The Wall

> *"The Wall, the greatest fortification and largest structure made by human hands, guarded in the north by Collective forces who no longer care what anyone thinks of their method, and guarded in the south by the entire Kushan royal army. It would take a madman to look at it and think to get past it. Therefore it is no wonder the Goran constantly make the attempt"* -Journal entry, merchant traveling to the edge of the world, Kushani border
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**The Wall** is the single largest military structure in the history of Soi, built and manned by the Eastern Block under the leadership of the Technocracy to defend against Goran incursions. It is a series of interconnected military fortifications running along the top of the mountains at the End Of The World, which stretches from a naval fortification which extends offshore, all the way to the Great Kushani Wall.

Construction began after the Circle pushed back the Goran at the turning point of the Goran-Circle Genocide Campaigns halfway through the Great War. Heavily aided by masons from the Broken Kingdom with resources from Kushan and the unclaimed nations, the Wall the Technocracy envisioned enjoyed a period of peace while the Goran recovered from the war. Unfortunately, not all sections of the wall could be fully perfected before the the fighting started again, some parts are still under construction today due to the constant stream of repairs and attacks.

In the aftermath of the Great Immortal War, upon seeing the losses each side took, the Family Hearth gathered the names of the fallen who could not be saved, and walked through the Dust-covered land to carve the names of the fallen on all sides into the stone. This serves as both a memorial for all those lost and a warning of the cost of all-out war.

The Wall is generally referred to in three segments, the Northern Wall which was constructed by the Circle and stretches along their mountain range, the Low Wall which was constructed by the Broken Kingdom to bridge the bulwarks of the Circle and Kushan to the south, and the Southern Wall which is part of the massive complex of walls which surround Kushan.

The Wall is extremely effective as a force multiplier, especially against large-scale attacks. The length of the structure is simply too long for a high alert to be maintained indefinitely. Goran incursions do get past the Wall on occasion, typically at points which are more lightly guarded. There is however the occasional bloody assault on more fully-developed regions of the wall, which begets incredible amounts of carnage and usually requires secondary layers of defense to fully turn around.

## The Northern Wall

Information on The Northern Wall is limited, as its secrecy is considered a security priority by the Technocracy. Non-essential personnel are allowed to go there for business involving the maintenance and supply lines of the Wall, but only experienced members of the Circle of Shields are actually stationed there. It is widely considered to be the most important, yet least enjoyable post.

## Construction

At its lowest points, the Northern Wall is significantly taller than a Goran Titan, and is built to take advantage of the natural mountain slope. Outposts along the wall, built within low-visibility seeing-distance of each other, are built to hold troops, weaponry, and supplies. Some are larger, made to hold larger forces, long-term supplies, specialized equipment, and the heaviest weaponry, while others are as small as a simple observation post.

The Wall's slope is made to prevent scaling, but also to be resistant to artillery attack, while the slope beneath it has been picked clean of any outcroppings, making it impossible for any attacking force to hide from artillery barrages. The top is covered from small arms fire, while the outposts are built to resist artillery.

Beneath the wall, a number of anti-tunneling measures have been taken. Theorized to involve existing tunnels, gravel pits, traps, and alarm systems, the exact nature of the under-wall design is a closely guarded secret.

## Defense

The Technocracy treats the Wall as a constant game of chess with the Goran, and has devoted teams of strategists and technologists to outsmarting and thwarting Goran attempts to circumvent it. Many of the methods used by the Circle are considered a guarded secret making it impossible to know how far the Circle's methods have truly gone in preventing another genocide.

Outposts are often equipped with heavy mechanical artillery, such as scatter ballistas, though it is unknown exactly what is being used or how many troops are stationed there.

The Northern Wall overlooks a section of barren land known as the Dead Zone, which extends for nearly a mile in either direction of wall. Due to the Dead Zone, the Technocracy has been accused of using chemical weapons to defend the structure. The Technocracy denies this adamantly, but also maintain that even if they were using chemical weapons, the Wall is a stationary, defensive structure. As such, they say the use of chemical weapons would not violate the Barren Soil Treaty.

The Wall makes use of a light relay system to send information regarding the approach and location of Goran attempts to destroy or get through the northern wall. The code of signals is a closely-guarded secret and is changed regularly to help prevent the Goran from decoding the relayed messaged.

## The Low Wall

### **The Problem of the Broken Kingdom**

Following the Great War and the tremendous loss of life to the Broken Kingdom, the Council of Royals agreed to help in the construction of the Encircled and Kushani Wall. As with all Grand Parades, the contract was set and agreed with the standard stricture that the worker's village would be fed. This was the only price asked in return for the Broken Kingdom's aid. In return all design specifications were left to the Council of Royals to determine. The Broken Kingdom took on the job of building the wall in the flatlands between the mountains of the Circle and the preexisting wall of the Kushan.

What came next was the largest Grande Parade ever seen on Soi. A Parade a million strong left the Broken Kingdoms, setting up a massive series of camps along the planned sight. The million stayed encamped for twenty years, building the gigantic structure nearly overnight. What was left was a wall built in the proudest Broken Kingdom tradition, the Goran-facing side decorated in gargoyles, dragons and other fanciful creatures, the Eastern Block side housing the boilers and water reservoirs which could be utilized to blast steam into the faces of anyone climbing the wall. The base of the wall was built into a dry moat, filled with stone spikes. The wall is wide enough for eight men to stand abreast across the top, and a uniformed thirty five feet in height. Spaced along the wall are large, rounded bastions which serve as garrisons and store rooms with smaller archer towers spaced in between.

All of this was well and good, however a bone of contention exists over the final design feature. North of Kushan, the Broken Kingdom built a massive gate into the wall. The immense gates built of stone and steel requires teams of dozens draft animals to be opened. The gate is likewise fronted by a draw bridge which can be lowered to allow easy passage over the dry-moat. The gate itself is so large that twelve Armored Riders could pass through it abreast at a gallop. When asked why they would put a hole in a perfectly good defensive structure, the Council of Royals were bemused and simply gave answer to the effect that they never thought anyone would want to hide from their problems for all eternity.

After the completion of their portion of the wall (and draining the food reserves of Kushan and the Circle) the worker villages were withdrawn and the Grandest of Parades returned home, leaving the wall unmanned for the Kushan and Circle to take over. The Broken Kingdom, as always, refused to deploy its military in sizable force away from its homeland.

### **Manning the Low Wall**

The Technocracy, with its tendency to think ahead, had anticipated the lack of a garrison for the low wall provided by the Broken Kingdom. As such, they engaged in a number of agreements with the independent nations the Wall would help protect. In return for the construction of the Wall and shared technology from the Circle, a number of nations pledged their military to help garrison the wall. Fortunately it would seem the Broken Kingdom anticipated this, as the larger bastions serve excellently as a base of operations for each of the independent kingdoms. It is the duty of each of these independent nations to contact the Broken Kingdom if their section of the Low Wall becomes significantly damaged so that repairs can be made.

#### **The Black Gate**

The sole position manned by the Broken Kingdom is the immense gate house they built into the Low Wall. Three hundred men from each Kingdom are sent on two year rotations to man the Black Gate. Every two months one of the Kingdoms replaces their part of the force and replenishes the perishable supplies. The garrison force is mostly made up of men at arms, but a hundred and twenty Riders form the backbone of the garrison under the command of a Senior Knighted Rider. In addition to the small group of Rider's mounts, a small stable of pacing horses is kept to allow rapid transit of warnings to be carried to the west and north should the Goran ever mass to assault the Gate. While the garrison force is not laughable in size, it represents a little less than a third of the intended capacity. The other partition of the garrison force takes the form of the standing army of Armored Riders which stands ready in the Broken Kingdom to respond to the military aid of the Circle as per their treaties.

##### **Gate Commander Marshall**

The current Commander is a seasoned crusader who earned recognition by taking command against the Goran Arc Colony found north of the Tallet Empire, reversing a losing battle. Initially led by a youthful Prince who was seeking to earn his right to inherit his father's throne. The Prince became isolated during the initial charge with his body-guards, the group became unhorsed along with many of the initial forces as the Gorans jumped upon the riders and pulled them to the ground. Ser Bishop von Marshall earned his knighthood by rallying the remaining riders for their second charge in a reversed formation to engulf the area of the battlefield where the Prince was fighting afoot. The footmen and archers would follow the charge to try to create an encircled hedge formation around the Prince to allow the Goran to punch themselves out while saving the young Royal at the same time. The maneuver worked; Rider Bishop von Marshall was knighted on the Crusade's return to the Kingdom and soon after was appointed Gate Commander for his experience and success facing the Goran in battle.

## The Southern Wall

Not much is known of the Southern Wall as few care to venture on the Goran side of the structure to examine it. What is known is that it is manned by the Royal Army of Kushan and is part of the greater wall complex which surrounds all of Kushan. As the Kushan do not welcome outsiders into their border, they receive no aid with manning their section of the wall, however the People of Gold guard their home fiercely and no tales of major breaches have reached the ears of outsiders.

## The Goran

The Goran have a mixed relationship with the Wall. On one hand, it stands as a testament to the Goran nation's strength that those who would steal their land would create such a massive structure to try to keep it. On the other hand, it is a challenge to their might. A defiance that dares them to try to overcome it. Goran leadership works continually to find a real solution to the problem of the Wall, trying out different methods of getting their forces over, under, or through the Wall.

### **Spike Riders**

Spike Riders are mounted Goran infantry equipped with a many ropes, sledge hammer and a series of iron spikes. Only able to approach sections of uncorrupted wall under cover of night, large companies of riders modify the wall. Using a sledge hammer, iron spikes are mounted into the Wall to provide a gripping and ropes are attached to allow more easy maneuverability. Using weighted stones, ropes are passed from one rider to the next catching on the spikes of the other mount. Web-like designs are woven into the rope, allowing Goran ape rider companies to ride straight up the wall with the sun at their back to blind Encircled archers as they attempt to defend it.

### **Stone Tunnels**

Utilizing free Goran mining towns as a base, Goran Garok harvesters dredge deep tunnels slowly through the land. Due to the structural stability of stone versus soil, most tunnels are dug seep into the land. It was intended that they would be large enough to send entire armies through, however at this point only a few have surfaced in Circle lands. The largest tunnel project was the God's Way.

### **The Stone Assault**

Catapults are placed near all Goran-occupied mountains near the Wall and are in use all day, every day. Regions rich in stone have defensive structures built to protect the catapults. The masters of the siege machines are under orders to, “Crack the wall or bury it. Use the entire damn mountains if you need to.” Teams harvest the stone and hurl it at the mountain. In the event the they do not break the wall, they will eventually provide a gentle slope and lead Goran Armies up it.

### **The Iron Canopy**

Resembling a giant building being slowly built near the wall, these massive projects are being built with the intent providing safe passage to and over the wall for the Goran forces. Essentially metal tubes as wide as a boulevard and as tall as a warehouse, these represent a truly hard-to-deter threat to the Encircled forces. Constructed mostly of iron and plated heavily, ballista rounds have little impact on these structures and tend to glance off.

### **Chain Spires**

Monolithic metal buildings used in conjunction with Spike Riders. Once a Spike Rider team has made it to the top of the wall, pulleys are set up to hoist an anchor attached to the chain spire. When the anchor is set loose over the other side of the wall, a series of secondary spikes are driven in to hold it in place. Using the single chain as a base, other chains are run to the wall from the tower. Other anchors are set into place to secure these too. A device called a chain cart is built on the spike tower and it transports units over to the wall.