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

192 Iron Kingdoms
108.1.141.197
their way through Bloodsmeath between Fort Rhyker
and Deepwood Tower, and sometimes soldiers are
forever lost within the dark and twisted marshes.
Ditches, The: Shale valleys and sandy-bottomed
caverns twist and turn through the area called the
Ditches, a result of the centuries of strip mining and
careless excavation by Orgoth slavers. Limestone
blocks were cut from the ground and surrounding
mountains for centuries by thousands of slaves and the
landscape suffered terribly. After the Scourge when
the Orgoth were pushed out, Dhunian druids and
shamans arrived and wept at the scar left behind.
Gnarls, The: Especially along the Dragon’s Tongue
River, many parts of this forest are blanketed by ever
spreading climbing vines. The vines have overtaken
the vegetation—creating interesting shapes and “tree
sculptures”—and anything and everything that is fixed
for more than a few months including abandoned
buildings. The Gnarls also contain several secluded
trollkin and bogrin communities, so venturing too
deep can be a dangerous undertaking. For some
the temptation is too hard to resist however, for the
massive forest features fine game hunting and superior
lumber. Lumberjack camps dot the fringes along the
Dragon’s Tongue from which they ferry supplies and
raw materials to Five Fingers and Tarna or ship them
to upriver communities and towns such as Fisherbrook
and Point Bourne. The Gnarls are also rumored to
contain many vine-covered wonders awaiting discovery
such as hidden mines, abandoned settlements, and
cryptic Orgoth shrines and fortresses.
deep Within the gnarls
some trollkin Communities Within the gnarls emerge
oCCasionally to trade lumber—mostly rare Wood—and Wild
game to humans on the fringes in exChange for liquor and
teChniCal items suCh as steam boilers and firearms. they haVe
done so for generations, and humans haVe Come to VieW suCh
transaCtions as normal. as it happens, trollkin from remote
Communities haVe alWays been a bit Cagey, and those Who deal
With them assume it is simply in their nature. perhaps so, but
far more trollkin inhabit the gnarls—as Well as other
remote areas of Western immoren—than humans belieVe,
but Custom demands that only a seleCt feW eVer go into the
outside World of “menfolk.”
beCause trollkin do not haVe the knoW-hoW to make firearms
of their oWn, the Weapons they get from the outside World
are partiCularly prized. these arms giVe them a signifiCant
edge in the ongoing bloodshed betWeen them and the
numerous deVourer-Worshipping saVages With Whom they
haVe Come into ConfliCt oVer territorial boundaries. indeed,
history has shoWn that trollkin haVe little CompunCtion
about fighting for What they belieVe is theirs, and kriels
Within the gnarls, the thornWood, the shadoWeald, and the
VesChenegs—plaCes Where the raCe is most ConCentrated in
Western immoren—feel as if menfolk are onCe more inVading
their territory and pushing them further into the Wild areas.
at times like this When they are being pressed by outside
forCes, they reaCt Violently as eVidenCed by the trollkin
Wars (see Chapter one: history & timeline).
many humans Who interaCt these days With the grim-faCed
trollkin are beginning to realize these transaCtions in WhiCh
they exChange goods are tense matters, and the Way some of
them glare at the humans, eVen While aCCepting their goods,
make them quite uneasy. matters haVe been made Worse sinCe
the start of the War. large troop moVements and fighting
near or in trollkin territories haVe further strained
relations.
Sand Narrows: The Sand Narrows is an inland
beach three miles wide at its thickest point, and the
natural anomaly of the enormous sand bar has baffled
Cygnaran scholars for generations. Some claim it is
the site where Toruk slew one of his children; others
say it is the place where Menoth battled the Devourer
Wurm. Several artifacts have been recovered from the
area, but little information is actually known about the
mysterious Sand Narrows.
Thornwood Forest: A thick forest of drooping
willows, stout oaks, massive poplars, and a multitude
of fallen dead trees, the Thornwood contains the
infamous Warjack Road where dozens of destroyed
’jack carapaces from the Thornwood War remain
covered in brush or half-buried in the leaf-littered soil.
Within its depths countless skirmishes have been waged
between Khador, Cygnar, and Ord. Tharn, trollkin,
and all manner of monstrous beings have called the
Thornwood home for ages. In addition to the horrors
commonly associated with the Thornwood, Cryxian
incursions into the forest have become alarmingly
frequent. Cygnaran patrols return with tales of
encounters with undying thralls—or never return at
all. Cygnaran intelligence fears that Toruk’s legions
have established a base somewhere deep within the
forest’s tangled canopy.
Winds of War
War aCtiVities haVe enCroaChed upon remote areas normally
uninhabited by the likes of men, suCh as the thornWood and
the gnarls, and these loCales haVe unmistakably beCome