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

108.1.141.197
basins at the base of the Dragonspine. This has created
a minor gold rush that in turn stirred up farrow and
other unpleasant creatures in the mountains.
A merchant-dominated city council ruled the
city until recently, and its members sat upon the
board of the Bainsmarket Agricultural Consortium.
However, incessant bickering led to the imposition
of aristocratic rule roughly three years ago. The
Cygnaran Royal Assembly has been concerned for
some time that Bainsmarket’s markets and farms
have slowed down their production and thereby have
endangered Cygnar’s military preparedness. Because
of the high esteem the merchants of the city have
for King Leto, they have done their best to support
his decisions. However the current leader Viscount
Blackwood has made few friends among them and has
caused occasional bouts of unrest.
The military presence in the city has been
augmented in recent months due to the hostilities
in the region and the importance of Bainsmarket’s
beleaguered production facilities. Drought and war
have taken their toll on Cygnar, making this city
even more essential for the continued survival of the
monarchy. It seems that the kingdom’s enemies in
Cryx are well aware of this and have been targeting
food stores, attacking farms, killing livestock, defiling
harvests, and burning silos to the ground. Cygnaran
patrols have been stepped up in the outlands of
Bainsmarket because of such atrocities, but they are
sorely taxed. Indeed, adventurers and mercenary
bands may find employment around Bainsmarket as
scouts, escorts, and conveyers of information.
It is notable as well that the city lies at the end of
the Market Line that bears its name, and in the past
few years more rail has been extended toward Point
Bourne and subsequently the Dragon’s Tongue River.
This extension was due for completion in 608 AR, but
the outbreak of war has made the dukes of the Western
and Northern Midlunds duchies lean heavily on the
rail-workers to finish the line more quickly. Workers
and guards for work crews are certainly in need.
Noted Persons
Viscount Wolfe Blackwood (male Midlunder
Ari4/Ftr6): Alderman Blackwood is the overseer of
Bainsmarket—a position granted him by order of the
king with the support of Wolfe’s ally at court, Duke
Kielon Ebonhart IV. The council that had ruled the
city was deemed to have undermined its defensibility,
so governance by a solitary alderman was introduced.
Blackwood relishes his position and looks down on the
merchants who are the city’s economic engine as petty
“moneygrubbers.” He maintains close links to the
military elite of Bainsmarket and relies heavily on their
influence to smooth over relations with the citizenry.
Blackwood is not well liked, but his talent as a capable
administrator earned him his current position.
Colonel Elspeth Scarrow (female Midlunder Ftr11):
Colonel Scarrow recently came out of retirement to
assume an officer’s role with the increase of military
forces in Bainsmarket due to the onset of war. She is
the acting liaison with nearby Stonebridge Castle as
well as a chairperson on the board of the Bainsmarket
Agricultural Consortium. Elspeth is a muscular, middleaged
woman with close-cut, dirty blonde hair and a
ragged scar on the side of her face. She is a cunning
warrior and a superb strategist with the ability to
navigate the treacherous terrain of both battle and
aristocratic politics. Scarrow has no love for Viscount
Blackwood, but she strongly believes in the chain of
command. More than once she has saved the viscount’s
position by creatively re-interpreting his orders.
Locales of Bainsmarket
Cathedral of Ascendant Markus: Bainsmarket has
two ordinary Morrowan churches, but it is also home
to Bainsmarket’s Cathedral of Markus, an impressive
circular structure with a central tower encompassed
by a few smaller buildings in its precinct. The nave,
from which the vicar holds service, has an impressive
support pillar that extends high into the ribbed vault
ceiling and all is encompassed by rows of sturdy
benches in a ring. The cathedral itself is the seat of the
Vicar Gadsden Forsythe (male Midlunder Clr10/Ftr2),
one of the most influential clerics in the northern
Church. The vicar has somewhat of a vain and haughty
reputation and is reputed to spend vast sums on his
impressive vestments, but he is also considered a man
of deep faith and devotion. In his youth he was a
common soldier and became a cleric only after what
he describes as the intervention of Asc. Markus saved
his life on the battlefield.
Market Square: At the center of the city, both
literally and metaphorically, is Market Square. It is a
large, open-air bazaar at which almost any imaginable
World Guide 153