Fortification
Overview
The world of Empire is littered with walled settlements, fortresses, keeps, castles and fortified bridges. These lesser structures may be the target of a quest or skirmish but they are not important for the calculation of army strength present in a territory. Only mighty fortifications are tracked: sturdy castles, networks of carefully positioned forts; great stone walls with sentinel towers.
Fortification Strength
- A starting fortification contributes 3,000 fighting strength to the owning side
- If the fortification is attacked, its contribution is doubled for the purposes of Victory
- If the fortification is attacked, its contribution also inflicts casualties
A campaign fortification is stationary and located in a specific region. Fortifications have a strength, based on the same scale used for Imperial armies. A small campaign fortification has a strength of 3,000 - equivalent to fighting strength of 3,000 trained soldiers.
The strength of any fortifications in a territory are added to the strength of the armies present, but only for purposes of determining which side is victorious. Fortifications do not inflict or take casualties unless the orders issued by the generals for the campaign indicate that they are attacking the fortification or the region it defends. The military fighting strength of a fortification (but not any military unit assigned to support it) is doubled if the region it is in is attacked, for calculating victory, and the fortification will inflict casualties based on its force.
For example, if the campaign is focused on capturing a forest region in Karsk then the presence of a 3,000 strength fortification in a nearby region will be important for determining which side is winning, but will not directly affect casualties. If the orders for the campaign involve trying to assault the fortification, then it inflicts and takes casualties like a campaign army with a fighting strength of 6,000 for the purposes of calculating victory, and 3,000 for the purposes of inflicting casualties.
A fortification is destroyed if its strength falls below 1,000.
Senate Commissions
The Imperial Senate can pass motions to create new campaign fortification or to improve or repair existing ones. Every fortification occupies a region; a given region may only contain one fortification.
Costs
- Materials: 80 white granite and 30 thrones.
- Time: 1 year to construct
- Upkeep: 10 thrones per season.
Improvement
The Imperial Senate can pass a motion to improve the quality of an existing fortification. Improving a fortification takes one year to complete. The fortification must be controlled by the Empire throughout.
- Increasing a fortification from a strength of 3000 to a strength of 6000 requires 100 wains of white granite and 300 crowns.
- Increasing a fortification from a strength of 6000 to a strength of 9000 requires 120 wains of white granite and 360 crowns.
- Increasing a fortification from a strength of 9000 to a strength of 12000 requires 140 wains of white granite and 420 crowns.
Further increases in the strength of a campaign fortification follow the same cost increase structure.
Repair
Fortifications are damaged when they are involved in a campaign. The upkeep costs provide for some automatic repair over time, provided the territory is under Imperial control, but the progress is slow. The Senate may pass a motion to pay for emergency repairs.
Automatic Repair
If an Imperial fortification is located in an Imperial controlled territory and is not subject to an attack during that season then it automatically recovers one tenth of its maximum strength every season. Imperial fortifications in territories which are not controlled the Empire or which are attacked during a season are not automatically repaired.
Emergency Repair
The Imperial Senate may pass a motion to authorize the use of additional materials - either white granite or weirwood - to speed up the repair of an Imperial fortification. This represents a concerted effort by the Empire to repair the fortification. Emergency repair, like natural repair, takes a season to complete.
| Wains Spent | Benefits |
|---|---|
| 1-20 | 25 points/wain |
| 21-40 | 20 points/wain |
| 41-60 | 15 points/wain |
| 61-80 | 10 points/wain |
| 81-100 | 5 points/wain |
When a motion of emergency repair passes, any imperial citizen may contribute resources and money towards the repairs before the start of the next summit. A citizen who provides wains to resupply an army must also provide the appropriate amount of money at the same time.
In a single season, the first 20 wains of white granite or weirwood restore 25 strength for each wain allocated. The next 20 wains provide an additional 20 strength each an so on, up to a maximum of 100 wains in a single season. In addition to materials, emergency resupply costs 2 crowns per wain. The rate of emergency resupply resets each season so the white granite and weirwood spent in a subsequent season is not affected by earlier actions.
Upkeep
Fortifications require far less money to pay for their upkeep than an Imperial army - but they are still not free. A basic fortification costs 10 thrones per season. A 6000 strength fortification costs 18 thrones and a 9000 strength fortification costs 24 thrones. Stronger fortifications cost proportionately more.
Fortifications are one of the first priorities of the civil service after the armies are paid for. If there is insufficient income in the Imperial treasury to pay for the upkeep of a fortification then it provides no benefits of any kind that season.
Military units
Some wealthy or powerful citizens maintain their own independent military unit. These units can be attached to a fortification to increase its effective strength. This is done by the orders of the military unit’s commander (submitted using the personal resource downtime system).
The experienced and capable troops in a military unit provide an advantage out of proportion to their numbers. A starting military unit adds the equivalent of 100 soldiers to the strength of any fortification they support.
Rituals
The table below shows a list of the rituals in both Imperial lore and Urizen lore which can an affect a fortification.
| Ritual | Effect | Realm | Magnitude |
|---|---|---|---|
| Golden Ramparts | The fortification's effective strength is increased by 1,500 over the next season | Summer | 75 |
| Guardian Gate(1) | Any spy network operating in the territory finds it harder to gain information. Any military units supporting the fortification will receive a report on hostile armies in the territory at the next event. | Day | 80 |
| Hammers of the Brilliant Shore | The fortification restores 250 strength over the next season | Summer | 60 |
| Mountain Remembers Its Youth(2) | All fortifications and armies in the territory suffer a share of 500 casualties over the next season. Casualties suffered by fortifications in this way are reduced by 20% | Spring | 60 |
| Ramparts of Ashlar(3) | The fortification's effective strength is increased by 3,000 over the next season | Autumn | 150 |
| Stalwart Stand on Solid Ground | The fortification will not be destroyed over the next year unless it is reduced to 0 strength | Summer | 60 |
| Stone's Unyielding Defiance(1) | The fortification restores 250 strength and its effective strength is increased by 1,500 over the next season | Summer | 120 |
| Thunderous Tread of the Trees(2) | All fortifications and armies in the territory suffer a share of 500 casualties over the next year. Casualties suffered by fortifications in this way are increased by 20% | Spring | 120 |
- This ritual is in Urizen lore
- This curse affects an entire territory
- This ritual is a mystic scroll of Estavus
Current Fortifications
This table lists all working fortifications in the Empire. This list was last updated following the Autumn Equinox 386YE.
Former Fortifications
These fortifications are no longer active. This happens automatically if a fortification is abrogated by the Imperial Senate but in most cases it is because the structure has been captured or destroyed by barbarians.
| Fortification | Nation | Territory | Region |
|---|---|---|---|
| Farstrider's Watch | The Marches | Mournwold | Greensward |
| Fort Braydon | The Brass Coast | Kahraman | Braydon's Jasse |
| Fort Mezudan | The League | Spiral | Ateri |
| Holmauer | The League | Holberg | Holmauer |
| Holt of the Oak | Navarr | Therunin | Lower Tarn Valley |
| Mora's Rock | The Brass Coast | Feroz | Morajasse |
| Orchard's Watch | The Marches | Mournwold | Greensward |
| Overton Garrison | The Marches | Mournwold | Greensward |
| Rebeshof | The League | Holberg | Rebeshof |
| Salt Guard | The Brass Coast | Madruga | Siroc Plains |
| Tower of the Scorpion | Varushka | Ossium | Echofell |
| Towers of the Dawn | Dawn | The Barrens | Dawnguard |