Citadel

This page details the commission. For the Urizen group archetype see Spire

Sturdy castles and great stone walls protect the Imperial heartlands.

Overview

Citadels are a recent development, inspired by the unique situation in Spiral, that combines the best ideas of civil engineering pioneered by the League with traditional Urizen approaches of building isolated defensive citadels for people to live in. Originally suggested as a way to counter the threat of the vallorn, the design was expanded, and the first citadel to be commissioned was in the Urizen territory of Morrow.

Citadel Strength

• A citadel only contributes to the campaign if the region it is in is attacked
• A citadel contributes 6,000 fighting strength to the owning side
• A citadel reduces all casualties it suffers by 80%

A campaign citadel is stationary and located in a specific region. Citadels have a strength, based on the same scale used for Imperial armies. A standard campaign citadel has a strength of 6,000, equivalent to a fighting strength of 6,000 trained soldiers.

The strength of citadels in regions affected by the campaign is added to the strength of the armies present. For example, if a barbarian force were focused on capturing Peregro in Morrow, and the construction were completed, then a 6,000 strength citadel would be added to the Imperial strength. If the orders were to attack Caeli instead, then the strength would not be.

The casualties suffered by a citadel are reduced by 80%. Continuing the example above, if the barbarian force is four full-strength armies, each making a balanced attack, then they would deal roughly two thousand casualties. If the citadel were the only Imperial force in the campaign, then it would suffer four hundred casualties. If there were an Imperial army also defending the territory, then the army would suffer a thousand casualties (before its own orders were considered), and the citadel would suffer two hundred casualties. A citadel is destroyed if its strength falls below 1,000.

Senate Commissions

The Imperial Senate can pass motions to create new campaign citadels or to improve or repair existing ones. Every citadel occupies a region; a given region may only contain one citadel or fortification.

In addition to a Senate motion, there are two Imperial titles able to announce the construction of a new citadel: the Master of the Koboldi and the Legion Engineer. The Imperial Master of Works and the Legion Engineer are each also able to announce the improvement of a single citadel each season.

Costs

• Materials: 80 white granite and 30 thrones.
• Time: One year to construct
• Upkeep: 10 thrones per season.

Improvement

The Imperial Senate can pass a motion to improve the quality of an existing citadel. Improving a citadel takes one year to complete. The citadel must be controlled by the Empire throughout.

• Increasing a citadel from a strength of 6000 to a strength of 12000 requires 100 wains of white granite and 300 crowns.
• Increasing a citadel from a strength of 12000 to a strength of 18000 requires 120 wains of white granite and 360 crowns.
• Increasing a citadel from a strength of 18000 to a strength of 24000 requires 140 wains of white granite and 420 crowns.

Further increases in the strength of a campaign citadel follow the same cost increase structure.

Repair

Citadels are damaged when they are involved in a campaign. Unlike fortifications, there is no automatic repair for citadels. The Senate may pass a motion to pay for emergency repairs.

Emergency Repair

The Imperial Senate may pass a motion to authorise the use of additional materials - either white granite or weirwood - to speed up the repair of an Imperial citadel. This represents a concerted effort by the Empire to repair the citadel. Emergency repair takes a season to complete.

Wains Spent	Benefits
1-20	25 points/wain
21-40	20 points/wain
41-60	15 points/wain
61-80	10 points/wain
81-100	5 points/wain

When a motion of emergency repair passes, any Imperial citizen may contribute resources and money towards the repairs before the start of the next summit. A citizen who provides wains to resupply a citadel must also provide the appropriate amount of money at the same time.

In a single season, the first 20 wains of white granite or weirwood restore 25 strength for each wain allocated. The next 20 wains provide an additional 20 strength each, and so on, up to a maximum of 100 wains in a single season. In addition to materials, emergency resupply costs 2 crowns per wain. The rate of emergency resupply resets each season, so the white granite and weirwood spent in a subsequent season is not affected by earlier actions.

Upkeep

Citadels require far less money to pay for their upkeep than an Imperial army - but they are still not free. A basic citadel costs 10 thrones per season. A 12000 strength citadel costs 18 thrones, and a 18000 strength citadel costs 24 thrones. Stronger citadels cost proportionately more.

Citadels, like fortifications, are one of the first priorities of the civil service after the armies are paid for. If there is insufficient income in the Imperial treasury to pay for the upkeep of a citadel then it provides no benefits of any kind that season.

Military units

Some wealthy or powerful citizens maintain their own independent military unit. These units can be attached to a citadel to increase its effective strength. This is done by the orders of the military unit’s commander (submitted using the personal resource downtime system).

The experienced and capable troops in a military unit provide an advantage out of proportion to their numbers. A starting military unit adds the equivalent of 100 soldiers to the strength of any citadel they support.

Rituals

The table below shows a list of the rituals in both Imperial lore and Urizen lore which can affect a citadel.

Ritual	Effect	Realm	Magnitude
Golden Ramparts	The citadel's effective strength is increased by 1,500 over the next season	Summer	75
Guardian Gate(1)	Any spy network operating in the territory finds it harder to gain information. Any military units supporting the citadel will receive a report on hostile armies in the territory at the next event.	Day	80
Hammers of the Brilliant Shore	The citadel restores 250 strength over the next season	Summer	60
Mountain Remembers Its Youth(2)	All citadels, fortifications, and armies in the territory suffer a share of 500 casualties over the next season. Casualties suffered by citadels in this way are reduced by 20%	Spring	60
Ramparts of Ashlar(3)	The citadel's effective strength is increased by 3,000 over the next season	Autumn	150
Stalwart Stand on Solid Ground	The citadel will not be destroyed over the next year unless it is reduced to 0 strength	Summer	60
Stone's Unyielding Defiance(1)	The citadel restores 250 strength, and its effective strength is increased by 1,500 over the next season	Summer	120
Thunderous Tread of the Trees(2)	All fortifications, citadels, and armies in the territory suffer a share of 500 casualties over the next year. Casualties suffered by citadels in this way are increased by 20%	Spring	120

1. This ritual is in Urizen lore
2. This curse affects an entire territory
3. This ritual is a mystic scroll of Estavus

Further Reading

Core Brief

• Military Council
• War

Additional Information

• Imperial armies
• Army orders
• Navy orders
• Casualties
• Territory
• Army qualities
• Spy network
• Smugglers cove
• Fortification
• Citadel
• Campaign outcome