= The Darmis Defence =
Also known as Cerlain's Teeth, the Darmis Defence is a line of eighteen low square stone towers built along the southern coastline, with [[Cerlain]] (with one in [[Antaurus]] and one in [[Tholain]]) in response to raids along the eastern coastline of the Empire.

The towers began construction in 1299, their primary role was to act as watchtowers, but they were also intended to help defend the coastline.  The towers were put into service as soon as they were built, and were thrown together quickly with the help of enthusiastic locals who had heard the stories of coastal invasion from their cousins in Tholain and [[Hebria]].

The towers were in prime use was from 1300 through to 1320 when the threat of these raids tailed off.  The service the towers gave turned out to minimal in the efforts to repel the invaders - the towers were hardly ever called upon this far west.  As they were a military facility, most were kept manned by a minimal force until the Unification (around 1345 or so) and after this were abandoned.  In many cases, they became an abode for smugglers and seafarers that wanted to escape the eyes of the authorities.

When the raids commenced again in the 1360s, several were pressed back into service, but their biggest military contribution came during the civil war in the 1380s.  They were used as muster points for Imperial defences, and afterwards as prisons in the post-fighting purge of the Imperial nobility.

Some towers have begun to fall into disrepair, and some have attracted unwanted notoriety.  It is Tower Ten that has the worst reputation, it is situated on the Cerlain coast to the west of the town of Jenus  where the north-south coastline from [[Port Epinum]] cuts into the cliffs and heads to the south-east.  The waters here stir around jutting rocks just under the surface of the water, and the cliffs are low and ragged.  A ship was marooned on the rocks here sometime in the 1330s and many of the sailors were killed.  Its remaining crew took refuge in the tower, attacking the soldiers who were stationed there, killing them all.  The notoriety of the tower has passed into legend, and few go there now, fearing the place to be haunted.

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CategoryHistory