Keel Harbor

Keel Harbor is a Gilnean harbor town located in the region of the Headlands of Gilneas. It was built along the coast of the Northgate River. It has a history of shipbuilding and fishing, and is known to have been home to many rebel symphatizers back during the Northgate Rebellion. It was first established after the discovery of minerals in the region, and is one of the few towns of the Headlands to not have been destroyed when the Horde invaded.

Establishment
The Headlands used to be home to only two towns: Karnsburg and Cobal's Hold, founded by the houses of Stanton and Cobal, respectively. A bloody feud between the two families had taken place, only ended with a fragile truce when a Stanton and a Cobal married, unting the two families to make the House of Cobalstant. They established a town named Bannhurst in an area named the "Blood Fields", gaining it's name from the bloody battles between the two familes. A large mine with a plentyful of minerals was discovered shortly afterwards, bringing people from across Gilneas and establishing several towns, Keel included.

War in the Headlands
The Headlands was a melting pot of religions in the beginning, with people who followed the Light, others who clinged to the Old Ways and others worshipping the god Deus. Keel Harbor was a town that was mostly inhabited by Deus worshippers. A religious war broke out, with the Deus worshippers and followers of the Old Ways attacking Bannhurst. By the end of it, the Gilnean army came in and stopped the fighting, and Keel Harbor was in ruins. It was rebuilt later, funds coming from the Cobalstants' pockets, but Deus worshipping was extinct.

The Seventh Skull Legion
Some time after the construction of the Greymane Wall, a group of Lordaeronian deserters turned bandits known as the Seventh Skull Legion began harrassing some of the smaller towns, although their attention quickly came to the Headlands, their goal being to control Gilneas' economy. Keel Harbor was one of the towns sieged. Civilians dissapeared only to be found dead days, sometimes weeks later.

The current mayor at the time, Jonathan Keywald, had recieved threats, and was told to give the Seventh Skull a portion of the town's income or face their wrath. Keywald outright refused, and expecting them to siege Keel, was going to start an evacuation when several carriages from Bannhurst entered into town, with news of the fall of Bannhurst. Although the threat of the Seventh Skull was gone, it had come with a price. Many of the people of Keel attended the mass funeral in honor of the fallen.

The Worgen Outbreak
The Headlands remained mostly unaffected by the Worgen epidemic, although the ruins of Bannhurst became a frequent hunting location. After the news of the fall of Gilneas City reached the Headlands, Mayor Keywald ordered the destruction of the bridge linking the Headlands to the rest of Gilneas.

The Horde Invasion
Near the end of the Horde invasion of Gilneas, when the orcish soldiers invaded, most of the towns in the Headlands were destroyed. With Karnsburg and Duskhaven destroyed, the only secure harbor remaining on the western coast was Keel. Fleeing families poured into Keel, awaiting evacuation. The town was abandonned when the Gilneans left by sea, their escape route cleared.

Currently
One of the only two towns of the Headlands to have not been razed to the ground by the Horde with Gregor's Crossing, Keel Harbor remains relatively intact. However, it remains uninhabited.