Ohttrazdbarh

Ohttrazdbarh (Praeta: Eight-Ring City), was a planned fortress city of Ransenar, situated in the county of Holwinn, on the northern shore of the Red Elwynn, where work began on what would have been an ambitious undertaking the fifth month of 1710 AN, but was abandoned in 1712 AN after Ransenar joined the Benacian Union. The fortifications at the site consist primarily of the partially completed foundation pit and subsequent defensive earthworks constructed around it.

Initial concept

The city was to have been formed of an outer defensive wall with eight flaktower bastions, three concentric belts of industrial worker habitation rings, an inner defensive wall with four citadel ziggurats, a concentric ring of mixed commercial premises and middle class residential habitation, a concentric ring of upper class habitation blocks, and the "Centrum Bastion" housing an arsenal and command & control facilities for the Grand Army of Ransenar as well as offices for the municipal authorities of the city.

The area of the city's jurisdiction would have bordered onto that of the bailiwick of Cabbagefall in the Imperial County of Shireroth. One advantage of the placement of Ohttrazdbarh is its position watching over the riverine trade proceeding up the Red Elwynn from Musica to Shirekeep.

Fortifications

As of 1731 AN, the fortifications at Ohttrazdbarh consisted of the massive partially flooded foundation pit, surrounded by three rings of defensive earthworks, along with a military encampment to the east. Although an ambitious arcology city was initially planned, it never progressed beyond the excavation stage, leaving only these rudimentary fortifications at the strategic site on the northern bank of the Red Elwynn.

Garrison

As of 1731 AN, the garrison of Ohttrazdbarh consisted of the newly formed Special Task Force of the Confluence under the command of Grand Magistra Malia Morell. This formation was part of the General Inspectorate of Benacia Command and was tasked with coordinating security for the strategic confluence region of the Elwynn Rivers.

The Special Task Force had a total strength of around 3,448 personnel, comprising:

• 2,080 troops from the General Inspectorate of Benacia Command
• 1,200 troops from the Ransenari Grouping of Forces (RGF)
• 168 foreign security contractors

The main components of the Task Force included:

• An Operations Room and Planning Cell
• The Information Exploitation Regiment
• An Area Defence Squadron
• The Specialist Support Regiment
• The 3rd Riverine Infantry Regiment (RGF)

This multi-national force garrisoned the existing defensive earthworks around the abandoned foundation pit at Ohttrazdbarh, securing the vital confluence of the Blue, White and Red Elwynn rivers. Their mandate covered the operational boundaries where the Northern, Eastern and Southern Banner Groups of Benacia Command met.

Civilian Settlement at Ohttrazdbarh

In the years since the ambitious Ohttrazdbarh arcology project was abandoned in 1712 AN, leaving only the massive partially flooded foundation pit, a modest civilian population has sprung up around the military garrison in the area. These civilians are primarily of Elwynnese and Ransenari origin, following the enforced departure of Shirerithian nationals subsequent to the Day of Rage.

In 1731 AN, the population of the ramshackle Cabbagetown civilian settlement was estimated around 5,000-7,000, living in abject poverty and squalor surrounding the fortified military base. While not a large population by most standards, their economy is highly dependent on the riverine trade traffic and garrison's presence, which ensures a steady stream of demand for vice, services and commodities that the settlement's residents supply.

Origins

As construction stalled on Ohttrazdbarh in the early 1710s AN, many of the labourers and support staff who had been slated to live and work in the planned city found themselves suddenly without work or housing. Some departed, but others chose to stay, setting up makeshift dwellings and camps on the outskirts of the excavation site.

When the Ransenari 3rd Riverine Infantry Regiment arrived to garrison the site in 1723 AN, they found this ad-hoc civilian community already well-established. The military presence brought economic opportunities providing services and goods to the troops. This encouraged more settlers, many coming neighbouring Cabbagefall, as well as from the nearby areas of Elwynn and Ransenar itself.

Over time, the settlement grew into a shanty town circling the defensive earthworks around the foundation pit's circumference. Locals dubbed it "Cabbagetown" due to the abundance of cabbages grown in small plots to supplement their diets.

Economic Activities

The population of Cabbagetown makes its living by serving the needs of the military garrison at Ohttrazdbarh as well as facilitating riverine trade traffic along the Red Elwynn. Key economic activities include:

• Operating taverns, restaurants, and markets catering to the garrison troops
• Maintaining flower streets of brothels and other entertainments
• Providing repair services, supplies, and provisions to river trade boats
• Small-scale farming and subsistence agriculture
• Charcoal manufacturing from local woodlands
• Producing and selling moonshine
• Smuggling and black market operations

Administration

The town is essentially self-governing, with former Imperial Democratic Party bosses and criminal gang leaders organising basic municipal services like sanitation removal. Law and order is minimal beyond what the garrison can impose within the earthworks.

History

The site of a Ransenari garrison since mid 1677 AN, the advantageous position of the location that would become Ohttrazdbarh was known to the Lord Chief Steward of Ransenar, and the Lord Protector before him, as it ensured a corridor of unbroken communication between Goldfield and Shirekeep. The original cantonments, formerly occupied by Home Service regiments of the Army Department of Holwinn on rotation, was evacuated and the site levelled during the fourth month of 1710 AN.

On 7.VIII.1710 AN work began on the foundation pit at the point where the Centrum Bastion would eventually be constructed. Surveyors and engineers from the Honourable Company quickly noted the high water table of the marshy alluvial floodplain and forwarded requests for drainage and pumping equipment to the authorities in Goldfield. Revising their initial estimates, the surveyors recommended that an area of eighty square kilometres be drained and excavated to a depth of eighty metres. Once the excavation was completed, the foundation pit was to be walled with concrete to the thickness of eight metres and a series of permanently manned pumping stations to be constructed at the bottom layer of the pit. Over these would then be built the arcology structure that would house supporting infrastructure organised in the Kalgachi manner around a central core housing the key power generation and utility system control stations for water and sewerage. Proposals to cap the area contained within the foundation pit by the means of a prestressed concrete dome were rejected out of hand as being beyond the means of any known technology available to man. It was eventually decided that the intended subterranean structures would be covered by infilling of the foundation pit as each layer, building back towards the former surface, was completed.

In spite of some doubts as to the scale of the works, and continuous discussion between the project principals about how to present the proposals for approval by the Ransenari Congress, the excavation of the foundation pit continued through the fifth month of 1710 AN quite unimpeded by these considerations of practicality.

Work at the foundation pit was abandoned in the second month of 1712 AN, as funding was not forthcoming in the aftermath of the accession of Ransenar to the Benacian Union at the start of the year.

In the fifth month of 1723 AN elements of the 6th Engineer Regiment and 3rd Works Regiment of the Ransenari Grouping of Forces (RGF) arrived to take possession of the site. Over the next twenty-four days a series of three concentric earthworks would be dug around the abandoned pit along with a large tent encampment a kilometre to the east of the site.

On 1.VIII.1723 AN, garrison duties at the site were transferred to the 3rd Riverine Infantry Regiment of the RGF.

Beginning on 14.IV.1731 AN, troops from the General Inspectorate of Benacia Command, accompanied by foreign security contractors, would begin to arrive at Ohttrazdbarh under the command of Malia Morell. These personnel would constitute the Special Task Force of the Confluence.