02 - Iron Kingdoms W.. - Captain Spud Is Amazing

108 Iron Kingdoms
108.1.141.197
in 476 AR, the Ordic Navy launched the Midfast, a
traditional longship design covered with iron plates.
From this, both Cygnar and Ord began an ambitious
construction program: iron plated steamships.
Around 494, the floating fortress dubbed the Sprightly
was a reality, and it still patrols the Sea of a Thousand
Souls from Sailor’s Lament to Windwatcher’s Passage.
This ship is almost 260 feet long with six inches of
iron plates bolted to 28 inches of oak backing. It
mounts eight cannons and four swivel guns and is
manned by a crew of 180 men.
The Glory of Morrow and the Merciful Boon followed
the debut of the Sprightly by two years. These are
smaller ships than the Sprightly due to the maneuvering
difficulty caused by her deep draft of 23 feet. Even with
her two massive steam engines, she is rarely able to
maneuver better than a waterlogged vessel. Obviously
the name is somewhat of a misnomer.. The Glory and
Boon are both under 180-feet-long with drafts less than
12 feet and freeboards under two feet, making these
ships almost completely awash with the sea itself. These
two ships feature rotating central turrets housing three
cannons each. Being so heavy does not lend much to
their speed, yet the ironhulls can certainly outlast and
outgun any wooden ship on the sea.
rumor has it…
it is rumored that the Cygnarans have developed the first
submersible ship. a marvel of engineering, the iNTruder is said
to be made from loComotive boilers With Wedge-shaped ends
and tWo miniature Conning toWers. it bears a 17-foot long,
holloW iron spar on the boW With a spear-mounted explosive at
the end. the iNTruder is apparently propelled by a small steam
plant as Well as a hand-Cranked longitudinal axle ConneCted
direCtly to a prop at the stern. it has ballast tanks in the boW
and stern, an air box, boW planes, and a rudder. overall the
ship is 40 feet long and 5 feet in diameter.
the iNTruder Can be operated by a CreW of one man operating
the steam plant, seven hand Crankers, and a steersman/
Commander. it Can aChieve a speed of up to 6 knots and Can
stay under for just about 3 hours. evidently the prototype ship
unfortunately killed off its test CreW during a praCtiCe run
When the ship Was mired in mud 60 feet underWater, but the
seCond ship has enjoyed more suCCess. in faCt, the sinking of the
proteCtorate galley WhiTe fisT in the month of solesh in 603
ar is attributed to the iNTruder. a sailor Who Claims to have
been on board attests that they rammed the spar torpedo into
the Wooden hull of the galley, baCked aWay, and ignited the
Charge by an attaChed lanyard. the WhiTe fisT and her CreW of
80 men Were sent to the bottom of the broken Coast Within
minutes. proteCtorate ambassadors refute the man’s Claim,
attributing the sinking to a navigational mishap.
Pirates & Privateers
Sea robbers are a very real threat whenever anyone
embarks upon the waves of western Immoren. Each
year, scores of ships filled with sailors and valuable
cargos are seized, pillaged, and either appropriated,
ruined and set adrift, or sunk by pirates. It is a problem
that is not about to disappear. Not only do piarate
raiders pose a threat to ships but also to any poorly
guarded communities with sea access. One of the most
notorious incidents was the sacking and destruction of
Larkholm some centuries ago by Cryxian pirates.
There was a lad about your age on a wreck that got commandeered back in ’81
by the Tordoran pirate Saym Murago—a real churl, that one. They left most of the
crew for dead, but not the little master. Murago took the boy on board and he sailed
under his flag for, oh what was it, damn near six years. The whole time ‘twas not
but loot and pillage, pillage and loot, and by the end that young lad captained his
own galley and he called her the Palaxis. Ah, how I miss those days…
—Halford Bray, captain of the steamship Palaxis
the hurstWallen report
in the month of goloven, 605 ar, sCout general bolden
rebald presented the hurstWallen report to the Cygnaran
royal assembly. his report presented a detailed aCCount and
in-depth analysis of a rash of seemingly senseless Cryxian raids
along Cygnar’s Coastline. studying patterns of strikes going
baCk nearly tWo Centuries, rebald had draWn the unnerving
ConClusion that the raids against Cygnaran ports and
Coastal toWns Were not isolated events, but Were instead a
CalCulated offensive Campaign orChestrated by the forCes of
toruk the dragonfather. the hurstWallen report suggests