Kaldoin Fortress

A fortress built along the Akirlisaya River, far to the northeast of the Trandimir subcontinent, Kaldoin Fortress (named after Kaldoin Cliffs, on which it is built) is a system of fortifications built during the reign of Tairazun Sora berAthain ne-i-Lein, as a major node in the defence of the northern Empire. In the following years, as relationships between the Lein Dynasty and the nomadic peoples of the north turned to war again, the fortress became a symbol of the resilience of the Lein Empire against the "northern barbarians".

Background and Construction

Tairazun Sora's plan of fortifying the Empire was in a sense the extension of his father Tairazun Athain's intentions to forestall war by fortifications, even though the first half of his reign was a dramatic move in the opposite direction. After nearly 20 years of war with the Tamu`deni and Sumatar peoples, and having driven them north of the river, Sora decided that the best policy would be to pursue peace while ensuring a formidable and prominent deterrence. It was towards that goal that the construction of Kaldoin Fortress was ordered.

Construction began, under the direction of the architect Tuin Risad berPanor, in spring of Sora 34, and the central forts were completed around Sora 36, and fully operational by late Sora 37. The fortress was mostly constructed of stone, quarried upstream in the northern mountains and then painstakingly rolled and floated downstream to the area where they were shaped and placed; bricks brought upstream, as well as wood from the south, was also used in large quantities for this fortress.