Located near the residential housing area, the barracks where recently built in this location by the king so that the guards of the cities could see there families when they where off duty. This not only helped boost moral among the men, but also allowed for a more strategic dispatch of the solders it housed in its bulk. The actual guard post spread down the street a little more. Outside the walls there was an inventory station with all the guards armor and weapons along with the Infirmary in the same station. Behind this building was a patch of dirt, maybe twenty feet in diameter, used as a training ring for various exercises and also a sparring circle when the time came for it. To the side of all this was a small building with only small windows and one door made of heavy steel. Archers sat in posts along the top of the wall. This building served as holding cells for those who broke the law and where awaiting judgment.
The walls guarding the sleep houses and other areas were nearly twenty feet in height with four post towers at each of the corners. The wall itself was made from the strongest material one could find within the mountains. Up each side of the wall they’re ledges, varying from eight to eleven feet above the ground, guarded by different fortifications. In times of trouble, or attack, archers and spear-throwers could use these areas as cover while they fired upon hostile forces. It would also give an air of illusion to where the next volley of projectiles would come from. There was always at least one guard posted at each station on the wall. The four guard posts at each corner of the walls had a complete three hundred and sixty degree view of the ground and each held the best eyes within. Each wall had enough room on top for two men to run back and forth between each post. The barracks where meant to double as a fort in times of riot or in times of war. One could never be too safe or too sure.
The front gate stood a decent ten feet tall and eight feet in width. There was a secondary door to allow the passage of singular guards walking in and out of the building. Once through the front gate, one would enter the large common area. A place the guards could come and meet and talk, train, and get individual orders. There where two buildings on either side of this area, on one side there was a two story building, slightly shorter than the wall, that held nearly all of the rooms for the guards. It did not hold one room for every guard member. Only the ones stationed at this post. Other posts held their own rooms. On the other side of the Common grounds stood a one-story building. This building held the mess hall at the one end, the dispatch room in the middle third of the building, and the last part of the building was actually designated as the ‘paper room.’ This was a type of storage area for different things around the barracks. There where a couple of desks inside with a few pencil pushers that took care of the paper work for them.
On the back wall was another building. The difference was this one was built into the wall as it rose. This stone building held a few things. The bottom floor was full of the higher officers bedrooms, all special units also had a room here. Then a stone staircase along either side of the building brought you up to the second floor, set back from the first about five feet to allow walking. This held the inside barrack forge, infirmary, and equipment room. There was also a small tavern on this level where guards could go and relax for a few hours after their shift. This was also for the guards who did not have a dispatch standing. Only the higher commanders could get a drink in this bar at any time.
The infirmary was an open floor with cots spaced along the walls and set up in the center to allow care for the max amount of people without creating too much impairment in their rounds. Even at full capacity, one could walk around comfortably and not disturb anyone at work on a wounded. The equipment room was set up much like a store. The armor was all on stands and the weapons all in a row, neat and tidy, on the shelves and different weapon holders. For the officers and special units, their armor and weapons where kept in a specific case labeled with their name. The forge, right next door to the equipment room, had everything one needed to make a weapon or a set of armor and more. The anvil and furnace set along a back wall and a desk sat near the front of the place. One could request a special weapon be produced, but the guard had to pay the total cost on his own for the weapon. Most went to outside smiths for this kind of work because it is cheaper.
Only guards and those accompanied by guards could enter the post, to avoid trouble and chaos entering the post itself. If one wanted to become a guard they had to prove themselves by going through intense training and then, at the end of their training, facing one of the higher officers. They didn’t have to win, just survive for a predefined time. This was the Royal Guard Post of Saravya, The barracks and home to many of the finest soldiers in the clan.
