The Gates of Soba
The Gates were created at the same time as the city walls and the citadel itself. According to local legend this was done by a thousand Djinn at the Behest of the Prophet. Imperial Academia of course knows that this is false and that the fortifications are part of a Shogunate era defensive network and their unusual attributes are the remnants of powerful first age workings that persist into the present era. It is not known whether the Porphyrs Stone which gives the Citadel its name was quarried in some far off place or is of entirely artificial fabrication.
The Gates properly refers to the 3 Gates of the Citadel. The Cis, Trans and Sabine Gates as well as the 2 remaining River Gates. There is also the isolated Gate of the Prophet. The Champoor and Kif Gates are merely openings in the walls to allow ease of movement for the trade routes and have been added in the centuries since the construction of the gates proper.
All the Gates proper are constructed of the Purple Porphrys and carved into shapes depicting Giant Faces or mythological forms. They each have their own natures and proclivities and have proven resistant to attempts to deface their heretical forms.
Formed around the canal which forms the shadow river as it enters the city. Its Pillars are shaped as 2 Giant Skeletal and robed forms. The Shadow Gate is believed quiescent though the river workers will make traditional signs to avoid its wrath. The Militia Outpost on the Kif Bank near the Shadow Gate has recently been taken over by the Crashing Fountain School of Martial arts, who take responsibility for the cities defence between the Shadow and the Plaza Market.
Formed at the point the Serpent river enters the city. The Head and a Tail of a titanic Dragon form the 2 pillars of the Gate. It forms the traditional end point of the yearly Dragon Boat races. Boat workers are more cautious about this Gate as they believe that to insult the Dragon is to risk thier boats running aground. It is known that the rest of the Dragon runs along the bed of the river and that the size of the spines of its back can change.
During the early period of Imperial Rule of the city a particularly pious Satrap set about dismantling the gates, he set bout the worst offender on the river downstream from Citadel. Subsequent to the the gates removal a large earthquake struck the city destroying much of the outer wall on the eastern edge of the city. The wreckage has been used by the locals as a ready source of stone and has been extensively quarried. The Strap in question disappeared at the same time as the earthquake. The immaculate order has left the gates alone for the most part, except for occasional defacement by individual monks.
4 large crescent faces are depicted at the corners of the Cis Bridge to the the Citadel across the Moon Stream to the Foreign Quarter of the city. This gate has a cheery aspect and will greet in a lod voice those it knows well or make outlandish demands of foreign visitors to the city. It is common practice to to touch the faces and murmur a greeting to great Cis when passing the gate, this passifies the Gate and prevents it making a scene.
The acknowledged companion to the Cis, the Trans Faces have a glummer disposition and grumble their discontent whenever a traveller sets out across them without a greeting. The Trans Gate is believed by the uneducated to have the gift of prophesy. It is not uncommon to have otherwise sensible merchants make a gift of wine to the Gate to receive a word or two about the woes to come on the road to the north ( a very limited portent).
4 female Caryatids stand at the corners of the bridge that crosses the shadow as it flows to join the serpent. These figures, tentatively identified as aspects of the Maiden of Battles, do not speak but will turn their heads to survey certain individuals as they pass between the gates. It is considered a mark of distinction among many societies militant to be so regarded and those who receive the attention of the receive the title of Named Men. The old tales say the Sabine were set to defend the Citadel against the enemies of man, but then the old tales say many things.
Sitting out on the periphery of the southern city is the Gate of the Prophet. This gate is connected only to a few pieces of neglected wall and faces the great dune sea. It is said that it is through this gate that the Prophet left the city never to return. It is also said that if he should return he will do so to destroy the Plum citadel. Visitors should be aware that it is inadvisable to walk through the gate in either direction. To do so invites heinously bad luck such that the locals will refuse to deal with them in any way assuming the visitor is not hunted down by a lynch mob.
