"Your majesty, welcome, and congratulations on your successful return. Allow me to escort you back to the deck." A tall stocky man spoke with humility as he addressed Lady Maara. Barda hadn't gotten the true sense of her royalty until he got to the city. Only in their kingdom is a king, in this case, a princess, recognized as who they are. The man did as he had said, leading the princess and her entourage to the palace.
It had been a long ride to the palace. Even after successfully pushing back the enemies and clearing the way, the princess could not rest she got a clear picture of what was happening in the city. The villagers had long since packed and were ready to leave at a moment's notice. Once both reinforcements arrived, the group set off towards the Tristan.
From afar, one could see the magnificent walls that rose from the ridge, extending more than 10 meters high. Cast against the background of the sea and horizon, the walls looked to be a part of nature, rather than human creation.
The city was huge, no doubt about it. IAA's Initial estimation placed the city close to 700 square kilometers, it was too big to measure all at once. Barda would need to move around getting the units right before coming up with an exact figure. More than half of his land was within the walls. Needless to say, the city outer regions had thrived and expanded to be considered part of Tristan, some villages and independent communities willingly submitting to be a part of Tristan.
Tristan didn't just have one wall, but like an onion, it had several. The oldest walls were the inner ones, going outward. Of course, the same applied for wealth and affluence, the richest living in the inner walls. The reason for this was not due to segregation, but as many Tristanites were bound to argue, the exact reason.
As a young city, Tristan had to fight against tough enemies both from the sea and from the land. To establish herself, Tristan needed a wall to protect her people. The earliest generation of Tristan, the founding fathers, built the innermost wall, and within it, they built a grand palace. The palace still stands to date. Only those of the lineage of the founding fathers lived in the inner wall.
Over the years, Tristan thrived and the city overgrew the inner walls. During peacetimes, Tristan's outer wall thrived. Great merchants and other wealthy Tristanites built their city to become as grand as within the walls, if not better. Unfortunately, war as not too far, and before they knew it, those in the outer wall were about to lose everything.
Due to their influence in government, they too got to have a wall built around them, forming another form of protection. The king and the founders did not take down the inner wall though, choosing to maintain the traditions.
And so it went, after every few generations, a wall would be built. After hearing the story and looking at the size of the outskirts of the outer wall, Barda was sure that if Tristan somehow made it out of this war, they would put up another wall for sure. It was long overdue.
Long before they got to the walls and the gate, they had already entered the city. Even before entering the walls, the adventurers were already marveling at the decadence and affluence seen. In terms of just infrastructure alone, if Barda could compare the outer region with Crane city's inner wall, Crane city would pale in comparison.
Unfortunately, the once vibrant city now was a ghost town. With hardly any civilian around, there was little to no movement that could be seen. Only the patrols could be seen milling around now and again, but other than that, it was total quiet.
As a show of goodwill, Tristan had moved all its citizens to within the walls. Given that there were 8 walls in total, there was enough room to fit in those that lived on the outside. This show of solidarity bolstered many soldiers fighting strength and motivated them to protect their city.
That was when they met with the chaperone and the guards following him. Their armor had gold-overlaid on it. Barda wondered who these men were to warrant such affluent attires. Gold was just for show, serving no purpose in the armor itself, a decoration. To afford such showed that whoever commanded the men was extremely wealthy. This was the stocky man that greeted the princess and offered to lead the way.
Drawing closer to the walls, Barda noticed how huge and imposing they were. There was a moat all around the city walls, but in peace times it was mostly used for drainage. This was a clear indication that there was a need for another wall since the outermost wall was seemingly no longer viable for war.
The wall was 5 meters thick. The massive gates rose 5 meters high. The metal that built it was a foot thick and it required 10 men just to move it. There were special counterweights in place to rapidly shut the gates if the need arose.
With the open gates, many people could waltz in through the gates, which was more like a 5-meter long tunnel of brick. From one end to the other, Barda counted at least 3 barred gates being held up. No doubt, in case of an attack, they would rapidly fall to prevent the attackers from making any further ground.
Barda was shocked by how tight security was. The wall was truly built to be impregnable. After crossing the walls, Barda finally saw the Tristanites. huddled together in groups, discussing the woes that had befallen them. There was very little commerce happening, and that was saying something given that this was a merchant city.
The mood was somber, and many were fearful of the fate to come. Crossing all 8 walls, Barda noticed that with every wall they crossed, there was less tension. After the 5th wall, it seemed as though it was business as usual, with many shops and outlets open and commerce continued without change. There was inflation of course, due to the lack of materials and avenues of trade, but the people living in these places could afford the stated price.
Surprisingly, the group was not being led to the palace as Barda expected. That was when Barda remembered the man said he would lead them to a place called 'the deck.' Wondering what kind of place this was, Barda was curious to find out.
They went all the way till they were in the inner walls, where they saw the grand palace and magnificent castles built to emphasize the wealth of those living here. Each building was ancient and grand, as were the walls surrounding them. They seemed to say, we were built by the same hands, the foundation of Tristan city.
That was when the group climbed the wall. There was a lengthy staircase on the inside of the wall, and in peace times this was a good place to visit. Not everyone could go there though, for it was reserved as special grounds.
When they got to the top, anyone who had never been to Tristan and this region specifically was taken aback. The way the first walls were built, there was no room to add some residentials at the front wall, since it led to the beach and the natural harbors. As such, when the subsequent walls were built, they had no much room.
There was also the factor that a double-wall was more of a weakness than a strength. Having one thick wall served better than having 2 walls side by side. If the enemy captured one wall, they could use it as some form of defense against the defenders, effectively cutting off their attack.
Therefore, all these walls converged together to form a wide area that looked more like a junction. Since every wall was 5 meters wide, the area was 40 meters, just shy of 5 meters the width of a football pitch. The deck extended to a 100 km in length, before breaking apart to form each wall.
From up here, the view was spectacular. Barda could see all of Tristan to the west. To the east, the magnificent horizon stretched, the blue ocean looking so beautiful and calm. The view of the sunrise from up here must be awesome, Barda thought.
The princess instinctively turned towards Barda to see his reaction, and seeing his dazzled expression, she smiled with contentment. She had been thoroughly impressed by how strong he was, and his ability to kill people as though they were chicken. Chickens were harder to catch, the closest comparison was weed. Now she wanted him to be impressed as well, and what better way can a monarch impress than by showing off her kingdom?