Carpine

Carpine is a heavily fortified city in bynian Anticalum. It is the second largest settlement in Anitcalum after Perisal and is in fact the only other major city. It is considered the single most heavily defended city in existence. It is said there is no force known to men which can break through the city’s extensive defences. Unfortunately there has not been a single force which has attempted to, excluding the Army of Fool’s attack. The earliest form of the city was completed in the year 1636 AM, but additional defences have been added since.

Structure
The city is built on the Cliffs of Carpine (named after the city), overlooking the Great Mabnyan Flowing Water.The cliffs are surrounded on the other three sides by the Patchyver Forest. There is only one road which leads through the forest and up the treacherous cliffs to the gates of the city. The entire city was built with the primary intention of making it impossible to penetrate. Therefore it has several defences, many which are known, and many which people suspect are kept secret. Altogether the city is an intimidating sight. The walls of the city are all built of grey stone. The side of the city overlooking the river is protected by an enormous wall referred to as the back-wall. The wall stretches 200 metres into the air and is the width of the whole city. It has not one single window or opening of any kind in it. It lies on the highest point of the cliffs, which add another 500 metres to its height. This makes Carpine virtually invincible to any attack from the river or from the other side of it. For there are none who can shoot an arrow 700 metres high, nor are there any that can scale the sheer face of the cliffs. And there is near nothing that can fly over the city which would intend to cause it harm. The other walls of the city curve down from this back-wall and meet at the Outer Gate – which faces the solitary road leading up to Carpine. The walls are at their shortest point near the gate, which is still 70 metres high. All the walls are 6 metres thick and, with the exception of the back wall, are hollow. The stones in the wall are of the highest quality and are joined to one another in the tightest arrangment humanly possible. Furthermore, they are strengthened with powers of the arcane. This makes them strong enough to withstand a whale exploding next to them or a falling mountain. In addition the exterior of the walls are painted with a layer of transparent venom, withdrawn from some terrifying beast, which can corrode steel and leaves and living creature with the misfortune to touch it disfigured, and often dead. This, of course, has been the cause of several accidents. Many guards patrolling the perimeter of the city have at times walked into the wall or leaned on it, resulting in minor injuries. The walls have several turrets along the top, each with a guard stationed in them. There are also cannons all along the battlements, with limitless (though its limits have never been tested) supply of ammunition including various varieties of cannonballs and Greater Deathspoons.

The Outer Gate of Carpine is a structure of great magnificence. It rises to 70 metres above the ground aligning with walls on either side of it. They slant inward at the top forming a sharp point at the peak. The gate is rumoured to be constructed of the bones of originals, painted a dark grey. Soon after being built the gate’s strength was tested and 7 battering rams were splintered and ruined against the doors of the gate without causing a single crack to ruin their face. Engraved in the centre of the gate is the Emblem of Lord Krawfinn. The doors of the gate slide, rather than swing open and when slid shut, not a fly can pass between them. This is necessary for the second line of defence, in the unlikely case of the Outer Gate being breached. As mentioned earlier the walls of Carpine are hollow. Upon passing through the Gate, one would enter this hollow within the walls. There are 17 inner gates leading into the actual city, however only one is left unlocked at a time. The gate which is left unlocked changes at random daily, and none save the guards know which gate is left open. Anyone entering the city is escorted through the open inner gate by a guard, after being thoroughly checked for any threat. Those that wish to leave the city walls must be permitted to do so by the General in charge before leaving, even guards must double check with him before leaving the city to patrol or guard the Outer Gate. All 17 inner gates can be opened from the inside at any time, which prevents anyone from within the city telling anyone outside which of the inner gates is open. For the same reason any person entering the city cannot leave until a day has passed. A record of people entering and exiting the city is kept. Though this theory has never been tested, people suspect that if one of the locked inner gates was attempted to be opened, the bell of Carpine would be rung and the person at the door would die instantly by defences of the arcane. The bell is primarily intended to be rung in the case of any event that could result in harm to the citizens. It has hardly been rung in the hundreds of years since it was built. If miraculously, an unwanted intruder were to get through the Outer Gate and the inner gates, they would find an excessively large garrison of guards waiting just next to ever inner gate. The guards of Carpine are selected at the age of twelve from among the citizens, and, of course, only those are thought to have potential are chosen. They spend the next eight years of life training hard for the jobs they will spend the majority of their lives doing. They are fed nothing but the fruits of the Nolinoll tree, known to be the healthiest of all foods (and the cheapest). They must also take several oaths (because one is never enough) to never betray the Lord of Carpine and to be generally nice people. And so as a result of all this, they are considered among the finest guards in Crudelye. They patrol every single street, inside every building, even private houses and they do this multiple times every day. They have strict protocols in the event of the walls being breached, the city placed under siege or set on fire. They even have protocols for unusual and extremely unlikely events, such as the Rise of the Goats, flooding from the Great Mabnyan Flowing Water, or if the rest of Crudelye launches an attack on the city. The palace of the Lord of Carpine is built against the back wall, and so is directly opposite the Outer Gate. It towers above all the other buildings in the city and has many terraces with gardens. The palace, if possible, is defended more heavily than the walls as they hold the most important person in Carpine. The defences are of a different kind, there are many secrets which are not revealed to the public. The walls of the palace are not as thick or physically strong as the city walls, but there are several arcane spells placed upon it. This results in unusual side-effects such as the palace glowing at night sometimes or making animal noises. Much of what is within the palace itself is a mystery. It is known that there are several doors, false doors, traps and various other security measures to ensnare any person stupid and yet powerful enough to break in. When a citizen of Carpine is permitted to speak to the Lord, he/she is led to his throne room by a different path through the palace every time. The throne room has more than 50 guards at one time, placed all around the throne and at every corner and entrance. The guards, leaders and citizens of Carpine have waited, since the day the city was built, for a day when the defences of the city will be put to the test. The defences listed here are only those that are publicly known, there may be several more, lying in wait for a time when they are needed.

The buildings of the city are predominantly of Anticalumese architecture and built of grey stone. There is a central circle in the city where the majority of the shops and inns are, and several wells and fountains. As the years have passed, there is an air of impatience, as people grow bored by the lack of siegesand invasions. They are not afraid because they are certain the city cannot fall.

History
Lord Everlind Krawfinn, founder of Carpine, played a fairly important role in the Battles of Perisal, which resulted in his appointment as a lord. But his deep loathing for warfare of every kind was well known. Perisal was officially declared one unified city in the year 1583. But Lord Krawfinn strongly believed that the fighting would break out again, and lived in paranoia for a year. And in his paranoid state he began to develop plans to leave Perisal with his family and head to somewhere safe. Yet he feared that they may be pursued or attacked by some other malevolent force in the wild expanse of Crudelye. There was no stronghold he deemed was sufficient to relieve him of his fears. And as he began to wish for such a stronghold, the vision of Carpine gradually took form in his mind; he wanted to live in a city that could never be invaded, where he could live the remainder of his life without fear. He began to share his plans with others in Perisal who showed interest, and gathered a large following. By the end of 1584, he had raised support from hundreds of Perisalists; those that feared the fighting would be reignited, those that dislike Perisal and those who’s minds were easily swayed. They embarked from Perisal as a great host and were led by Lord Krawfinn, to the Cliffs of Carpine in the Forest of Patchyver. There they laboured for 52 years; man, woman and child until at last in 1636, Lord Krawfinn's vision had come to life.

Several people had died of misfortunate accidents and severall had grown weary of labouring and had returned to Perisal or turned elsewhere, but several more had flocked to the city as it went up for they could already see how glorious it would become. And upon completion all the men, women and children looked upon the towering, monolithic walls of Carpine that they had built with their own hands, and were filled with pride. But there was none more proud that day than Lord Krawfinn. Those who had lived in that time have claimed that he smiled for a day and a half after Carpine was built. And all who  looked on the city, gazed in wonder, for it was a majestic sight. They said there would never be anything that could make this city fall.

As the years passed, word of Carpine's strength and grandeur spread across Anticalum, and to other parts of Crudelye. Further defences were gradualy added where any small weakness was found. The citizens of Carpine began to start to want, then to desire and then to long for the proclaaimed strength of the city to be tested, to see if the walls were impenetrable as they all thought them to be. They had grown comfortable in the safety withn the  walls and could not believe that they would actually come to any harm.

Unfortunately for them, those on the other side of the walls believed the same. And no one ever dared to attack the city. No one. Not once in the long years since the city's walls were raised has anyone lifted a sword to it, nor spear, nor axe, nor spoon. No one has tried to scale the walls or attempted to shoot an arrow over it. The Outer Gate has not felt the force of battering rams, and the walls have not been touched with weapons of siege. Bandits raided virtually every other city or town in Crudelye at some point, but they will not go within 10 miles of the city. No living thing has even touched the walls with the intent to cause it harm. The years brought rains heavier than falling seas, blizzards that have broken towers of steel and winds that could carry a goat to the clouds; and yet the buildings of Capie came to no harm showed not one little sign of decay. And people began to wonder if they had built the city too well. Men looked upon Capine enviously and longed to rule it, but knew the foolishness of trying to take it as their own. Even birds and other winged beasts dared not land on the walls and kept away from the city because they could sense the arcane defences built into them.

Desperation took seed in the hearts of the people of Carpine. Their pride turned to irritation.

"Why did our fathers labour for 52 long years if the skill of their work is never to be proved?" they said to one another. Lord Krawfinn, whose pride had been the greatest, received in turn the greatest annoyance over this. As he grew older he began to think of little other than ways in which he could convince someone to attack his city. After consultation with the other leaders of Carpine, he sent men in attempts to provoke outsiders to attack them, hoping beyond rationality that they would. Soldiers of Carpine started a fire in Perisal and later, stole goats and cockerels from Havischiln. Lord Krawfinn publicly insulted and humiliated rulers of other provinces, prophets and monks, expecting retaliation. Still no one attacked Carpine, for they knew the futility of doing so.

In the year 1695, Lord Krawfinn lay on his deathbed, full of remorse that Carpine had never been attacked. He blamed himself for not trying hard enough, wondering whether he should have killed the prophets and monks and thus angered men into attacking his city. One day he summoned to his chambers his son, Shydler Krawfinn, who now ruled Carpine and spoke to him.

He pleaded with Shydler to command the city's army to leave and then attack the city from the outside, so he may watch his life's dream fulfilled before he died. To this Shydler replied

<span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Helvetica,sans-serif;">"Have you grown mad in your old age father? I, too, yearn for the day that Carpine will be put to siege, for I am confident it will not fall. As a child I helped you build these walls and grew up waiting for the day that they would stand firm against invasion, only to be disappointed. But I will not waste the lives of those that defend us. All respect i once held for you is now gone."

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:12pt0in;line-height:15.75pt;"><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Helvetica,sans-serif;">The faces of the men who heard these words were grim. but Lord Krawfinn sprang out of his bed and fell to his knees as a man who was young again, and gave his reply:

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:12pt0in;line-height:15.75pt;"><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Helvetica,sans-serif;">"It gladdens me to hear that, I now freely admit that I never held any respect for you. I would have killed you in your infancy, if your mother had not prevented it.  But now grant me one final wish before I am dead. Permit me to leave this city, on my own, I have no one left to pretend to love. I will gather men, from every hole and corner of this world, who would march alongside me in battle against this very city that I built. And I beg of you, no matter the size of this army, to defend the city as you would against any other invading army. So I may witness first-hand the power of Carpine and die happily at its gates."

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:12pt0in;line-height:15.75pt;"><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Helvetica,sans-serif;"> Shydler then bade his guards to escort his father to the Outer Gate with travel provsioisns and a fine pig to ride on. He wept at what his father had said about him. Everlind Krawfinn had been a man on the verge of death, but now he was filled with the excitement of his youth, as it was when he set in place the foundation stone of Carpine. He travelled the wide expanses of Crudelye in his quest. Months passed and he gathered to his side men with weak minds, men with excessive optimism, bindlers and that simply wished to die. 'The Army of Fools' they were known as in latter days and they marched to Carpine with the intent to break its walls and burn it to the ground.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:12pt0in;line-height:15.75pt;"><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Helvetica,sans-serif;">Lord Shydler Krawfinn had never expected to see his father again, but early in the year 1696 of the Age of Men, the guards summoned him to the battlements to watch as The Army of Fools, with Everlind in the lead, marched through the Patchyver forest road to Carpine. They blew upon small whistles, flutes and such in place of the battle horns they did not have and shouted many unintimidating threats. Shydler now granted his father's final wish.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:12pt0in;line-height:15.75pt;"><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Helvetica,sans-serif;">The bells rang for the first and last time in the somewhat tragic history of Carpine. The citizens lost their minds with excitement. They stopped their work and sang joyful songs. They danced up and down the streets. They embraced one another and laughed uncontrollably as madmen do. The elderly gave sacrifices to the forces, as they wept tears of gladness. Men and women fell in love with one another. That night would be one of great celebration and feasting. This was known as Krawfinn's Day, the only day on which Carpine was attacked, and is celebrated every year in Carpine at the start of a new year.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:12pt0in;line-height:15.75pt;"><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Helvetica,sans-serif;">The Army began to ascend up the twisting road that led along the Cliffs of Carpine. Rather disappointingly, they did not reach the Outer Gate. They were all slain by arrows and Greater Deathspoons. It has already been written that Lord Everlind Krawfinn smiled constantly for a day and a half upon the completion of Carpine's construction, but they say that he marched up the cliffs with a smile on his face as well, and fell in battle, with his spoon raised in the air, an arrow in his skull and the same smile on his face. He was carried by his sheep, Hravul, beyond the Teeth of Dravithe. Shydler sent a necrotherapist along with him who returned and reported that the smile never left his face even as Hravul took him over the mountains.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:12pt0in;line-height:15.75pt;"><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Helvetica,sans-serif;">Since that day the bells of Carpine have remained silent. The excitement of the memory of the event remained for a while but in time the people opf Carpine began to complain once again. "Why can we not be attacked by a proper army?" they said. The city got more fortified in the hundreds of years since that day and all in Carpine lie waiting, hoping and praying for a day when they will be attacked again, properly.