Chapter: Running Crucified

I produced this little map to help me write the second and third chapters of The Standing Dead. It shows the location of the slavers’ first night’s camp at the edge of a stopping place, on the shore of the Gatemarsh. The road south is shown with its watchtowers. Also shown is the location of the first sartlar kraal in which they spend a night. Further north is the City-at-the-Gates. A section of the Sacred Wall of Osrakum fills up the top right of the map

This sketch shows a cross-section of a raised road of the Guarded Land. Note how high it is above the ground. Note also the ramp running down to the ground, on the right, besides which I drew a human figure for scale

A watchtower rises from behind the leftway wall that runs alongside the road, beyond a ditch. A view of the tower as seen from the road is also shown

There are countless sartlar kraals across the Guarded Land, each constructed to the specifications of the Wise. These kraal form a grid spreading out on either side of a raised road. In the diagram above, a part of this grid is shown and running along its right edge is just such a raised road. Note how the watchtowers, along with the transverse tracks they stand guard upon, form the corners and edges of large squares in the kraal grid

Sartlar, when not labouring, are confined within these kraals

This second sketch shows a typical kraal as seen from above and from the side. A kraal is a circular space enclosed by a high, thick fence of woven hri-wicker, having a gate at one end, that is guarded by an overseer’s tower. A wide ditch surrounds the kraal, acting as a fire-brake during the burning off of the stubble (occurring every year at the end of the 6th and 12th months)

In the diagram you can see Carnelian’s and Osidian’s positions on their first night in a kraal. To help me get a feeling of the scale, I included a 2m high man and a small rectangle representing the study I was writing in at the time