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

108.1.141.197
Caspian Rail disputes, the earl has been charged
with keeping the peace between the companies, and
he has managed to keep a trickle of goods flowing
by brokering solutions to countless disagreements
over the past decade. Sadly, the earl is getting on in
years and his physical and mental faculties are fading.
Mutterings hint that he is starting to lose his grip on
the complexities of Steelwater Flats, and his son, the
Marquis Rathbold Halstead (male Caspian Ari4/
Rog4), is viewed as an incompetent rake who despises
anything to do with governing the city. He would much
rather indulge in women, wine, and gambling. Hence,
industrial interests are already imploring the earl’s
backing of “suitable candidates” to make a change in
mayorship.
Locales of Steelwater Flats
Steelwater Central Station: The southern station
owned by Caspian Rail is a towering edifice teeming
with travelers, traders, and service staff. Taverns and
inns throng around it, and there is always bustle.
This strategic investment has earned the company
a fortune; the only problem is that skiggs and an
occasional thrullg always seem to find their way into
the rail yards.
Steelwater Armory: This smithy in the middle
of town has become a full-time gunwerks supplying
quality rifles, pistols, and ammunition to local military
personnel. They often sell their lesser-quality items to
private buyers and will work to commission.
Steelwater Shantytown: Many workers live fulltime
in the districts of Steelwater, but a shantytown
of migrant workers, trollkin, and gobbers has sprung
up along the lakeside to the southwest in the past
generation. Although the construction work that
originally attracted the inhabitants has somewhat dried
up, this multicultural and rather lawless shantytown
remains. There has been recent effort by local trollkin
to improve buildings and conditions here—a truly
heroic task in more than one sense.
Steelwater Flats rail yards: There are many yards
scattered around the city, most owned by Steelwater
Rail. They are strange places full of carriages and the
occasional rusted engine but largely empty of people.
A mixture of gobber scavengers, gangs, and outlaws
however can sometimes be found prowling around
the yards at night attempting to find something
useful to carry off while avoiding being caught by the
railwardens.
Wyrmwall Tunnel: The coup de grace that secured
the fortunes of Steelwater Rail was a risky venture.
A fortune went to the local chapter of the Steam &
Iron Workers Union to undertake one of the most
impressive feats of engineering in all the kingdoms:
digging 60 miles of tunnels through the mountains
to Ironhead Station. The rail line to Ironhead Station
runs for 60 miles through the mountains with only 10
of those miles above ground. The rails penetrate the
mountain through a series of six tunnels the longest
of which is 15 miles long. The tunnels are 20 feet in
diameter with 12 inch by 15 inch support beams and
posts placed as buttressing arches spaced from 5 feet to
100 feet apart depending on the material forming the
tunnel at that point. At intervals of 50 to 75 feet there
are large niches in the sides of the tunnel big enough
for a group of men or a steamjack to take shelter from
a passing train and at intervals of 2 to 4 miles there are
side passages leading to small rooms, ostensibly for the
future storage of supplies for the engines.
Places of Interest
Demonhead Pass: Named after the peculiar natural
stone archway formed by wind erosion above the Twelve
Day Road between Orven and Ceryl, Demonhead Pass
is a giant arch that looks like a monstrous, brooding
visage. It marks one end of the mountainous leg of
the Twelve Day Road taking travelers through the
valleys of the eastern Watcher Peaks. This region is
the subject of much local superstition and legend that
tells of malevolent spirits that watch the road, jealous
of those who pass. It is said that the jingling of bells
and chimes keeps these spirits at bay and the pass
echoes with the soft tinkling sounds with each caravan
that passes—even the most rational travelers find little
harm in buying a cheap bell or two as a souvenir from
one of the villages on the Twelve Day Road.
Divinium: In the Wyrmwall mountains northwest
of Clockers Cove, where the headwaters of the
Murkham River still run fresh and clear from the
snowy peaks above, lies the oldest known structure of
the Morrowan faith: the Holy Place of Virtue, the First
Church, the Divinium. A pious monk named Nolland
Orellius established the Divinium as a monastery in
World Guide 189