Fort Hunter

"We are the Hope of the Alliance"

Out beyond the traditional borders of the Alliance, where the Edge begins to
encroach on the land, stands Fort Hunter; a great fortified city created during the
earliest days of the Alliance. Practically a nation in its own right, Fort Hunter plays
little part in the wider running and politics of the other nations, consumed as they are
by the need to hold back the strange tides of improbable creatures that are formed in
the Edge.
Fort Hunter is built around four concentric walls, each housing a town of its own
and manned by members of the elite Divisions. These dour warriors form the bulk of
the population of the Fort, lending the entire settlement a grim, slightly fatalist feel
that is not found in much of the rest of the Alliance.
Little is known about the foundation of Fort Hunter, save that it predates the
Redemption Corps, the modern boundaries and members of the Alliance, and many of
the formal political ties that hold the Alliance itself together. Similarly the visionary
founder, Erwin Hunter, is also shrouded in mystery - although both he and his
daughter Heidan are celebrated as near-divine heroes within the remote fortress.

The Outer Wall and the Town of Thorns

The outermost wall is the thickest - a great, towering fortification that is a
castle in its own right, the Outer Wall wide enough at the top for experimental
Engineer cannons to stand with space enough for three men to walk behind it and not
fear falling. The Outer Wall is also known bitterly by its guards as the Only Wall for
it has never been breached - it is the Only Wall whose soldiers regularly see action
against the horrors of the Edge.
In the shadow of the Outer Wall sits the settlement of Thorns - a militant township
that is mostly barracks for the soldiers guarding the Outer Wall and preparing for
sorties. The streets, training grounds and farming fields are all laid out with a
defensive retreat in mind; the Divisions are trained to know the kill-zones and ambush
sites in Thorns better than they know themselves.
The few 'civilians' that live in Thorns are dour and militant folk; the farmers,
bakers and smiths are all utterly dedicated to keeping the soldiers fed and ready to
defend the Wall. To their minds they are truly heroes of the Alliance - they don't sit
quietly at desks like those who live behind the inner walls or, even worse, those who
live back home without constant fear of the Edge.

The Second Wall and the Town of Gigantes

Though not as thick as the great Outer Wall, the Second Wall is still a
defensive structure of Fort Hunter and thus is a towering edifice easily the equal of
any city wall back in the heartlands of the Alliance. Like the Outer Wall, the Second
Wall boasts great Engineer Guild cannons, albeit with less space behind the powerful,
if experimental, weapons. The Second Wall is base to almost as many soldiers as the
Outer Wall, for their task is to watch for breaches into Thorns, as well as to oversee
the movement of supplies and soldiers throughout Gigantes and out through the
Second Wall to Thorns.
Gigantes itself is perhaps the most ordered of the settlements of Fort Hunter;
though it lacks the militant zeal of Thorns, or the bureaucratic efficiency of St.
Heidan, its people have grown up surrounded by the constant flow of soldiers and
supplies and thus now know the best way to keep all the cogs turning and your life
moving through the structured chaos that is Gigantes. Gigantes is the largest city in
the Fort, and is very much the foundation of the Fort's stability and independence; the
town is full of farms - mostly livestock, in contrast to the fields of grain in Thorns -
small mines to feed the forges, and a strong civilian population.
The Labourers of Fort Hunter are also based in Gigantes. These Labourers are the
artisans trusted to repair any damage to the buildings, roads and even the great Walls
themselves. They work closely with the frontier outpost of the Guild of Engineers
(dour individuals quite unlike their peers back in the homelands of the Alliance) that
stand on the Walls, tending to the strange cannons they've built there.

The Third Wall and the Town of Leviaheim

The twin sister of the Second Wall, the Third Wall is again a stout and high
fortification of outstanding quality. Though it boasts fewer of the esoteric artillery
pieces that the Outer and Second Walls bear so proudly, the Third Wall is still a
righteous defence. It has, at any moment, fairly few soldiers manning it - barely a few
squads to watch the gates and stand sentry. The remainder of its troops are at rest
within Leviaheim, or else training new recruits elsewhere in Fort Hunter, with the
idea that if ever the Outer Wall is breached, they will act as a reserve that can be
moved forward into Gigantes as a fresh and ready force to repel assailants.
The town of Leviaheim is often the quietest section of the Fort; besides a few
merchants and other supporting civilians, the town is mostly the family home of the
soldiers of the Fort's Divisions, as well as a few barracks for those soldiers being held
in reserve. As a result, the town is often largely deserted with most of its usual
residents either on duty elsewhere or sleeping. As a result, Leviaheimers lack the
fundamental character that the other districts' residents have developed; instead the
town is known as an eerie and too quiet region.
Unlike the outer towns, Leviaheim was not built with tactical retreat in mind; it
lacks the ambush sites and infantry kill zones of Thorns and Gigantes. In their place
the streets are built in the shadow of watch towers and fortified town houses stand at
the most crucial crossroads - Leviaheim is, more so even than any other part of Fort
Hunter, a fortress town designed to systematically halt and eliminate any creatures of
the Edge that somehow make it that far.

The Inner Wall and the City of St. Heidan

Another edifice to rival the great Outer Wall, the Inner Wall might not stretch
as far as the Outer but remains a truly formidable fortress. It is guarded by the Palace
Wardens and their masterfully forged relic-weapons designed an age ago to turn back
even the greatest dangers of the Edge.
The city of St. Heidan that lies within the Inner Wall is a masterpiece; it combines
beautiful architecture, statues and boulevards with a tactical genius' insight into layout
and defence. It is a match for the capital cities of the Alliance, if not in artistic
sculpture then in its blending of form and function. At its heart is the Last Palace; a
castle that, like the rest of St. Heidan, looks smooth and tasteful even as it looks
impenetrable. Its name is well deserved, for beyond the Last Palace there is nothing
but the Fort and the Edge - it is the last building of true beauty before the laws of
reality begin to collapse.
The people of the city have an odd reputation - they see themselves as the elite of
the Fort; the nobility of the Alliance's most distant settlement. In their own mind they
are peerless administrators; without them Fort Hunter would be lost as disorder and
inefficiency wrack the concentric settlements. However, to much of the rest of the
Fort they are privileged snobs who do not understand the danger in which the rest of
the Fort lives every day.
The First General's Office
Fort Hunter is ruled from the Last Palace by the spiritual descendent of Hunter
himself - the First General and their staff. Chosen from amongst the three generals of
the different Divisions, the First General and their officers act as both the political and
military head of the fortress. Though advised by the three generals and the other high
ranking officers, in theory the First General's word is law.
The First General also occupies a unique place in the wider power structures of the
Alliance. Despite being a military force created by the Alliance and, in theory, subject
to its laws, the Fort is in fact above many of these laws - the First General is
answerable to no-one and has the right to extract recruits for the Divisions by any
means necessary if they are withheld. In practise of course it is impossible for the
First General to abuse this power with so much of their time taken up managing the
Fort and directing the war against the Edge.

The Divisions
The military might of the Fort is its three 'armies' - the Divisions. Elite
soldiers, each Division is trained in a specific style of warfare and, whilst individually
inflexible, each is all but peerless at what it does. The three Divisions are the largest
institutions in Fort Hunter and for most of the civilians raised within its walls their
lives will revolve around keeping these three august bodies ready for battle.
The Castellan Division
The largest Division, the Castellan are the soldiers tasked with the defence of the
outer three walls and the settlements contained therein. Marked by the symbol of the
hammer, the Castellan are trained to know the layouts of the streets of Fort Hunter
and fight within them instinctively. They are expert marksmen and street fighters;
equally adept in a stairway scrum as they are firing the cannons on the walls.
Soldiers of the Castellan Division are usually textbook soldiers; devoted and
obedient, they see standing ground and discipline as the cornerstones of an effective
military force. A lifetime of battling against the Edge in defence of their homes has
made many of the Castellans gruff and insular, with little patience for the 'glory-
hunting' of the Rangers, or the 'endless parading' of the Palace Wardens. However
they are fundamentally loyal and honest - even if only their friends and comrades
within the Castellans ever get to see that.
The Ranger Division
Marked by the raven's head, the Rangers are Division sent beyond the walls of Fort
Hunter, either to strike at the Edge before it can reach the Fort, or to clear the land
between the Fort and the rest of the Alliance of the bandits and barbarians seeking to
cut them off. Their tactics are seemingly gung-ho; 'heroic' charges, sorties, hit and
runs and scouting missions are the modus operandi of the Rangers of Fort Hunter.
Despite these cavalier actions, the Rangers are widely known as dour and fatalistic
even by the standards of Fort Hunter. Perhaps this is because they see more of the
Edge's impossibility than anyone else, or because their Division's casualties are by far
the highest, fighting as they do beyond the safety of the walls. Officers within the
Ranger Division have a reputation for being calculating and observant tacticians -
Captain Mary in particular became famous for her ability to see options that few other
officer could have ever seen, and execute them with precision.
The Palace Warden Division
The smallest Division, the Palace Wardens are the soldiers trained to defend St.
Heidan and to maintain peace and security in the city. Unlike the other two Divisions,
the Palace Wardens are not marked by any insignia or badge - instead they are marked
by their resplendent uniforms and the ancient, unknowable weapons they carry. The
'Golden Guard' as they are sometimes called are the final line of defence against the
Edge - bodyguards to the commanders of the Fort who will fight when there is no
where left to fall back to.
The Palace Guard are generally perceived in the same was as citizens of the city
they protect; spoilt toy soldiers who don't understand the real horror of the Edge and
who just get all the 'glory' of being the elite guards with none of the work of really
protecting people. For their own part, the Palace Guard believe themselves above such
petty insults; they know that they are the final line and if the terrible day ever comes
where three walls fall, they will hold the city. If the lower orders can't see that well
then that's their problem.
The 'Civilian' Divisions
The three military Divisions are not the only bodies to use their structure and
militant mindset within the walls of Fort Hunter - there exist several other Divisions
made up entirely of civilians organised towards the common goal of outfitting or
enabling the great three Divisions. The Labourers of Fort Hunter, the Agricultural
Division and the Division of Smithies are the most notable of these civilian bodies -
others exist, such as the Baking Division, although there are smaller and are allowed
to call themselves a Division only to keep up unity and morale rather than because
they are large enough.
Recruitment
The Divisions are recruited in two different ways to ensure that the grizzled
veterans that stand on their walls are kept strong with the best new recruits. The first
and oldest way that the Fort gains new soldiers is through an ancient system of tithes
that bind it to the rest of the Alliance. Since its foundation, the Fort has had the power
to demand each member nation send a small number of troops to be trained as
members of the Divisions - historically this ensured that the best troops in the
Alliance were deployed at the Fort - where fighting against the Edge is a constant.
However, as the settlements within the Fort have grown, the Divisions have
increasingly been able to recruit from the population of Fort Hunter itself. With
several large towns now protected by the Walls, the hardy population is large enough
to both support the Divisions and to be recruited in large enough numbers as to reduce
the calls for soldiers from the rest of the Alliance to perhaps once-a-decade musters.