[Siona]Exploring Siona

[Dagrun Murrough]

OOC: First cycle of Spring

IC:
Dagrun decided that before he enlisted with the Knights of the Argent Sword, he would make sure that they were a legitimate organization. After all, he only had met one or two fellows in Primus Gaudeo. He had been a bit unclear on the size of the KoAS, and of Siona itself, and so it behooved him to look for himself. Dagrun was like that, very prudent for a dwarf.

He waited for his next day off from work in Primus Gaudeo, then headed out to explore the route to Siona. Nothing untoward happened on his journey, and he soon found himself in Siona.

He would speak to any guard he saw. "Serale. I am looking for the Headquarters of the Knights of the Argent Sword. I am a prospective applicant and I wanted to have a look around so I could see what I was getting into. My uncle ended up joining the Navy based on a recruiter's speech, and somehow the subject of being on a boat never actually came up in conversation. Well, that was one unhappy dwarf, let me tell you! So, I am here to see whatever a visitor is allowed to see."

[Raliric Ered`Gard]

The dwarf soon realized that he was not in Siona yet, but rather in the countryside surrounding the town, a countryside that was beautiful and relatively untouched as yet, though there were places were farmers and ranchers were busily setting up their manor houses and working out their parcels and such. The first sight of Siona itself, for some, brought a feeling of awe due to its size and sheer outward construction.

The Town of Siona was framed by the rising mountains behind it, equip with the Citadel known as the Arcis Firmitas Pietas. The grey granite wall which surrounds this village meets up with the Great Mountains and there finishes, creating a huge semi-circle of solid stone, save for the only Gate which is located at the most Southern part of the wall. The village walls appear to be more than thirty feet high and are patrolled by the City’s Guard, the Adductae Fulguru.

The gates themselves are double layered like the walls; the inner layer consisting of 2.5 inchs thick metal bars positioned at certain intervals and formations. The outer layer of the gates are thick, strong wood with metal poles that reach from the inner layer to the outer layer and then project outward from the wood in a spike, which is what is seen. The Gate House is 45 feet from ground level to allow for the thirty-foot tall gate which will only rise up fifteen feet from the ground. The ceiling behind the gates has a strong steel grill held against it.

Outside the village walls at regular intervals are ten, thirty feet tall stone keeps, each of which is position two hundred paces from the town walls. Each of these keeps can hold a garrison of one hundred men. These are for extra protection for the farming and ranching populace of the town and Centripax’s Heartlands.

Two of the four guards outside the gates, all of whom were wearing the uniform of the Knights of the Argent Sword, checked the visas and belongings of those who wished to enter. Thus when Dagrun approached one of them and asked his questions a friendly response was given. ”Serale, I can only imagine how distressed your Uncle would have been. Before I can allow you entrance to Siona I must ask for your Visa and for you to state your name and from where you hail.” Once he this information had been attained and he had looked over the visa and written down the necessary information in his log book, he smiled and returned the visa to the fellow.

”All in order. Now as for the Headquarters of the Knights of the Argent Sword, I suppose you might mean one of two things; their the Arcis Firmitas Pietas,” The knight motioned up to Citadel which held sentinel over the town, ”or the Knights Compound which is in the center of the village.” He was about to continue when a gruff dwarven voice interrupted him. A familiar gruff dwarven voice.

A dwarven Knight moved out from the Guard House and approached Dagrun, ”Thought it was ye I could hear out ‘ere.” He glanced at his fellow knight. ”I’ll take it from ‘ere.” The knight nodded and moved onto the next in line to enter the town whilst the dwarf, whom Dagrun could probably remember from Primus Gaudeo, known as Sir Milaron, motioned for him to follow. They walked through the gates and began down a roofless corridor with arrow slits and crenellated walls; obviously a defensive feature of the town. ”Dagrun, so ye made it. What be ye wantin to see first?”

[Dagrun Murrough]

He told the guard his named and that he hailed from Zerdargia, but currently lived in Primus Gaudeo, and gave him his papers to review.

And then the size of the place hit him.

Dagrun was literally amazed. He had been by Siona (or what he thought was Siona) two or three patterns back, and he did not remember anything like this. This was astonishing-- and he would probably be even more astonished if he knew that this was the vision of one man. "Truly amazing. I had no idea. And believe me, as a dwarf, I understand what this sort of undertaking requires. Incredible."

Once the Knight approached, Dagrun greeted him affably. "Well, so am I to be understanding that Siona is in many ways like Midpoint, as least in structure, fortress-like qualities and so forth? I assume the functions normally taken up by Prefect and Aedile are handled by JAG and Yeoman, or some such military equivalent?"

He looked around, not at all sure where to begin. He had no idea how to pronounce the other thing, or what it was, so his decision was simple: "With all due respect, good sir Knight, I humbly request that we start with the Knight's Compound, if that is possible, and then you may of course tailor the tour as you see fit, after that."

Dagrun was also interested in seeing the Drunken Wizard, as he had heard stories of it leaking all the way to Archer's Holt, but he thought it rather unknightly to mention such a place right off the bat. Still, he kept it in mind as a place of interest he wanted to see, with or without the Dwarven Knight.

[Raliric Ered`Gard]

OOC: Apologies for the Delay, been a busy little boy this week and am catching up today whilst I have a day off.

The Knight Dragun had originally approached nodded. ”Aye, well we did have a large amount of dwarven labourers and engineers who took part in the construction. Without them it would have taken quite a bit longer, and it wouldn’t have worked out as well as it did, no doubt about it.” A smile toward Milaron as the Dwarf approached and the first Knight left the two be.

The dwarf replied to the questions as they walked. ”Sort of like Midpoint, aye, but on a bit of a higher level. It is a fortified town, to be sure, with a garrison in its center, however Midpoint has nothing like the Arcis Firmitas Pietas.” He motioned up at the only part of the mountain citadel that could be seen; the walls protruding from the mountain, though they appeared to be part of the mountain; the few buildings that could be seen from this distance and, of course, the Mage Tower that reached up into the clouds that seemed to always surround the Great Mountains.

”A mountain fastness almost impenetrable. Its only weakness would be arcana… and that part we are searching for an answer for. We have enough magi in the Knights to be able to develop some sort of defense against Arcana. “ A shrug, as with most dwarfs this one wasn’t too concerned about Arcana; he was a warrior, a fighter and a soldier at heart and that left no room for ponderings about magery. Leave that up to the Mages he thought. ”As for positions like Prefect and Aedile? Prefect is currently taken by the Constable, who is a member of the Knights, and the Aedile is Sir Ered`Gard’s Accountant at present. They are temporary positions until the Capitol send someone more qualified or appropriate. Though I doubt they’ll bother, it doesn’t seem like the Capitol cares much about Siona so long as it pays its taxes.” He shrugged at that, liking it just fine that way, the less politicians in Siona the better in his opinion.

”Knights Compound it is though, and you’ll be able to see it once we pass the inner Gates.” A firm nod, matter-of-fact like; a dwarven trait well cherished. And sure enough a few moments after the words had left his bearded lips they emerged from the ‘Killing Grounds’ Corridors, through the Inner Gate, and into a field with a road leading toward the center of the town. Dagrun would have realized then that the town of Siona had all been built before any citizens even began living in it. The town had been built to accommodate a certain amount of people that they believed they would get within the first few eras and then a massive space for more housing had been left so that the city could expand. Then Walls had been constructed so that the defense of the town and its growth were taken into consideration. It seemed that a great amount of thought had gone into this town, and it appeared that those who had thought it up and constructed it had great hopes for it.

Already Dagrun could see more Insulae (apartment blocks) being constructed on what counted for the town’s current city limits; already the town was expanding to accommodate its increase in population. Sure enough though, the road that they walked followed an arrow straight line to a walled compound in the center of the town. It was obvious that this compound was the Knight’s Compound, for it could be little else. As they walked down this main street, which was exactly what it was called, ‘Main Street’… imaginative… As they walked down the street they passed the shops that took up the ground floor of each of the Insulae buildings, they passed small taverns, shrines to various gods, small parks and gardens. They also passed a building that seemed to be dedicated to being a Tavern or Inn, a large sign out front declaring that it was The Drunken Wizard; Tavern, Inn and Arena. There was no other Tavern or Inn like it in the Empire and that was why it was a popular place to be. It was also directed at a level of society that was interesting to note given its owner was a noble (albeit a low level one).

They moved past the Drunken Wizard, not going to stop there just yet, they could do that on their way back, or on their way to the entrance to the Arcis Firmitas Pietas if the potential Knight wished to see it. It did not take long for them to reach the compound for the town was not large, though what it made up from width and breadth it made up in height; every building was at least three or four stories high and relatively close together, though most of the Insulae buildings had roads or alleyways in between them, thus ensuring a fire would not spread too quickly if a fire ever occurred.

The compound itself was quite large; its walls were of similar heights to that of the outer city walls, its gates working on a similar system though Dagrun wouldn’t have realized what that system was exactly. They passed through the Gates into a courtyard, or rather a mustering field or parade ground. It was a wide space and there were various Knights moving to and fro across it. The Dwarf motioned around this half of the compound; it was split in half by a very large four story building that could only have been the Barracks. ”The Barracks is located in the center much like a Keep would be with regards to its walls. The Barracks can station roughly two thousand soldiers, though I doubt we’ll ever use it to capacity.” The buildings close to the walls were, it seemed part of the walls. These buildings protruded out from the inner side of the walls to allow a larger walkway as well as give a goodly amount of support. It also meant that it was hard to raze the buildings as they had no wooden roofs. There were signs on each of the buildings and Milaron escorted Dagrun around this half of the compound before stopping again. This half contained; an administrative building, a weapon smithy, an armour smithy, the commander’s quarters, the stable and the Hospital.

Milaron did not continue onto the other half of the compound just yet, first of all he looked to Dagrun to see if the fellow had any questions thus far.