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

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excellent guides if they can be convinced to assist
outsiders and if one has the wherewithal to endure
their strange language and behavior.
The isolated location of Ramarck and the difficulty
in reaching it with larger naval vessels makes it a
popular port for pirates and privateers who utilize
smaller, shallower drafting vessels and prefer to avoid
direct confrontations with the navy’s clippers. Much
to the chagrin of its more respectable, hard-working
inhabitants, Ramarck has become a fairly bustling
center of black market trade, and the local watch is
either too corrupt or too busy fending off dangers
from the swamp to do much about it.
Noted Persons
Lady Maya Arken (female Midlunder Ari8):
Baroness Arken is as formidable as she is rotund. A
daughter of one of Ramarck’s oldest families, Lady
Arken is the city’s mayor and claims her family has
held this area as their barony since the Thousand
Cities era. Duke Brandel Foxbridge (male Midlunder
Ari9/Ftr2) is the true lord of the region, but he has
shown little interest in the affairs of the city of Ramarck
and entrusts such matters to the baroness, only visiting
when absolutely necessary. Currently the lady’s
greatest concern is the increased presence of Cryxian
raiders on Cygnar’s coast due to sporadic attacks on
Ramarck and its surrounding area. The swamp makes
rapid strikes against the city difficult, but it also makes
it difficult for the city’s defenders to respond to attacks
on isolated farmsteads. The baroness has begun to
form agreements with Arjun communities to gain
expert guides and scouts to help defend her city. This
decision has led to more and more of these folk within
the city. It is a circumstance that has not met with
universal support from the citizens who are largely
suspicious of the “swampies.”
Locales of Ramarck
Market Square: The largest open space in the
city, Market Square is a large uneven platform of iron
girders and thick wooden beams surrounded and
supported by permanent shops, taverns, and inns.
Traveling merchants use the open space to sell their
wares from temporary stalls, and the shadier taverns
are the sites of many black market deals. Suspended
walkways and bridges lead to other parts of the city.
The largest three bridges, able to support mule-drawn
carts and wagons, lead to the docks surrounding the
market area where boats deliver and pick up cargo.
Old Clock: At the center of Market Square is the
so-called “Old” Clock, a forty-foot-tall clock tower built
thirty years ago. Although it was struck by lightning
and never repaired, it remains a thing of beauty and
still keeps accurate time. The only problem is that it
is missing a tooth on its hour cog and cannot advance
from 10 to 11 without the hand being advanced
manually at the start of the hour. This job is performed
by Kar Sandrun (male Thurian Exp5), an old sailor
who has long since given up a life at sea. He now lives
with his son and daughter-in-law but spends most of
his days up in the clock tower watching Market Square
and the surrounding neighborhoods like he once
watched vast Meredius from the crow’s nests of many
of His Majesty’s ships.
Raft Town: Ramarck is a city built on stilts, but it was
not always so. In earlier times, different arrangements
were used including tethered rafts. The buildings built
upon these rafts would periodically fill with water
when unusually strong tides rose higher than the
tethers would allow. Most of these floating buildings
were abandoned for more stable methods, but some
still endure. They form what is known as Raft Town, a
collection of old decaying raft houses and dilapidated
boats beneath the stilts of modern Ramarck. Many of
these structures house rogues and criminals—and the
occasional swamp monster. Efforts to eliminate Raft
Town have rarely met with any noticeable success.
Ramarck Church of Doleth: Overseen by High
Prelate Ganelon Senarpont (male Caspian Clr9), this
church plays a central role in Ramarck’s society. There
are other churches in Ramarck, but Father Senarpont
oversees the other priests in the area, and the Church
of Doleth is the center of most of Ramarck’s important
cultural events. Throughout the year numerous
festivals are held in the city, each one honoring Asc.
Doleth and asking his aid in ensuring Ramarck’s
continued prosperity.
Steelwater Flats
In Power: Earl Druce Halstead of Mansgrave, Lord
Mayor of Steelwater Flats
Population: 114,000 (human majority; several
thousand dwarves, minorities of trollkin, ogrun, and
gobbers)
World Guide 187