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

186 Iron Kingdoms
108.1.141.197
Locales of Point Bourne
Bourne Locks: Serving as the very bones of the
city, the locks form a marvel of Cygnaran engineering.
The mechanisms that operate the cyclopean gates of
the locks are all fairly simple in design. Steam engines
provide power for the gears that open and close the
gates and the water is allowed to flow from lock-tolock
by gravity alone. Steam-powered water pumps
are connected to the locks in case of emergency, but
these are no more complex than the first Rothbal
pumps made to drain water out of mines. What
makes the locks impressive is not the complexity of
the mechanisms but their sheer size. One section of
gate can measure a hundred or more yards long and
several yards thick. Made of dense oak and wrought
iron plating, just one panel weighs several thousand
tons. The cogs on the axles of the gates are so large
that if one were turned upright, a heavy steamjack
could stand between the teeth of the gear and not be
able to reach the tips. The upper edges of the gates are
paved with cobbles and used as streets while the gate is
closed and the lock is cycling. Numerous walkways and
bridges span the locks, and stairs and ramps connect
the various terraces around the different levels of the
locks.
Bourne Rail Station: The rail line between
Point Bourne and Bainsmarket is not yet complete,
but the Bourne Rail Station has already been built
by Steelwater Rail and is currently being used as
temporary housing for railroad workers out of Orven.
Work crews from Caspian Rail have been advancing
steadily westward from Bainsmarket, but progress
through the Dragonspine Peaks has been measured
in yards per day rather than the miles per day that can
be achieved over level open ground. In an attempt
to hasten the line’s completion, Mayor Millward has
arranged for work crews from Steelwater Rail to come
down the Banwick River and extend a rail line east to
meet the Caspian Rail crew halfway. Both crews are
working hard to outdo each other, which is increasing
production even more than simply doubling the
number of workers. Of course, the drawback is that the
Steelwater Rail workers often cause trouble when they
return to the station at Point Bourne to spend their
pay and blow off steam. The building itself is plain
brick and iron, but there are plans to finish the faces
of the building with carved marble slabs when the line
is completed and the station officially opens.
Ramarck
In Power: Countess Richemaya Barkentin,
subordinate to Duke Brandel Foxbridge, the Earl of
Westinmarsh
Population: 35,000 humans (mostly Caspains and
Thurians), 7,000 gobbers, and a couple hundred
trollkin
Military: Ramarck has a garrison of several hundred
soldiers supplemented by nearly three hundred local
watchmen and a handful of rangers with experience
traveling the bayous and mangrove forests of the
surrounding countryside.
Imports: Manufactured goods, textiles
Exports: Coal, oil, sugar, wheat, wood
Ramarck is a port city on the western coast of
Cygnar nestled miles within a forest of mangrove
and bald cypress that reaches to the ocean. Though
situated within the marshes known as the Marck
(hence one of its nicknames as the City-on-the-Marck),
it is nonetheless a beehive of activity. Because it is so
far below sea level, Ramarck is also sometimes called
the City of Stilts. Its buildings are built upon a series
of metal and wooden stilts that suspend them above
the murky waters of the swamp. Steamboats carry
goods to and from the city on a daily basis. The bayous
surrounding Ramarck are rich in coal, oil, and rare
woods, and the marshy ground makes a rich seedbed
for sugar and wheat. These products are shipped to
many other locales including Westwatch and New
Larkholm, both of which maintain steady trade
relations with the city.
Ramarck has a haunted reputation partly due to
its age and partly to its environment—the city has
existed in the misty shade of the bayou since before
the Orgoth invasion. Likewise the humid, misty
environment and the hanging moss that covers the city
lend a decrepit air that does little to discourage dark
rumors about the place. The bayous and waterways are
home to creatures such as giant turtles and serpents as
well as swamp shamblers and many other dangerous
things. In addition, mysterious humans called Arjun,
or “swampies,” have lived in the bayous for untold
generations. Until recently they had only occasional
contact with Ramarck and are reputed to be witches
and cannibals. True or not, the Arjun do make