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

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nationalism and pride. The nation’s capital of Korsk
is every bit as impressive as any southern city with
its great factories, schools of higher learning, and
cathedrals.
The Khadoran people see their current queen, Ayn
Vanar XI, as the personification of their nation and
call her the Pervichyi Rodinovna, the “Prime Daughter”
of the Motherland. Her recent conquest of Llael has
begun the fulfillment of the ambitions of generations
of her line, but her success has only emboldened Ayn.
She has ordered the creation of a new and formidable
army with a single goal—the complete restoration of
the Khardic empire. More than imperialism, more
than nation-building, for Ayn the coming war is the
expression of a manifest destiny for her and her
people. The Khardic people by right should rule the
Iron Kingdoms, and she shall see this achieved by any
means necessary.
khador facts
RuleR: Queen ayn vanar xi
GoveRnment type: monarchy
Capital: korsk
ethniC GRoups & appRox. population: khard (3,090,000),
skirov (1,518,000), kossite (930,000), umBrean (300,000),
goBBer (175,000), Bogrin (140,000), tordoran (90,000),
ogrun (75,000), rhulfolk (40,000), midlunder (30,000),
trollkin (25,000), thurian (15,000), morridane (10,000),
ryn (10,000), nyss (9,500), scharde (7,000), iosan (2,000),
caspian (2,000), idrian (1,000)
lanGuaGes: khadoran (primary), cygnaran
Climate: ranges from steppes in the south to humid
continental in much of central khador; suBarctic Beyond
the nyschatha mountain range to tundra in the polar north;
Winters vary from cool along the southern coast to frigid
in the north; summers vary from Warm in the steppes to cold
in the north With freQuent thunderstorms throughout the
spring and late autumn
teRRain: Broad plain With loW hills south of the Bitterock
river; vast coniferous forest and tundra in the north;
uplands and mountains along the northern and Western
Border regions; temperate coniferous and deciduous
Woodlands and moors in the south and around the shield
lakes
natuRal ResouRCes: major deposits of oil, natural gas, coal,
silver, iron ore, many strategic minerals, timBer, araBle land
(south). note: the formidaBle oBstacles posed By climate,
terrain, and distance hinder exploitation of a great deal of
khador’s natural resources.
Queen Ayn Vanar XI
Queen Ayn Vanar (female Khard Ftr7/Ari3):
The youngest sovereign among the current rulers of
western Immoren, Queen Ayn Vanar XI has earned
a reputation as one of the most aggressive monarchs
on Khador’s throne for nearly a century. As a princess,
she fell in with a group of imperialists in the capital,
all remnants of noble fellowships who believe in the
divine right of Khador to rule all of western Immoren.
She also sat at the knee of her grandfather-figure, the
Lord Regent Simonyev Blaustavya, while he told her
of her deceased grandfather’s dream of a renewed
empire—the “legacy of the Vanars,” he called it.
The present royal line of Khador, the Vanars,
descends from a strong dynasty with roots in the
Khardic Empire. They pride themselves on military
service, and Ayn enjoys reviewing Khador’s armies in
person. This way she ensures they are always equipped
and ready for battle. She considers the modernization
of Khador essential to long-term success and pushes
the weapon foundries and the Greylords Covenant to
labor night and day. Ayn handpicked Kommandant
Gurvaldt Irusk from among her advisory board—
called the High Kommand—and tasked him with
modernizing Khador’s military. By royal decree, Irusk
gained the authority to make any changes he saw fit,
and the results have been extraordinary. Perhaps his
greatest policy success lay in securing the required
coin to extend Khador’s rail lines, thus improving
Khador’s ability to mobilize swiftly.
Another of the queen’s shrewd maneuvers was
her treatment of Khador’s Menites. Traditionally,
her ancestors had largely ignored the prodigious
Menite community. The queen, herself a Morrowan,
instituted a radical plan to appease the minority faith
and reduce religious tension. She reinstated several
abandoned traditions in her personal chapel, offered
substantial tithes to the local Temple, and restored the
ancient litanies of praise to the Shaper of Man. These
acts caused considerable controversy and worried the
local Vicarate Council, but such formal recognition
immediately gained her unprecedented approval with
the Old Faith. She was the first monarch in centuries
to attempt to bridge the divide between the two faiths,
and the effect was especially strong with a number
of significant noble Menite families. As a result of
more correlation with these nobles and their agents,
World Guide 201