Nowhere in the world you will find walls more powerful and impressive as these walls, no army, aside those pesky barbarians would dare to assault these walls directly, there are just two massive and had to many traps and defensive artillery— Flavius the Blatian to his friends during one of their visits to
Blati
Origins
Blati had originally a medium sized stone wall around what is today the city center, which was the original Ikarian colony, founded in 678 BP when this territory was conquered by the
Ikarian Empire. By the second century BP the walls of the city were useless due to centuries of peace, and had served as a quarry for other buildings like public buildings, temples, monasteries or even private houses!.
Its increasing status after it became the summer residence of the Ikarian Emperors at the end of that century as well as the building of the new Navy dockyards and the Military port meant that the city had to be well protected. That need was seen clearly in the disastrous Ikarian-Seris war (248-252 AP) when Blati was threatened to be invaded by sea by the Seris Navy.
It was Alexius I who ordered the construction of this new walls to protect Ikaria's wealthiest and most important city after the capital. He was aware of the strategic location of the city, situated in the main road that connects Ikaria with the provinces of the Old South as well as the roads that connects the Kallian Plains with the Northern Frontier. Work began in 341 AP under the the supervision and guidance of the famous architect Abundius of Vensis and it took 10 years to build the wall, which was inaugurated by Alexius I's successor, Heraclius I in 351.
In 587 the famous Phoenix Fortress was added, which played a crucial role in the second siege of the city in 651.
The last modification to the walls was done in 689 when many towers were reinforced as well as the allure which was expanded to accommodate small-sized cannons.
Materials
The materials used for this fortification vary depending on the layer of the wall we are talking about.
The outer wall is made of carefully cut limestone blocks, while its core is filled with mortar made of lime and crushed bricks. etween seven and eleven bands of brick traverse the structure, not only as a form of decoration, but also strengthening the cohesion of the structure . Its towers are around 15-20 meters tall.
The inner walls on the other hand consist of internal and external stone facing with a core of earth mixed with gravel, pebbles, stone recycled from the old walls cemented with water. Its 90 towers are made of slate while their basement is made of granite (pretty much like the walls of old Ikaria). These inner walls are around 40 meters high, the tallest man made defensive walls ever made.
Layout
Blati's walls protect the city for all four sides. From the Sea to
Lake Bareotis. Only the sections facing North, West and East have double walls, while the side that faces the Sea has only one layer of walls, the so called Maritime Walls, with two fortresses protecting both the coast and the military harbour.
The walls have 12 gates, and only those facing west and east have a drawbridge and a moat, as they are the only ones not protected by the lake or the sea.
In the South-East, protecting the canal that connects the Sea with Lake Bareotys it is found the Phoenix Fortress, it's name cames from the giant golden Phoenix that is located on top of the main gate of the Fortress. It is also connected via a wooden walkway to the Euphemia Palace, also called the Silver Dolphin Palace, due to the silver dolphin statues that adorn the small port of this palace. This fortress is where the Main walls and the Sea walls meet.
Multiple defensive weapons
The Walls of Blati boasts some impressive defensive equipment, unseen in other great cities or capitals across Yeia.
This walls have loopholes in both the towers and the Inner Walls from which they can shoot arrows, fire from flame throwers or bullets with gunpowder weapons at the incomming attackers. In the strongest towers, the ones that flank the gates, you can find impressive catapults with a quite impressive range.
This firepower is also complemented by small cannons mounted in the allure that can destroy siege towers in addition to causing numerous casualties to the attackers with a single shot.
The Guardians of the Walls
In 681 AP a new regiment of the Field Armies under the Command of the Blatian Emperor was created exclusively tasked with defending the city walls. This new regiment has both infantry units and archers, handgunners and artillerymen, all of them highly trained to carry out their task of defending these impressive fortifications.
I definitely would think twice about attacking Blati with those impressive walls! I love the detail that people were using the old stone walls to build other things, including pubs!