Gahreesen III — The Great Outdoors:

The area outside of the fortress buildings was designated by the DRC as Gahreesen III, and they suspended exploration for safety reasons. It's mostly inaccessible, though much of its beautiful scenery is visible from the buildings. Dangerous predators are said to live in the forests of Gahreesen, and it's said that their screams can sometimes be heard. Michael Simpson had the luck to see some when he first reached the top of Gahreesen I, and they shocked him.

The area is a river valley, surrounded by forest covered mountains. It contains a lake that is fed by two tributary rivers, and has a number of rock spires. The two buildings that make up the fortress are sited on a finger of solid rock that projects out into the lake. The buildings are armored, and have spikes, shields, and electric fences to keep animals out.

Here's a picture of the valley, lake, and one of the tributary rivers. The large river in this picture drains the lake and provides the current that turns the buildings.

This is the other, main tributary river, which flows down from the upper part of the valley.

This is the rock outcropping that the buildings are sited on.

This rock spire is used to transition from Gahreesen I to Gahreesen II, and used to have a larger surface area. A visitor could step across from it to any of the bridges easily. The edges have eroded over time, so now it's necessary to jump across a gap. Simpson joked that the Maintainers would probably have liked it better this way.

The system of rotating bridges and the size of the middle rock spire helped the maintainers control the amount of people who could get across at one time.

Gahreesen three has a rich and diverse variety of plants. Here is a picture of some of it. If you listen carefully, you can hear many bird calls from the surrounding mountains.

The buildings of Gahreesen were sited on a finger of rock extending out into the lake. To help defend Gahreesen I, the D'ni sunk the entire building into a socket cut into the rock, and then cut a dry moat to separate it from the rest of the mountain. The pillar of rock in the center of the picture can be reached by jumping off the building's bridge. It is much lower than the bridge, so it's impossible to jump back. The pillar holds the maintainer's mark for the Age.

The maintainer's mark for the Age of Gahreesen.

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