Sarmont Citadel
The Citadel was for centuries considered the northern gateway to Raanvyre. Its position along one of the widest mountain passes, called Cyran's Pass, made it strategically important for centuries. Travelers that used the pass would often be required to pay a fee when passing by The Citadel.
It was abandoned The Kingdom of Gryvane destroyed it in their opening surprise attack that started The Sarmont Skirmishes. Following the conclusion of The Skirmishes, as part of the peace treaty, a large construction effort was undertaken by the Ivaruna Empire to dig several tunnels through the mountain range to reduce the need to use Cyran's Pass. The Empire allowed the installation of toll booths on either side of each tunnel to allow Raanvyre's practice of charging usage fees on travelers and enabling Gryvane to begin doing the same. Those on official Imperial business would be exempt from such fees.
The Castle
According to legend, it was built at least 1500 years ago by a King Cyran Sarmont. The original castle was constructed on the western side of the cobblestone road that was set into the pass. At this time, the exterior wall did not exist none of the civilian structures were protected by any sort of defenses. For a long time this area was called Sarmont Castle. The ownership of this Castle and its surrounding area changed hands constantly.
It would not be until the first century of the seventh era that the early Raanvyre Kingdom took control over the whole of Sarmont County To cement their new ownership of it, they renamed it to Sarmont Citadel.
Redeilia's Keep
When Countess Redeilia was given Sarmont Citadel as her own fief, she sought to expand what defenses it had. She was familiar with the weaknesses of the current structure as she had lead the efforts to take it for her king. The first new structure was a small keep built on the eastern side of the road which became known as Redeilia's Keep. Following the construction of the Keep, a large wall that surrounded all the existing civilian structures at the time was built. A set of internal walls that split the city into four districts, one for each cardinal direction.
The Manor House
After several centuries of occasional small changes, the first large scale renovation since Redilia's rule was ordered in 602 e7. Count Ardreth Liacan had recently bought an automobile, which were fairly new at the time, and found the cobblestone roads that had been maintained as such for centuries were not pleasant to drive on. He spent almost his entire treasury not just replacing the road leading to the Citadel, but all the roads in his county with smoother asphalt ones. He also made the main road into the Citadel wide enough to accommodate two such vehicles side-by-side with some room to spare. The new road was significantly wider than the gatehouses first constructed by Redeilia, so they were all torn down and replaced at great cost. As some of the wall needed to be removed for the Southern Gate, Count Ardreth had another section of the southern wall removed and rebuilt to make room for a large manor house. He had a large garage constructed as part of its design so he would have room for more cars in the future. While it was a financially risky move, the complete overhaul of the roads in the county proved to be a lucrative move in the coming decades. When later praised for his foresight, the Count acted as if he knew this was a worthy investment all along. The truth is, he just wanted to drive his fancy new car around his lands on smooth roads.
The Assault on Sarmont Citadel
Raanvyre was taken by nearly complete surprise when Gryvane struck. While Gryvane had been making a political fuss about the exorbitant fees levied by the Citadel on their travelers, especially those carrying their exported goods, Raanvyre did not think they would take violent action. The assault was swift and brutal. In the early hours of the day, just as the sun was rising, several bombers flew overhead and indiscriminately destroyed portions of the Citadel. As the surviving members of the garrison came out from whatever shelter they could find, several paratroopers had already landed in and around the Citadel. Their transport planes were but a few moments behind the bombers. The Gryvane paratroopers slaughtered the garrison and any who even looked like they were a potential threat. The largest cause of casualties for the paratroopers was accidents from bad landings or parachutes that malfunctioned.
A group of paratroopers entered the Manor House and Count Ardreth was killed. The official Gryvane reports say that the Count fired upon the paratroopers first. A few of the civilians that survived have reported that they saw the paratroopers drag him out into the street from the Manor with his hands bound before executing him. It is unclear which story is true or perhaps both are.
662 e7
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