The thought The Barricades were the actual Glamor that was cast over Golgotterath, the thing that Shae breaks for Mekeritig. Right? If so, then its pure magic rather than a physical construct, but I could be mistaken.
Yes, the Barricades are the thing that Shae shows Mekeritig how to break. However, I don't think that the Barricades are the same thing as the glamour that was cast over Golgotterath. I think that the glamour and the Barricades were two separate lines of defense put in place by the nonmen to prevent access to Golgotterath.
The glamour hid Golgotterath and made it essentially impossible to find without special knowledge. That way no growing human civilization was going to stumble onto Golgotterath accidentally but the glamour wasn't difficult to overcome if you knew were to look.
A Nonman sorcerer named Cet’ingira—whom you know as Mekeritrig from The Sagas—revealed the location of Min-Uroikas to Shaeönanra, the Grandvizier of the ancient Gnostic School of Mangaecca. The glamour about the wicked stronghold was broken, and the Schoolmen of the Mangaecca reclaimed Min-Uroikas—to the woe of us all
My reading of this is that it wasn't difficult for Mekeritrig to bypass the glamour itself. His knowledge of the location of Golgotterath seemed to be enough for him to bring the Mangaecca to the horns. However, that information wasn't enough to actually enter the arc. The Barricades were the second line of defense. The Barricades sealed the entrances to Golgotterath and made it impossible to enter even if you were able to find it. After Mekeritrig bypassed the glamour and brought the Mangaecca to the arc, there was an extended period of time where the Mangaecca and their nonmen allies just hung out around Golgotterath trying to figure out how to get in. Maybe they even started raising fortifications around it at this point and making it their base of operations.
It isn't totally clear but when Tirtirga comes to visit Shae it seems like the Sohonc have known for some time that the Mangaecca have bypassed the glamour and are studying the arc. Up until now they just haven't been that concerned because they believe that the second line of defense, the Barricades, is impassible.
Ok, so that's my argument for the glamour and the Barricades being distinct workings of sorcery.
As for this:
If so, then its pure magic rather than a physical construct, but I could be mistaken.
By "physical construct" you mean magical artifact right? Because I brought the Barricades up as an addition to the list of magical artifacts being assembled in this thread, not as an example of the Tekne.
The Barricades are definitely a magic artifact and not just a spell.
“They are called the Barricades,” the Nonman says. “The Artisan himself fashioned them.“
The Man gazes in wonder at the configurations of nimil and light. “So that none might enter…” he murmurs.
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Then he turns to the Barricades, examines its fractal complexities
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Shaeönanra finds the Nonman thus, sprawled unconscious before the Barricades–or what remains of them. He kneels at his side, lays fingers on his cheek. Warm. He looks to the shattered portal, to the hanging plates, the mangle of the Stain
That said: