Limina Tegulissima

General introduction

The southern Tarrabaenian state of Palissa used to be the borderland between the Duiniken and the Messelat Mdûlûn in the old days as it is now between the Tarrabaenians and the Messelat Mdûlûn. The Duiniken were incredibly gifted builders, creating structures that stand strong to this very day and are still used and maintained by the Tarrabaenians for their functionality. Part of these structures are the Limina Tegulissima, a number or walls and fortifications used to deterr Messelat Mdûlûn attacks from the South.

Today almost all parts of the Limina Tegulissima are still in use in their originally intended function. Soldiers are garrisoned in watch towers to check on the integrity of the border at all times. Some parts of the Limina Tegulissima, that are deeper in the area of Palissa are either abandoned or have been occupied by locals as free living quarters or storages.

Structure and history

Duiniken architecture is well known for its sturdyness, which mainly stems from a special kind of cement used in their masonry. The recipe for that cement got lost, though Tarrabaenian scholars are working on recreating the recipe incessantly. Thus the Limina Tegulissima mainly look like all Duiniken fortifications, being build of rectangular blocks of natural stone - mostly grey shist - being connected be special Duiniken cement. This makes the Limina Tegulissima fit into its surroundings quite nicely, as the stretches of the wall and the watchtowers merge into the natural mountainscape of southern Palissa quite nicely.

With the buildings fitting so seamlessly into the landscape, it is easy to underestimate their efficacy. The walls are at least three metres in height, where less safety measures are required, but most parts of it are somewhere around 6-7 metres tall. The wall is interrupted by gates at irregular distances, to facilitate trade. These gates, though, were not made by Duiniken, since their contempt for the Messelat Mdûlûn rooted so deeply, they even refrained from trading with them. The Tarrabaenians on the other hand are a bit more pragmatic and installed gates to facilitate the flow of goods between Tarrabaenia and the Messelat Mdûlûn city states.

Significance

While it was sheer luck that the Tarrabaenians took hold of the Limina Tegulissima, they were in fact probably saved by it, as it was a reliable fortification against attempts of the Messellat Mdûlûn city state of Kissalinn to invade the now Tarrabaenian lands. During the Mdûlûn-Duiniken wars, the state of Kissalinn, while involved in the fights, saved a considerable part of their army. When the Duiniken were defeated, they saw their chance, taking care of the still relatively newly arrived and not yet established Tarrabaenians and other Mdûlûn city states that had their forces mostly razed during the war.

While the Tarrabaenians were only hardly in fighting condition, having been busy to harass the hated Duiniken overlords themselves and dealing with the Messellat Mdûlûn they were not allied with, albeit having a common enemy, they managed to establish themselves in the Limina Tegulissima and successfully fended of the Kissalinn attacks from the South. During the following centuries, the Limina Tegulissima always stayed in Tarrabaenian hands, holding back Kissalinn and other southwestern city states' attacks on land. While sometimes stretches south of the fortification could be occupied, these never stayed in Tarrabaenian hands for too long, making the Limina Tegulissima the factual border of Tarrabaenia to the Southwest.

Type

Tower, Wall