The City Barracks
Contents
Overview
Situated atop a gargantuan slab of granite, heavy enough to crush a titan, the City Barracks is located in the most calm and orderly part of the Lady’s Ward; if not the whole Cage. The Harmonium ensures that locals and businesses all toe the line and obey every law to its absolute fullest, the threat of pissing off local Hardheads enough to keep everyone paying their taxes and not causing any scenes.
On what is sure to be a completely unrelated note, this area is the most affordable part of the Cage - people are always looking to move out of this area (no doubt having had more than their share of tranquillity).
Those who don’t flash the faction colours on approach to the City Barracks will have to enter with an escort, or somehow talk their way into the reception area. Once inside the gates, they’ll be vetted appropriately and carted out on their ass if the Hardheads get a whiff of mischief. Those who are approved are handed over a mandatory pass to wear at all times, with a dedicated guide to accompany them at all times. The Hardheads will claim this is for their own good - that the Barracks are a warrens and easy enough to get lost in, but truth be told they’re more paranoid than ever about Anarchists getting in... or worse: Greeners.
Visiting the City Barracks
"An ugly structure that stands out among the poise and elegance of the surrounding kips, with a spiked grey slate roof and a dull, but impenetrable, exterior. It has but a single entrance, over which rises an arch in the shape of two clasping hands. Half a dozen guards stand watch outside the main gates at all times, their steely gaze betraying no hint of emotion."
Key Areas
Basement: Holding Area
Beneath the foundations of the Barracks, in a newly tunnelled and freshly decorated space, lies the temporary holding area for suspects and criminals. Access to here is available via the heavily guarded, somewhat bloodstained, stairs in the reception area (an additional faction-only entrance is found in the Courtyard). It is down here that any arrested criminals and suspects are brought for temporary holding and questioning, before being released or sent to the Prison for long-term storage.
The basement takes the form of a large open area, populated with guards and a handful of uncomfortable chairs. A single large spider plant dominates the centre of the room, somehow kept alive in the dimly lit basement.
Eight rooms adjoin this area: two large holding cells in which sods are kept and four interrogation chambers. Each chamber is home to a Truth Stone, a device for throwing all in the room under a Zone of Truth for easy interrogation (anyone who resists the spell is considered guilty). The remaining two rooms lead to long corridors lined with single-occupancy cells for violent berks and VIPs who need a little quiet whilst they fester.
The final room is a storeroom - a well-locked vault filled with resources for requisition by the Hardheads. Alongside this equipment is a store of half a dozen Helmirs - helmed Mimirs used for the recording of interviews and interrogations for perfect playback at a later date. These little guys (nicknamed Stake, Spike, Spite, Strife, Scent, and Tony) have been invaluable as of late, used to quote suspects at trials and to aid investigators in playing and replaying sections of interviews.
Level 1: Public Areas
The ground floor is home to the public portion of the Barracks, wherein there are a good number of classrooms and training rooms for their newest recruits, each complete with a small stage and lectern for the teacher. Towards the Northeast of the building are smaller rooms for the more advanced training, each tailor-built for one of the many series of lessons to be taught.
Off to the side are the study halls; well-lit rooms with the bare minimum of furniture. The Harmonium affords no distractions for those trying to knuckle down and hit the books. You’ll find a few long tables here, and a bunch of rather uncomfortable (but very sturdy) chairs.
Further along the corridors you can find the dormitories for the Notaries (that is, the Namers). The Harmonium discourage out-of-work fraternisation between ranks, and so segregate the newest of recruits to the ground floor, with the higher-ranking members kept upstairs.
It’s a wonder how the new berks can sleep - their dorms are well within earshot of the drill yard, and are subjected to the heavy thud of combat boots and scraping of platemail at all times of the day.
Two the four large towers that dominate the corners of the Barracks contain auditoriums. These rooms are used before shifts start to host motivational speeches and daily briefings before patrols are sent out to work. The small one can hold close to 200 members at a time, whereas the larger one takes upwards of 500 Hardheads. A third tower houses a large library - full of confiscated religious tracts and dozens of copies of the Sigil Municipal Code and Book of Harmonium. The fourth holds more dormitories.
Finally is the immense walled courtyard, found in the centre of the Barracks with buildings on all sides. Much of the recruits’ physical training takes place here; as do regular exercise sessions and drills. Faction high-ups ensure all members give off a good, unified appearance - and it takes frequent drilling to ensure they all march in unison.
Level 2: Faction Areas
Anywhere upstairs is strictly off-limits to visitors. Herein lie the record rooms - large areas chock-full of scrolls, tomes and wads of paper. They list the entirety of the faction’s long and sordid history (mostly redacted, mind), alongside membership lists and known wanted criminals. All members work shifts in the records room - especially those who join with the idea of bashing in some skulls in the name of justice, who find themselves stuck on desk duty till they’ve gotten the right idea of the law.
There are also two shrines located up here, for religious observances. The Officer’s quarters lie along the upstairs hallway, wherein Measure’s and Movers bunk two to a room. Each chamber has simple furnishings - two single beds, two small tables and three chairs. Members are allowed a small amount of personal decorations provided they ain’t too garish or lavish.
The office of the second in command is located beyond these, in which you’ll often find high-up members getting a briefing or a dressing-down from the deputy leader.
The Factol’s office is just beyond - the only thing marking it as different from any of the officer quarters being the size. It is still as nondescript and simple as possible, with a few good-sized tables and a large desk. Maps of Sigil are hung around the wall, including diagrams of the planes and various troublesome areas.
The Factol’s family quarters are located in a door beyond this.
Upper Towers
The four towers of the City Barracks rise one more level taller than the main building. Each is full of winged messengers, giant owls, and faction members to handle them.