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

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laborer, dockhand, and shrewd passenger-in-the-know
into a makeshift watchman. It allows the kommander
to breathe easier most days. Still it can create a
nuisance especially when a deceptive laborer attempts
to collect the coins through trickery which usually
involves trying to dupe some naïve twits.
Porsk
In Power: Prince Neplakh Vanar
Population: 40,000 (human, mostly Khard and
Skirov)
Military: Porsk maintains a moderate Winter
Guard garrison.
Imports: Iron, tar
Exports: Fish, flax, fur, hay, hops, livestock
Porsk was likely the largest assembly of Skirov
people in western Immoren at one time, but it was
largely demolished by the horselords during the
expansion of the Khardic Empire. Once conquered the
settlement was rebuilt but then razed again during the
Orgoth invasion. Generations later, Khadorans rebuilt
Porsk and it stands as a witness to Khadoran tenacity.
In truth Porsk is a shadow of its former glory. Today it
is primarily run by kayazy under the stern gaze of her
majesty’s first cousin, Neplakh Vanar the “Iron Prince.”
Porsk’s local population grows hay, flax, and hops,
raises livestock, hunts and traps for fur, fishes, and
engages in a wide variety of crafts and commerce to
pay the heavy volozkya upkeep taxes imposed due to
the length of the Skirov railway. The city would have
more influence over Khadoran politics if its merchants
were not embroiled in their own petty conflicts over
control of the Bitterock which creates an even greater
demand for the railway’s constant use. Though the city
still maintains a stranglehold on the Bitterock River
via the Porsk Canal—a series of locks through which
all river traffic must pass—recently some of the kayazy
have acquired water towers along the Korsk-Skirov
line and focused their squabbles on rail trade. This
has produced even more strife between Porsk and
nearby Skirov—a profitable venture for Prince Vanar
who stands only to gain if the two largest cities’ in his
volozk quarrel financially.
Porsk certainly has a rural feel. The city itself is a
farming community with a large number of hunting
and furrier guilds supplementing the local trade.
Marketplace barter is common as is seasonal crop
layering. The sprawling Vanar fortress is a former dron,
or hill fort, that has overgrown its hill. Prince Neplakh
stays there when not in Korsk or while tending to
industrial endeavors in Skirov, and the fortress
bookends the town with the titanic Prushkin Citadel.
Both buildings tower above any other structure in the
city, and their towers and enormous flags can be seen
from the surrounding fields in every direction.
Noted Persons
Prince Neplakh Vanar (male Khard Ari11): Raised
in the same style of household as his first cousin
Queen Ayn XI, Neplakh has made every effort to
become as powerful as his sovereign relative would
one day be—though he was informed early he would
not be king. He turned his eye to the family coffers
determined to gain at least as much wealth as Ayn but
without the weight of the crown. Using his family’s
powerful political influence, he managed to wrest
the Skirovnya volozk away from its longstanding
hereditary rulers, the family Denyana, and he quickly
began blackmailing and bribing kayazy into granting
him control of the railway industry in Skirov. The first
true rail baron of Khador, he is called the Iron Prince
for many reasons, least of which are his ambitious
pride and malicious business methods. Some other
persons in power secretly worry if he should ever feel
the need to rule all of the Motherland. Doubtless,
Queen Ayn keeps a careful eye on her wealthy and
powerful cousin.
Locales of Porsk
Domes of Providence: Easily recognizable by
its five silver domes, this church is located on the
northern side of town. Carved effigies of Shevann
crown each of the domes, and they are rumored to
be worth a small fortune. A number of the ranking
clergy have lately relocated to Korsk in order to renew
Katrinksa Cathedral, leaving the Domes of Providence
severely understaffed.
Prushkin Citadel: Porsk’s citadel sits in the center
of town surrounded by uneven towers and battlements
with earthen ramps shoring up its walls. As history
tells, Prushkin has always been part of Porsk one way or
another, rebuilt and redrafted each time the city was
razed. The latest renovation took place only fifteen
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