(Written with [@Blackfridayrule]'s permission so I might properly describe Sikkina)

As Ajoran waited, he once again marvelled at the structure before. Perched on the edge of The Golden Empire, clinging to the desert swept coastline on a small oasis island of green, squatted the colossal Rhaetian Fortress of Sikkina. Connected to the mainland only at low tide by a long stone causeway, the huge gates sat at the high tide mark and bore the scars of the sea battering at its stones. Even now, as his horse moved nervously on the drawbridge, he could feel the thunder of the ocean below him as it surged and retreated through the narrow channel hacked from the rock. 

He did not have long to wait for the portcullis, always closed, began to grind slowly upward in to the face of the gateway led into a great blockhouse pierced only by the main gate. The sound of his horses hooves were suddenly loud inside the near pitch black of the tunnel. Somewhere above he could smell pitch burning and glanced up to see the murder holes above him. His path turned ninety degrees to the right, then to the left, before he rode into the blinding sunlight of a tight courtyard open on all sides to attack by the garrison above. Soldiers appeared above him on the ramparts and gazed down at him, and one, recognizing him, gave him a wave before shouting along the walltop. 

From here, watched on all sides by narrow arrow slits, Ajoran kicked his horse up a ramp wide enough for two horses shoulder to shoulder. It rose toward the outer bailey and would leave any attacker horribly exposed to attack from all sides. As he rode he noted the runes cunningly built in to the stone and the walls. He was no Rhaetina expert but he had been around them long enough to recognize defensive magic when he saw it. 

At the top of the ramp he passed beneath a second portcullis and in to another blockhouse, as large as the first. Another pair of ninety degree turns and he entered a tight courtyard with two gates, both open but flanked on soldiers, the first he had seen below the level of the wall. The outer defences of Sikkina were meant to funnel and slaughter an attacker. Of the two gates, the one to the right would lead out of the fortress and on to the island proper, giving him access to the town that existed solely to support the castle and the small but excellent harbour hacked from the rocky shores of the island. On two occasions he had taken ships Sikkina and always enjoyed visiting the narrow streets.

The other gate, to his left, led in to the outer bailey of the fortress. He nodded at the sentries as he passed by and they nodded back, nothing much to say here. They looked bored. This gate was a straight passage that brought him out in to an immense courtyard enclosed on all sides by walls fifty high, and towers twice that height ever fifty yards. Here the main business of the fortress was conducted, a barracks, a temple, blacksmith, armourer, deep fresh water well, and more, all protected by the walls.

In the middle of it all, through another blockhouse, surrounded by an even larger wall that was built in to a small mountain, was the inner bailey and keep itself. This sat on the highest point of the island, its view unmatched by any location within fifty kilometres. Only with magic, and some incredible engineering work, could the keep have been built as it was, crafted from the very peak of the small mountain.  

Ajoran was forced to leave his horse behind here, turning it over to the stable boy before looking around. The outer bailey wall was built on the edge of the mountain as well and while from the outside it appeared as though it were fifty feet high, on the inside it was not more than thirty feet to the walltop. The defences seemed like overkill given that it was impossible to properly siege the island but the Rhaetians never left anything to chance when it came to defence. 

The portcullis to the inner bailey was open, the great wooden doors swung wide, but six heavily armed and alert guards protected it while more could be seen lurking behind the arrow slits above. He offered a stiff bow to the guardsmen, all of them Rhaetians he noted, and made his request.