Gah, fine, fine. Though I now think that all teachers in Khemri should be beaten and shot, and that Guangfei should suffer seven plagues.
Since I can't exactly not go to France and rewrite my orders, just don't build those 5 Pentaremes.
---
Redemption, New Veritas
"Redemption had advantages and disadvantages in its construction. For one, it was the first planned city in existence, since cities before that were simply founded on nice-looking locations at random. The disadvantage was that those planning Redemption did not have the luxury of time."
-Santini Gregorian, Architect
While Pacian was the true Veritasan hero of the Second Exodus, he wasn't the one who created New Veritas. His expeditions to the True East, while not exactly a failure, weren't a success either. So, he and his colonists were content to build Pax in Exilsium.
When the first Brigantine sighted land in the south, the Disciples of the One conferred. The Uniarch had died one month previous, so there was no spiritual leader among them. The seventy Disciples present decided to collectively pray to the One for some sort of sign signalling whether they should settle this location or not.
About ten minutes after they began praying, the chief quartermaster came in, reporting that food supplies were drastically low. They considered that sign enough. Several scouts detatched from the fleet in small galleys, and began to survey the coast for an appropriate spot. They were given strict criteria by the Disciples. The location had to be defensible first, second it had to have an ample supply of fresh water, and third it had to have arable land.
After seven weeks, the scouts returned. The reports were good. The land's main characteristics were grasslands, gently rolling hills eventually rising to snowcapped mountains, and an abundance of natural harbors perfect for sheltering the ships that they depended on. One spot in particular was chosen, it featured a wide crescent harbor, two hundred-foot high cliffs bleached white and smooth by the tide and time, and a spring in the middle of a field above the cliffs. It was perfect.
So the building began. For the first few decades there were small huts, while most people clustered in tents by the harbor, or lived on their ships. But gradually more fanned out into the countryside, and Redemption began to grow. The first major project was carving a tunnel into the rockface, that could then lead to an underground stairway well protected by murder holes and bronze lattice-gates. There was also a pulley-driven elevator to carry up livestock and other large goods. The entire project took forty years to complete.
Eventually the inland forests were, well, forested, and lumber flowed in by the cartful. A large stockade of tree trunks was built, and docks augmented the harbor below. Trade, with Paleras which founded itself soon after Redemption, began to bring in necessary goods and small amounts of coin. A three-story meeting house was completed, and the Assemblum no longer had to meet on board the largest Ark. Redemption thrived as the colonists founded more villages and traded with the capitol, and mariners began to sail to Exilsium, Myocaca, Kehexou, and occasionally Norvalin, though that was rare. The goods they brought back soon made the New Haggles, modeled on the old bazaar in Veritas, the most crowded spot south of Emor.
Redemption prospered, but a massive fire soon engulfed the meeting house, and much of the nicer areas of the city. While devastating for many citizens, the Assemblum saw an opportunity in the destruction, and ordered the entire city razed. A public outcry was quickly suppressed, as people realized that there wasn't much left to raze. This paved the way for the rebuilding of the city in stone. High-quality marble was being brought in from quarries, which weren't accessible before the New Veritasans had reached the mountains. The streets were paved, and several architectural and mathematical books taken from the Halls of Knowledge in Old Veritas were dusted off. The stockade was replaced with thirty-foot stone walls, and a five-story Hall of the Republic was constructed to house the growing Assemblum. Also, the Assemblum just liked to make things bigger.
Life went on, and nicer civilized things like trees and fountains began to appear. Not to say everything went off perfectly, there was still crime, and the notorious bread riots of the years after the rebuilding had resulted in the looting of many wealthier neighborhoods. This damage was repaired, but the current Stratikrator stressed the need for more of what he called "internal defense". Not without reason, the city had little in the way of defense from an inland attack. The Assemblum scoffed. Who could possibly attack from that direction? The powers in Tellus would bring large armies to an invasion, but they had to attack from the sea. And they had a guarded harbor, not to mention the cliffs which were impossible to scale. (The taverns were strategically placed near the cliffs, ensuring that the city's drunkard population remained low.)
Of course, the Swade incursion changed all that. Several thousand troops landed in the northwestern countryside escaping the vigilance of the Fleet, and quickly advanced on Redemption. If they had known that a single stone wall and 1000 soldiers stood between them and the seat of Valin power, they might have been tempted to take it.
As the campfires of the Bladeists glittered within sight of the Hall of the Republic, the Assemblum realized their problem.
And when Stratikrator Panteras returned to Redemption, he only had to raise an eyebrow before the Assemblum knew what he wanted. And so they relented, reluctantly, knowing that most of them wouldn't be reelected. And the Second Rebuilding of Redemption began.
To start, the lower neighborhoods were all razed, most of it poor masonry anyway. The streets were widened and replanned, to form a grid that centered on squares and plazas with wells, fountains, or other amenities. This reduced clogging of streets in times of panic or siege, and allowed for the faster movement of troops. Next, Panteras divided the city into different quarters, (like sections, not 1/4) each separated by a smaller wall. If a riot or rebellion broke out, it could be contained to the quarter in which it started, and if a robbery or murder occurred the quarter's gates could be closed, allowing for easy patrol and capture.
Rooves in the lower neighborhoods slanted downwards, so that archers could be positioned on top to devastate enemy troops...and if they placed their own archers on top, Veritasan archers could hit them from above. Not to mention, the Phoenix Archers were the best marksmen in the world, undisputedly.
The outer walls and gates faced the biggest change. The walls were raised from 30 to 150 feet, with intermittent towers that held ballistas or catapults. In front of that was another wall, 50 feet in height, to serve as a first line of defense. The two walls were separated by a ditch with sharpened stakes, and long thin bridges connected them, only crossable by one man at a time. All of them were very open, and vulnerable to arrow fire from above. The city had four gates, the Silver Gate, Soldier's Gate, Merchant's Gate, and Mariner's Gate. Each was double gated with bronze-reinforced oak. Several holes in the tunnel through were barred and grated; impossible to climb up, but deadly to walk under if the soldiers above had spears, arrows, or oil.
Finally the uppermost area where the Assemblum's meeting halls were was walled off. This wall was 200 feet, quite the barrier, and the buildings above were incredibly well protected. Behind the Hall of the Republic a new fortress was being built, two round towers facing the city, a central keep, and a high tower behind, arching upwards like a lance. At it's completion, the azure flag of New Veritas would one day flutter over 700 feet above the sea.
This was the Stratikrator's Citadel. Panteras prayed that he would see it completed before his death. The lynch pin in an intricate and complex series of defenses, it would make Redemption the most heavily defended city in the world. Veritas was beautiful and strong, but not strong enough to resist all that sought to destroy it. Redemption was designed with no such fault.