"Every time I sail into this bay, the first thing I see is that prison, like a watchman guarding his master's jewels. And I can't decide if Rijker's stands guard against the foreign invader or against the Marienburgers' own worst selves."
- —Capitan Pedro de Alinodovar[1a]
Rijker's Isle
Rijker's Isle has been occupied since the Jutones first came to the area, when they built a fort atop the Elven ruins there to serve as a refuge during times of war. Later the Barons of Westerland took the island, then known as Verrepunt, and built a castle with substantial granaries that would enable it to hold out should the rest of Marienburg be overrun. When the Norscans and later the Bretonnians occupied Marienburg, its grim castle was the Barons' last redoubt - and no one has ever successfully assaulted it.[1a]
During the 17th century, Rijker's Isle took on its present role as both fortress and prison after the Barons moved their residence to a far more comfortable palace in the centre of the City. Since then the prison has housed criminals convicted of the more serious offences such as arson, rape, murder and smuggling. Death sentences are carried out here, the keep's sombre bell announcing each execution with thirteen chimes.[1a]
With the extinction of the House of van Hoogmans and the independence of Marienburg, Rijker's Isle has come to serve a darker, more unofficial purpose. The City's directors, not trusting each other with command of the strategic fortress, invested hereditary governorship in the family of an exiled Bretonnian noble, Vicomte Louis De Beq. De Beq and his heirs have served the Ten well, quietly imprisoning those whose "disappearance" has been desired for whatever reason. Rival heirs to family fortunes, victims of inter-house feuds, lovers who have cuckolded an influential husband, and foreigners deemed too dangerous to be free in their homeland have all spent years, sometimes even their whole lives, within the island-prison's ancient walls.[1a]
Layout[]
Occupying most of the island on which it sits, the prison itself is surrounded by a curtain wall built on an L-shaped plan, with agreat keep at the inner point of the elbow, facing the sea. The walls are 50 feet tall and 30 feet thick, with battlements facing both in and out. Towers along the edge rise another 20 feet, and atop each one is a brace of cannon meant to repel ships invading Marienburg harbour.[1a]
Van Zandt's Wall, an internal barrier forty feet high and fifteen feet thick, divides the fortress into inner and outer baileys. The outer bailey, in the southern half, houses the quarters of the island's garrison, a battalion of 120 men comprised of gunners, mercenaries and men-at-arms. Here also are the homes of most of the prison's guards and jailers, though the few with families often prefer to reside in Marienburg itself and take the daily supply boat to and from the island.[1a]
Visitors to Rijker's will find what seems to be a small, bustling village inside the curtain wall. The southern half contains the fortress's armoury, food stores, smithy and a workshop where trustee prisoners make reed baskets for sale in Marienburg. There is a chapel shared by Myrmidia, who is honoured by the mostly Tilean mercenary garrison, and Verena, patroness of Rijker's in its role as an instrument of justice.[1a]
The inner bailey is almost the exact opposite, barren and paved with grey slate flagstones. Unoccupied most of the time, its monotony is broken by just a few features: the chapel to Morr where the condemned spend their last night in prayer, the three great black iron doors along the inner face of the curtain wall that lead to the cell blocks themselves, and the gallows in the courtyard's centre.[1a]
At the crook of the island's elbow sits the fortress's ancient keep, known simply as the Castle, or 'de Kasteel'. It anchors thecurtain wall and the seaward end of Van Zandt's Wall. Its grim walls and turrets are built of a very dark stone quarried long ago in the foothills beyond the Bitter Moors - sailors refer to it as Marienburg's Black Eye. Once the home to Marius and his successors, it is now the residence of the prison's governors, the eccentric De Beq family. And sitting incongruously atop the Castle's highest tower is the dome and telescope of an observatory,the personal playroom of the current Governor of Rijker's Isle.[1a]
At the opposite end of Van Zandt's Wall sit the Hopeful Tower, named with bitter humour for the view it gives of Marienburg and its bustling harbour. According to tradition, prisoners condemned to death or life in prison are taken to the top of this tower and given one last view of freedom, to remind them of the price of crime. The Tower also houses the gatehouse that serves as a residence for the prison's High Warden, and its portcullised arches form the main path between the inner and outer baileys. Among the prisoners, the gatehouse is known as Morrsgate.[1a][1b]
The cell blocks are within the curtain wall of the northern bailey, two of its floors above ground and a third below. The curtainwall itself is divided into three parts by the Governor's Keep, the Hopeful Tower at the opposite end of Van Zandt's Wall, and two intervening towers. Each block is thus cut off from its neighbourby the thick granite walls of the towers or the keep, stifling communications between the prisoners of different blocks and preventing any riots from spreading. The top of the curtain wall, protected by battlements on both sides, runs uninterrupted around the circumference of Rijker's, allowing for the quick, protected movement of troops and supplies.[1b]
Beneath the ground floor of each block lies a level of cells knownas the Crypts, used for isolation and punishment. Inmates condemned to death, those sentenced by the courts for grave crimes that do not warrant the death penalty, and those who have committed some serious infraction of the rules are kept here. Convicts in the Crypts are not allowed even basic contact with outsiders. Their jailers are not permitted to speak with them or acknowledge their presence. Meals and water are passed through a panel in the bottom of the cell door, waste buckets are emptied down a tiny sluice in the cell floor, and the inmates' only light comes from the single candle they are given once a week. The prisoners are anonymous, referred to only by their block and cell number.[1b]
This anonymity is key to Rijker's unofficial role, for the Crypts are also home to the "disappeared", those whom the Governor is holding at the request of someone powerful. No records are kept of their names: the Governor and the High Warden simply remember who they are, should the time to release them ever come. Some have been in the Crypts so long that their existence has been forgotten by all save the turnkeys who bring their meals.[1b]
On the outer side of the second floor of B block, Rijker's northernmost wall, is another set of special cells, reserved for more of the "disappeared". The cells are, however, far more comfortable in their furnishings, bordering upon the elegant. These are suites, with a sitting room, bath, garderobe and even a view of the Manaanspoort Sea. Prisoners in these cells are usually of high station, their captors wanting them out of the way but not kept with the common lot. They are given the best food, and all their needs are met save those of companionship and freedom. In this regard, they are as deprived as the captives in the Crypts.[1b]
Government[]
The governor of Rijker's Isle ostensibly has command over theentire fortress-prison and all its mercenaries, jailers and prisoners. Marienburg's Directors, however, were not so foolish as to trust one man with such power. In fact they have deliberately established a divided and overlapping chain of command to prevent someone with too much ambition from holding Marienburg hostage by choking off all its overseas shipping.[1b]
Under normal circumstances, the governor may give any order and expect to have it obeyed. The Captain of the Guard, however, may countermand any order he feels harmful to the security of the fortress or Marienburg itself. The Guard Captain also reports weekly to the Staadtholder, who may issue orders in thename of the Directorate.[1b]
The governor is not just a figurehead. Under the terms of the original grant to the De Beq family, he "shall have use of any and all resources necessary to maintain order and see that justice is served within the confines of the prison". Every De Beq since thefirst has interpreted this to mean command over the mercenaries as well. Their will is enforced by the fact that the governors and their lackeys control access to the fortress's gunpowder stores and are the only ones allowed to distribute the monthly pay.[1b]
This confusion has lead to some catastrophic rows in the past, with orders being issued and countermanded one after the other, although this has occurred only rarely. The current governor, Ludwig De Beq, enjoys a good relationship with the mercenary Captain of the Guard, Jacopo d'Arezzo, and allows him considerable latitude in the day-to-day affairs of the fortress.[1b][1c]
As far as the prisoners are concerned, the mercenaries are distant figures high up on the walls, unless they happen to be pointing their crossbows down into the courtyard. Of more immediate concern are the wardens and the turnkeys, the jailers with whom the inmates deal on a daily basis.[1c]
Chief among these, and second only to the Governor in authority over the criminals, is the High Warden of Van Zandt's Wall. From his office in the gatehouse of the Hopeful Tower, the High Warden oversees the assignment of new prisoners to cells, the distribution of meals, processes the occasional release and orders any punishments short of execution. Prisoners hope never to see him between their arrival and release, for it almost always means a severe punishment.[1c]
Under the High Warden are the wardens of the individual cellblocks, who each have an office just within the iron blockhouse doors. These doors are the only known ways into and out of the buildings, and the wardens control all access. On each floor a turnkey holds the keys to the cells, passes out the food, collects individual prisoners when summoned and supervises them in the courtyard during their weekly half-hour recreation period. Various hirelings assist with menial tasks.[1c]
Prison Life[]
The life of a prisoner in Rijker's Isle is described by two words: hard and dull. Two prisoners normally share a cell five feet wide by seven feet deep. They are given two buckets, one filled with fresh water every day, and another used to hold bodily wastes. The jailers bring them two meals a day: a thin broth in the morning and a leek stew in the evening, to which is added chunks of fish every Festag. The prisoners' cells each have a tiny window that allows them a view of either the courtyard or the sea.[1c]
There are breaks in the monotony, however. Thanks to pressure from the Cult of Shallya twenty years ago, prisoners are allowed a weekly one-half hour recreation period in the northern courtyard. Many take advantage of the time to exercise and converse with inmates from other blocks, while others simply enjoy the view of the sky and sun. Should the weather be bad or other adverse conditions exist (such as a riot), then the recreation timeis cancelled and inmates must wait till the next week.[1c]
The Cult of Shallya, always interested in the possibility of reform, has also arranged that certain exemplary prisoners be made trustees with extra privileges. Most trustees work in the prison workshops, where they make baskets or weave plain cloth for sale to the city's merchants. For their labour they are paid six pence per week, which they may use to buy extra food or weak beer, or save against the day of their release. Trustees are also granted an extra hour per week of recreation time in the courtyard.[1c]
On the other side of the coin lies punishment for troublemakers or those who seek a way out. Minor infractions, like fighting with other prisoners, refusal to eat meals or stealing from fellow convicts results in a loss of all privileges for at least a month. More serious crimes, such as attempted escape, repeated minor offences, striking a guard or killing another prisoner can lead to transfer to the Crypts for between a month and life. Killing a prison official inevitably means a hanging.[1c]
Trivia[]
Rijker's Isle is likely a reference to Rickers Island, an Island in New York City's East River that is home to the city's most infamous jail.