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For other uses, see Castle (disambiguation).

"Resigned to their fate, the marauders built a large ancient-style castle, which comforted them with its imposing stone walls."
Pfilbee Jhorn[2]

Terak's Keep, also known as the Marauders' Stronghold, was a castle built by King Terak of the Sanyassan Marauders during the first century before the Battle of Yavin. This ancient-style fortress was located on the forest moon of Endor, looming over the Dragon's Pelt savana from an outcropping the Dragon's Spine moutain range. After the defeat of Terak during the Galactic Civil War, the castle remained in use for his surviving goons. The remnants of the Marauders were quickly torn apart by internecine strife, but the Keep eventually found its new master in the person of Zakul, the late Terak's son.

History[]

Back side of the Keep

The back side of the Keep.

When the Sanyassan Marauders crash-landed on the moon of Endor 100 BBY, they subdued some areas of the Endorian plains. In order to organize themselves, they built this enormous, gloomy, and untidy castle[2] over the Dragon's Pelt savanna, at the base of the moutain chain called the Dragon's Spine.[3] It would serve as barracks and home to their chiefs, the self-proclaimed King Terak and the Force-witch Charal.[1] The square-walled castle was built with stone quarried from mines in the Dragon's Spine's foothills.[3]

Several months before the destruction of the second Death Star, the Stronghold was partly damaged during a battle between the Sanyassans and the Ewoks.[4] After King Terak's untimely death, the castle was later used as a shelter for remnants of the Sanyassan Marauders. General Yavid later tried to become the king, but the order didn't last long.[5] All the Sanyassans turned on each other until Zakul, one of Terak's own sons, became the new King of the Marauders.[3]

Layout[]

The fortress was made of quarried stone blocks hauled by blurrgs, the beast of burden of the Marauders. The castle looked squarish and clumsy, with no finesse—but it was a secure and very sturdy place. The front approach of the castle was guarded by carved and horned lava-rock obelisks that to warned off enemies and symbolized the fearlessness of the Marauders. Across the castle entranceway, stones were covered with crude Sanyassan hieroglyphs.[2] The central tower was designed to look one of the obelisks, a stylized square head with a grinning face and a pair of horns.[6]

Keep moat

The moat's disintegrator shield in action.

The stronghold was surrounded by a deep moat filled with murky water, which the Human scout Noa Briqualon described as "as black as ink".[4] During the construction of the castle, one of the pirates suggested installing the still functioning automatic defense mechanism from their wrecked starship for further protection against assault. A selective disintegrator field shaped like a torpedo was installed in the moat. It would target any object that touched the surface of the water.[2]

The fortress contained many dungeons, a throneroom, and was poorly equipped with primitive technology such as torches and candles lightning. The Marauders had canibalized parts of their crashed starcraft as furniture. For his throne, the King Terak had torn the captain's chair from the bridge of the ship and placed it in his audience chamber.[2]

Behind the scenes[]

King Terak's stronghold was first seen in the 1985 made-for-TV film Ewoks: The Battle for Endor, where it appeared as a primitive fortress made of tan stone.[4] As of 2018, a matte painting of the structure was on display at Lucasfilm's headquarters.[7]

In the MMORPG Star Wars Galaxies, the location in which players may do quests for the Sanyassan Marauders is called the Marauder's Stronghold. In the game, the Marauder Stronghold looks much different than its depiction in the movie. It is possible that this was simply a limitation in game mechanics, or they are two entirely different locations.[8]

Appearances[]

Sources[]

Notes and references[]

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