Litfadari Castle

Litfadari Castle is the headquarters of the Rivantaean Deathguard and the personal residence of Morag Lithosa. Its name is actually a misnomer; the castle is more a city than anything else, but it is well defended enough to be called a fortress. It is the capital and capitol of the Kingdom of Esanduria.

Geographical Information
Litfadari Castle is located on an island in the middle of the Esandur River and on each bank, spanning the width of the entire river and extending out for up to a mile on each side at its widest. It sprawls for about ten miles along the river, beginning at the estuary of the Esandur River and ending at the base of the cliffs on either side of the river. It is shaped, when viewed from above, like a slightly bent elongated rectangle. The banks of the river around the city are very steep and almost three stories high at high tide.

On the main island towers the Citadel of Morag Lithosa, which is a half-mile square building with large walls. On each bank of the estuary there is a walled castle that overlooks the river and the coast on either side. There is a network of caves in the ground under the city that emerge just above the maximum water level of the river. The surrounding countryside is mostly grassland that is devoid of trees. A natural harbor opens on the east bank of the Esandur River that is about a mile wide.

Upriver from the city, about twenty miles through the canyon, is a high gatehouse that marks the border between Esanduria and the Northern Kingdoms. From the gatehouse extends a long, low wall all around the border of Esanduria.

Defenses
Litfadari Castle is arguably the most well defended locations in the known RuneScape world, including the North Coast. Its position makes it very hard to approach from one side of the river or another, as its walls are located at the top of a ridge of hills on each side of the river.

An attack from upstream would be met with resistance from five garrisons of troops, two on the top of the canyon, one in the riverbank, and two located in cave complexes which emerge onto large caverns that overlook the river, with field artillery along the cliffs giving cover for all five positions.

An attack from the sea would have to get past the two small castles on each side of the estuary, each housing naval artillery and two garrisons of troops; then the inner walls on the banks of the river facing inwards, then the Citadel itself and the gigantic stone drawbridges on each side; then the naval fleet stationed in the harbor; and finally rear-facing artillery up on the cliffs.

A magical attack from afar would be defeated by magical ward generators on the wall towers and Citadel, and there is even a magic point-defense system on the walls of the Citadel for added protection against large magic and mundane missiles.

Access to the city is limited to the few gatehouses in the outer walls or by entering one of the towers that climbs the cliffs by land and the ship docks on the banks of the river, which also lead to gatehouses in the inner wall.

Defensive strongpoints include:
 * Of course, the outer wall with watchtowers every 50 feet, garrison towers every 500 feet, artillery mounts every 75 feet, and magic ward generators every 2000 feet
 * Various small forts located at strategic positions all over the city, including eight larger castles on the banks of the river and two more on the coast
 * Local militia, who number almost 1000 at the most and are stationed around the small forts
 * The inner wall, which runs along each riverbank from the estuary to the cliffs and has double thickness-- faces both toward and away from the river-- and many garrison towers
 * Eight very tall observation towers from which missiles can be dropped, two going up the sides of the canyon and the rest inside castles
 * Hidden garrison bases located in the cave complexes underground that have entrances scattered throughout the city
 * Extremely fortified gatehouses on each side of the river; these open to stone drawbridges that can be lowerd into the river to allow ships to pass or to block access to the Citadel
 * The outer Citadel wall which has a great number of garrison and artillery towers and ward generators
 * The main Citadel wall which stands behind the outer wall; it contains artillery, wards, and magic point-defense systems
 * The Citadel towers, all of which have their own ward generators, artillery, garrisons, and point-defense systems
 * Finally, the Keep which contains many ward generators, point-defense systems, and a control center for the Rivantaean Air Force, not to mention the huge numbers of artillery all over it

In addition to structures, the Litfadari Castle has a total defense force of over 40,000 ground soldiers plus 4,000 from the Rivantaean Deathguard. This includes 25,000 total inner/outer/Citadel wall garrisons, 2,000 in the castles, 3,800 in the garrison bases in the city, 4,000 defending the Citadel, and 10,000 reserves. The Deathguard fight in the Citadel for the most part.

The city is also defended by the huge Rivantaean Naval Armada stationed in the harbor and all through the river and the estuary. They boast the titanic Dream Thief, 34 battleships, 25 cruisers, 21 frigates, 48 destroyers, 94 sloops, 26 picket ships, and 32 landers with the number of sailors and naval personell reaching into the tens of thousands.

The Rivantaean Air Force has a main launch base in the Citadel, but there are hangars and runways scattered throughout the city and around it.