tower at each corner. The walls consisted of two layers - one was designed to maintain defence in case enemy troops broke through one of the permanent portals, and the other to repel attacks from outside. Between the layers of fortifications, there was a space where barracks and adjacent buildings for the fortification crew were erected.
While the city gates were manned by the Watch, the fortifications around the portals belonged to the Land Army. This division was created to make it as difficult as possible to smuggle or move unauthorised persons. At one time, this was a source of friction between the two formations, but it had long since been resolved. Darius personally hoped that it would not become an additional source of tension.
The square where the permanent portals were located occupied the entire inner courtyard of the barbican. The gates were created along five walls, excluding the one with the entrance gate. Each magical passage was erected in the form of a conch on a keystone marked with the name of the location to which it led.
The portals in Ryhs's Barbican led east of Atlantis - to Dagos, Viride, Sparta, Alexandria and other important cities, among others. Today, they were to use the portal leading to north-eastern Africa, which was the furthest passage. As the distance travelled increased, so did the amount of energy needed to open and maintain the portal. Alexandria was on the verge of profitability from Atlantis's point of view, and considering that it had been an important communication hub of the magical world for centuries, it was the perfect choice for a transport network hub. Importantly, permanent portals had much greater capacity than the personal ones opened by mages. Large gates allowed for the rapid transfer of troops, supplies, and trade goods and were the basis of communication. It was also important to remember that only the permanent ones worked in both directions. While Darius could easily open a portal leading to Dagos, he needed coordinates or a connection to a magical rune marking the destination, and this could sometimes be difficult.
