Salton Prison
Salton Prison is a prison camp and salt mine located at the base of the Central Range, southwest of Westbridge. It is known for its harsh conditions, hard labor, and brutality. Few prisoners leave Salton alive.
Purpose / Function
Salton Prison is a penitentiary for the worst criminals of Sudland. Murders, rapists, other violent offenders, counterfeiters and forgers, and others that have committed heinous offenses, often repeatedly, are sentenced to long terms at hard labor in the salt mines near the prison, chained by their ankles, and watched by merciless guards that have no qualms about beating the prisoners bloody.
Architecture
The prison compound is a square 1 mile on each side (1 sq. mile, 640 acres, 259 hectares). It is surrounded by a wall of cut stone blocks 20 feet (6 meters) high with overhangs to prevent any attempts at climbing. The walls extend 10 feet underground to prevent attempts to dig under them. At each corner of the wall, and every 220 feet along the walls, is a tower extending 10 feet above the top of the wall, 30 feet in height in total. There is only one gate leading into the prison on the west side at the middle of the wall. The gate is surrounded by guard towers, on the inside and the outside, between which are also 20 foot high walls. Gates run between the towers, so that a series of three gates must be passed to get into or out of the prison. The gates and all towers are manned by heavily armed and armored guards, including archers and crossbowmen, round the clock. There is a steep-sided ditch outside the walls, approximately 50 feet (15 meters) wide and 15 feet (4.6 meters) deep, lined with stone. During heavy rains, the ditch partially fills with water. There is a wooden drawbridge that spans the ditch at the gate, which is only 20 feet (6 meters) wide at that point, supported by the outer towers. It is just wide enough to pass 2 carts side by side. The drawbridge can be raised and lowered via pulleys and chains attached to the outer towers.
The prison is divided into four blocks, labeled A, B, C, and D, two blocks on the north side of the prison (Blocks A and B) each spanning one-half of the prison (2640 feet, 804 meters), and two on the south (Blocks C and D), each also spanning one-half of the prison. Between the north and south blocks is a wide Central Corridor running the entire length of the prison and roughly 400 feet (122 meters) wide. The Central Corridor runs between walls 20 feet high than span the length of the prison. On the east side of the Central Corridor just past half of the length of the prison is another wall that spans the width of the Central Corridor. To the east of this wall is the Citadel, a stone fortress with two round towers extending above it. Ephraïm Pasquier has his offices in the Citadel, as well as the other prison administrators.
Within each block are barracks holding roughly 2,000 inmates, so the total capacity of the prison is 8000 prisoners. The barracks are constructed from mortared brick with heavy slate roofs. Each barrack holds 50 prisoners. The barracks in each block are arranged in five columns of eight barracks. so there are 40 barracks in each block, and 160 barracks in total. The barracks are arranged so that doors, which are on the ends of the barracks buildings face toward the center of the prison compound, diagonal to the outside walls. Each block has a chapel located at the far outside corners of each block, 2 wells, and 40 latrine outhouses.
The entire prison compound is paved with three layers of large stone blocks, heavier than a single person can lift, tightly fitted together, making digging out or into the prison impossible.
Defenses
The walls, gates, ditch and armed guards are all the defenses the prison needs. Getting into or out of it is next to impossible for anyone other than a trained, professional army with heavy siege equipment.
Maps
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Salton Prison
A map and layout of Salton Prison
Type
Prison camps
Parent Location
Owner
Additional Rulers/Owners
Owning Organization
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