Fort Maria

Spoilers ahead! This page contains detailed information about the story plot of the game.

The outside of the fort

Fort Maria is a fort in Epona. The fort was confirmed for Star Stable Online in a YouTube video in September 2015, and its interior was opened in August 2022.

About

Fort Maria is a Roman fort located in the South Harvest Counties, outside of New Hillcrest. It is on top of a hill surrounded by trees and flowers. Inside is a vast library spanning multiple floors, but due to an incident, it is now closed off from the public. It is said to contain all of the books of Jorvik.

History

An old painting of Fort Maria

Information pertaining to the exact origins of Fort Maria have been seldom, however in the "One of our witches" quest, where the player is presented with the chance to venture into Fort Maria's library, it has been revealed that the fortification's existence traces back to the time of the Roman Empire, where, as quoted by a tale from Mississippi Jones: "Hidden in the chasms of this very library, below the main stacks, awaits a mysterious vault sealed since the Roman times. Only recently discovered, the doors have been covered over by roots that seal them like a protective cocoon. The vault is believed to hold artifacts from the Roman's time on Jorvik".

As backed by the claims of Mrs. Holdsworth in the questline, the fortress "is built upon generations of structures, each seeking to utilize the vantage point it holds". This supports the idea that Fort Maria, including the Twilight Temple, a construction in Epona that also is founded upon Roman architecture, predate the arrival of Jon Jarl and his eventual conquest of Jorvik's territories, as well as being one of the earliest known physical records of western civilization inhabiting Jorvik after the Kallters' initial arrival millennia prior.

For the last few centuries, including before Fort Maria was permanently closed to public access, the library has been used by Jorvik's greatest minds and general readers for study and research, however was closed and lain empty due to an unknown incident which occurred a few decades prior to the events of Star Stable Online.

Books

See also: In-game books

Fort Maria is known for its storage of, allegedly, "all books of Jorvik", and so the player is given notice of in the quests which were published shortly after the "One of our witches" quest released in August of 2022, where Mrs. Holdsworth gave the player tidbits of Jorvik's recorded history in citations from alleged books written of that time. They were released incrementally as "story snacks," short quests in between the opening of the fort and the continuation of the storyline. Such known books include:

• Historia Comprehensiva Maleficarum Jorvik

Referred to as "The Big Book of Witches" by Mrs. Holdsworth, it is a comprehensive anthology of all known histories, monographs, and research of Jorvik's witches. It suggests that a few of the Vala may have migrated to Jorvik earlier than Jon Jarl, around the same time as the Kallters, from Finland or northern Germany. Mrs. Holdsworth also says that it is very old and that the style of the language and writing suggests that it is a druid recounting of events during the time of Jon Jarl. The book confirms that the Vala are trapped within Devil's Gap, after setting a curse upon Jon Jarl and his people that came with the price of the health of the Wild Weave and Primeval Trees. Mrs. Holdsworth says that although there have still been sightings over the years, they relatively quickly became legends used to frighten children.

• "Journeyers of the Wild Weave", written in 1418, author unknown (from the Wednesday update on August 16th, 2023). Its text refers to the Wild Weave and its use by the ancient Roman Magói. A passage has been highlighted in ink about the "beastly dangers" that roam the twisting root system.

• Primeval Trees Paper
  • See Primeval Trees#Star Stable Online. A paper that gives more information on the powers of the Primeval Trees.
• Galloper Thompson's Diary
  • See Galloper Thompson#Fort Maria Diary. A diary entry by Galloper Thompson that details his encounter with a Vala witch.
• Mississippi Jones Letter
  • A letter by Mississippi Jones to a person named Cornelia about a peculiar discovery of an old map. He says that sometimes it makes a faint sound or song, and that the chart was glowing inside of his satchel. He writes that "the runes and letters seemed to want to spring from the parchment itself," and the rest of the letter is mush. Mrs. Holdsworth believes it was drawn on enchanted paper, and finds a fragment of another strange map inside the Historia Comprehensiva Maleficarum Jorvik. It has a forest on it and other locations that correspond with the modern map of Jorvik, but that do not line up correctly. She says that an old warden tree stump on the map would be in The Forgotten Fields, and that this is the Wild Weave that the book refers to that lost its health after the Vala curse.
  • It is later revealed that it is a map of the Wild Weave.
• Jon Jarl's Interment Ledger
  • A page that was ripped out of a ledger written by an official at Jon Jarl's funeral. It has some information on the items at the funeral: most are gold, jewels, and weapons; but also a seed from the Sleeping Widow's companion Primeval Tree that was cut down by Jon Jarl's men. The page provides another clue to the link between the Vala, Jon Jarl, Primeval Trees, and the Wild Weave.
• Unknown Book 1
  • Mrs. Holdsworth does not mention the name of this book, however in her research she found information on early visitors to Jorvik: the mágoi magicians. These people came to Jorvik from the Roman Empire, and Mississippi Jones followed the ruins of structures made by them to a library called Nova Alexandria. He also wrote about his search for the Horn of Araxa, but Mrs. Holdsworth does not know what this item is.
• Unknown Book 2
  • There is no author listed on the book, and the cover has three unknown words as its title. Mrs. Holdsworth says that it is a fairly new book that was likely written in the past century. It is about the origins of the glowing trapdoor hatches around Jorvik, however, she is interrupted before being able to read it to the group.

Interior

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  A painting of a Rune Runner in the first room

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  The top floor of the interior

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  The stairs to the basement

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  The basement of the interior

The interior of the fort is unlocked after earning Beatrix the capran's trust through the main story quest line, and can still be entered after completing the quests. Inside are many bookshelves full of books, desks, paintings on the walls, and other artwork. As the front doors are closed, it is only accessible through the Ruined Entrance.

Wild Weave Cave

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  The main room of the cave

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  First mural

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  Second mural

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  Third mural

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  Fourth mural

In the questline following the unlocking of the library, an additional room is discovered behind the bookshelves of the lower floor. Inside is a long stone passageway to a circular central cave, with four stone murals on one side of the walls and plants. Upon finding the location, the Soul Riders remark that this is likely the entrance to the Wild Weave that showed up in Mrs. Holdsworth's research in the library, but that the root system there is not active anymore and is dead. The murals depict trees and people traveling on their roots, and there is also a map that shows the Primeval Trees and the Wild Wave all connected by roots. The group realizes that there needs to be another Primeval Tree for the Weave to work again.

After the new Primeval Tree grows, the Wild Weave is reactivated and is able to be traveled through. After unlocking it, the player can use the Wild Weave to travel to Devil's Gap.

Trivia

• Fort Maria was announced in Star Stable's 4th birthday giveaway: Day 4 video on YouTube.
• Since its release, Buck can be found standing outside Fort Maria. He cannot be interacted with.
• Mrs. Holdsworth frequents the library, and Beatrix lives there.
• The painting of the Rune Runner that can be seen in the fort matches a piece of concept art shared before the horse's release.
• Strange sounds can be heard coming from behind a door on the top floor of the library that Beatrix told the player not to open.