Standing on the banks of the River Urskoy, Kislev is built atop the Gora Geroyev, which means "Hill of the Heroes." Originally a burial site for fallen heroes of Kislev, the red soil of this hill is considered sacred, and it is a source of fierce pride to the city's inhabitants that no enemy has yet breached their walls. The walls of the city are tall; machicolations are cunningly wrought within the decorative gargoyles at the wall head, and smoke rises from prepared braziers on the ramparts. The precise construction of the protruding towers and gatehouses ensures every yard of rocky ground before the walls is a killing zone, covered by crossbows and cannon emplacements.[1]
An attacker will pay a fearsome toll in blood to breach the city's walls, as they are amongst the most steadfast defences of the Old World, at least the equal of Nuln or Altdorf. However, the base of the wall has a smooth, glassy look to it, as though the stone has vitrified under some intense heat. This appearance is a legacy of the Great War against Chaos when the hordes of Asavar Kul laid siege to the city and caused the solid stone of the walls to run like molten wax. A cobbled roadway winds up the Gora Geroyev to a wide bridge that crosses a deep ditch and leads to the westernmost gate of the city.[1]