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

212 Iron Kingdoms
108.1.141.197
Khardov
In Power: Posadnik Korab Tishnikov
Population: 410,000 (human, mostly Khard and
Skirov), 5,000 mixed bogrin and gobbers, 3,000
trollkin
Military: Khardov has a large garrison of Winter
Guard supported by dozens of warjacks. The local
kayazy maintain a private police force of 500 called
olcheniy. Companies of Winter Guard troops are on
the move by rail through Khardov at almost any given
time.
Imports: Gears, labor, sugar
Exports: Coal, grain, machinery, uncovered
relics, vyatka
Since the days of prehistory this city has stood stout
and proud against the onslaught of the ages. What
began as a trading community called Molga during
the Thousand Cities Era grew into the great city of
Khardov, renamed after the mythical King Khardovic
whose descendants came and conquered the town in
his honor around 1670 BR. Through the blood of
generations and on the backs of countless men and
women, Khardov became the capitol of the Khardic
Empire and remained for nearly a millennia.
When the Orgoth came and conquered, they
demolished much of Khardov’s original structures and
replaced them with sturdy black Orgoth architecture
boasting enormous spike-lined walls to protect the
city as well as discourage escape. They discovered
heavy deposits of coal and raw iron beneath the city
itself and the surrounding hills, which the conquerors
immediately began to mine. Hundreds of thousands
of slaves bent under the lash to dig out the precious
materials. Whenever a mine collapsed—sometimes
burying hundreds of laborers—the Orgoth would
bless the site with a handful of sacrifices and move on.
When the Orgoth were eventually driven out, Khardov
was not spared the Scourge. Its people suffered
the Orgoth wrath in the form of a powerful arcane
explosion that sealed nearly half of the mines—with
slaves, masters, and assorted other inhabitants inside.
After the Orgoth were gone, Khardov’s ruling
nobility decided to continue mining. It proved a very wise
choice that made Khardov an economic powerhouse in
the newly forming Iron Kingdoms. Rather than recreate
a new workforce, the aristocracy chose to set their
serfs, peasants, and criminals to the task of getting the
mines back into working order. Later, the poor and
dispossessed replaced the serfs, and kayazy industrials
replaced the nobility.
Shrouded beneath a miasma of choking fog
billowing from hundreds of forges and refineries,
Khardov is a dark and oppressive city. Dominating
the city’s skyline, a grand keep stands constructed of
the same black stone as the walls and is sealed with
imposing iron doors. Dark rumors claim the building
contains chambers not opened since the Scourge, and
travelers on the streets late at night sometimes claim
to hear echoing screams reverberating from the dark
rock.
With the advent of modern industry, Khardov’s
convenient geographical location transformed it into a
perfect hub for cross-Khadoran trade once more. The
Iron Highway now runs straight through its center,
complete with a massive rail yard, and the tracks in
and out of the city are garrisoned by Winter Guard.
After the rail line was finished, factories, textile mills,
and vyatka distilleries sprang up everywhere. In the
span of a few years, Khardov transformed from merely
an oppressive mining community to an overcrowded,
smoke-shrouded industrial city.
Smoke fouls the air; soot coats every surface. At
all hours of the day and night, workers move through
the foggy streets to and from Khardov’s factories. The
incessant noise of machinery has become the only
lullaby known to the urchins roaming the streets. Too
young to work in a factory with their parents, these
little miscreants are left to their own devices until the
age of eight when they can begin working the mines.
In addition to Khardov’s military garrison, the city
is patrolled by the olcheniy, a private kayazy-financed
police force. They olcheniy break up strikes, quell
food riots, and generally protect the interests of
their employers. They roam the mines and industrial
districts in small units enforcing order at the end of
a truncheon—though they are far more interested
with protecting the interests of their employers than
actually enforcing the law.
khardov’s toxic fogs
the constant purging of khardov’s mine exhausts, forge and