griffspotter (part 2) |
At this time the island-nation of Antharia was the premier sea power of Zork. Setting out to conquer new lands and expand their own empire, a small portion of the Antharian Armada drew near to Fort Griffspotter along the Eastland coast. Sighting the renegade ships, Pseudo-Duncanthrax sent his own fleet to place the Armada in a pincer between his forces and the fort. While the tremendous cannons upon the battlements normally would have used little effort to dispatch the trapped fleet, the Antharians had already successfully invaded Quendoran soil and taken Fort Griffspotter for themselves. The Quendoran fleet found themselves barraged by both the fort’s heavy artillery fire and a small fleet of Antharian ships, forcing Pseudo-Duncanthrax to withdraw.
Further attempts were made by the king to redeem Fort Griffspotter, but the long barrel guns continually held his ships at bay and prevented him from closing to grappling range. The ships were clearly no match for both the gunpowder and the imported Antharian war machines, and would have met a quick fate were it not for Pseudo-Duncanthrax’s clever backup plan to dismantle the artillery fire. The wise king secretly sent a ship full of spies in Antharian uniforms to infiltrate the fort. For several months, these men carefully sifted into the ranks and took posts within Fort Griffspotter. Pseudo-Duncanthrax continued to engage in small naval battles over the course of this subterfuge until at the key moment, the spies took out the fort’s gunners, allowing Pseudo-Duncanthrax to move his ships into firing range.
Without the fort for support, the remaining Antharian fleet was trapped and destroyed. Unaware of the successful subterfuge, Pseudo-Duncanthrax’s fleet let loose on the fort upon sinking the opposing battleships. The spies were killed in the shelling along with the remaining Antharian soldiers, and the tactic remained secret long enough for the reputation of the Quendoran Navy’s might to be spread abroad. By borrowing from Fort Griffspotter’s vast armory and creating manufacturing facilities that mimicked the Antharians’ advanced weapons technology, Pseudo-Duncanthrax’s ground forces were able to hold their ground against one final retaliation by the Antharian army. Pseudo-Duncanthrax had orchestrated the first victory of the longest war in history, beginning the bloodiest battle ever waged on Zork.