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

232 Iron Kingdoms
108.1.141.197
research in “dragonomy” but keeps a journal filled
with dozens of factual leads.
Locales of Uldenfrost
Bolovric Hall: The summer lodge of the Great
Prince of Vardenska, Bolovric Hall is made from sturdy
lumber and has heavy iron doors dominating its face.
It is adorned on the outside with a huge family crest of
the Bolovric—an arrow through the disembodied paw
of a bear. Inside it boasts expensive woolen tapestries
of the family’s fabled hunting exploits, some of which
date back to the Khardic Empire. Legends say the first
Bolovric, Ivan, bested a Nyss chieftain in an archery
contest to win these lands from the winter elves. Ivan’s
hunting bow still hangs above the far end of the hall—
a priceless treasure not strung for over five centuries.
Czavyana Trading Post: Primarily a league of free
traders, the Czavyana Trading Company has begun
to position itself as the primary supplier of furs to
Khador and the south. This office is run by a shrewd
yet unhappy manager, Ryon Baras (male Khard Exp4),
who openly hates his position and most of the people
associated with it but knows he cannot support his
current lifestyle without his generous salary. The
company brings in trappers and traders from elsewhere
on seven-year contracts to work in Uldenfrost and
recruits local woodsmen as well. At the end of their
contracts employees are sent by first available transport
to any location in Khador or allowed to remain in
Uldenfrost as a free agent if they so choose.
Volningrad
In Power: Kommandant Karl Szvette, Count Marshal
Population: 145,000 (human, mostly Khard with
some mixed Skirov, Kossite, and Umbrean)
Military: Volningrad houses a vast number of
military personal supported by a large contingent
of warjacks. In addition to the city’s large garrison,
thousands of recruits are stationed here for training.
Imports: Grain, livestock, raw materials for military
and blacksmith goods, textiles
Exports: Iron and steel goods, military mechanika
Volningrad has grown steadily from its origins as
a fishing village into a city dedicated to the training,
growth, and upkeep of the Khadoran war effort. The
sounds of cadence, marksmanship training, and the
metal clang of melee training are heard throughout
the city. Volningrad is a large expanse of barracks-style
housing stacked one upon another with rows and
rows of buildings filled with small apartments and
humble quarters for the tens of thousands of revolving
inhabitants. The streets are wide to accommodate
regimental soldiers marching out their cadences, and
the city contains a number of elite military schools that
train career units for the royal army. A good number of
alchemists and mechanics also work here to supply the
schools with materials.
Unlike Korsk or Khardov, the city has no walls. The
sheer number of soldiers within Volningrad means
that walling them in during a military crisis would
be counterproductive, and only a fool would attack
such a city anyway. The buildings are often simple
and worn, but the city itself is quite clean; after all, the
kommandant has dozens of discipline cases every day
to which he assigns such menial tasks as city upkeep.
Soldiers and citizens alike—there is little
difference here—do a great deal of their non-military
work in one of the large steel mills or iron forges near
the Khadoran Mechaniks Assembly warjack foundry.
While cortexes are designed and created elsewhere
and shipped in by boat or caravan from Korsk, the final
touches are put together in Volningrad. The heavier
platework and final assembly of Khador’s mighty
warjacks is undertaken by hundreds of skilled Assembly
members, and there is never a lack of armored support
mechanika. The expensive and dangerous Man-O-War
steamsuits come from Volningrad as well.
Aside from the frontlines, no place in Khador
permits better observation of the Motherland’s
glorious armies. Man-O-War recruits train in an
enclosed courtyard at Gryutkov Square and drill
weekly in the city streets. Widowmakers have a
shooting range overlooking the lake and a staccato
of rifle reports is heard day and night—a great deal
of their training takes place at night to sharpen their
skills. The relatively recent additions of Winter Guard
mortar ranges have drawn small crowds of civilians to
watch the spectacular pyrotechnic displays. The only
real exception to this openness is the Brotherhood of
the Iron Fang. The fraternal Fangs train apart from
other troops in a secluded walled compound. Behind
these walls, new recruits endure a brutal training