Standing Before the Moat                               -      -      - 
(-------------------------------------------------)     W <---(M)---> E
                                                        -      S      -

The field continues to the edge of the moat.  In your experience, normal
moats are full of water, this one seems to break that misconception.  The
moat itself is several hundred feet straight down in a canyon.  You do not
know if the castle was built before or after the canyon appeared, but what
you do know is that there is very little chance that any attacker could ever
cross such a divide and live.  Between the archers that could line the
castle walls, and the natural barrier before the castle, any army would be
hard pressed to get out alive.  You hear the roar of the river as it streaks
by down below.  The canyon and the river continue on to the east and west
from here.  
A large deer grazes quietly here.