Keep





A keep is a fortified stone building which has fifteen to twenty-five rooms. A keep surrounded by a stone wall is known as a castle.

In the Warcraft RTS games the keep is the upgraded form of the town hall, but lesser than a castle.

Background
In large and well-defended settlements, the Keep replaces the Town Hall as the center of commerce where Peasants can deliver shipments of gold and lumber for processing. The artisans who dwell here have mastered means of better extracting the gold from the ore mined by the Peasants, thus increasing the yield of mining operations. The Keep is also a military structure protected by high granite walls, making it difficult to destroy. Advancing legions of Orcish warriors force the Alliance to assign their elite troops - the Knights of Lordaeron and the mysterious Elven Rangers - only to such places, where their presence will serve to deny the Horde further strategic gains. As control of these towns becomes more critical, the Keep may need to be upgraded into a Castle.

With the advancement of human technology and the need to support growing numbers of fighting troops, the town hall may be upgraded to a keep. In addition to adding heavier fortification, the keep allows for the introduction of the mage class into human society. The keep can later be upgraded even further, to a Castle.

In Warcraft III
Stats
 * 2000 HP (500 more than Town hall)
 * 5 fortified armor
 * provides 12 food

In World of Warcraft
In World of Warcraft, the keep can be found as the center, or at least military center, of many human towns. Keep can also refer to both the building and the town within its walls (not always the case, as Recruitment Officer Blythe calls the presumed keep part of Valiance Keep a barracks in ). Keeps often share their model with the barracks, but some human keeps are semi-unique with an added tower (making them a cross between a barracks and a town hall fittingly). Keeps of other races exist as well.

Human keeps

 * Stormwind Keep (may be a castle)
 * Stromgarde Keep
 * Durnholde Keep
 * Nethergarde Keep
 * Westguard Keep
 * Valiance Keep
 * Mardenholde Keep
 * Tiragarde Keep
 * Wintergarde Keep
 * Shadowfang Keep (unique model)
 * Fenris Keep
 * Stonewatch Keep

Dwarven keeps
These may be barracks. Their in-game model name suggests this.


 * Bael'dun Keep
 * Wildhammer Keep
 * Angor Fortress
 * Dun Garok
 * Wildhammer Stronghold

Orc keeps
These may be Strongholds.


 * Kargathia Keep
 * Frostwolf Keep

Other keeps

 * Tempest Keep - Naaru designed, blood elf-controlled
 * Utgarde Keep - Vrykul
 * Drak'Tharon Keep - Ice troll
 * Sulfuron Keep - Fire elemental