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

234 Iron Kingdoms
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constant harassment by the opportunistic bogrin make
Old Korska a very dangerous place. Even so, scholars
and thrillseekers still come to explore and perhaps find
proof of the legendary old witch of Khador.
Uld Vroggen: Once a large village, Uld Vroggen
was shattered and rebuilt as the capital of the Orgoth
Empire. Countless slaves were brought to Uld Vroggen
and sacrificed to dark gods, and the very lands
blackened from generations of evil seeping into the
environs. With the Orgoth defeat, Uld Vroggen was
devastated by the Scourge. Orgoth blades and magic
slew every man, woman, and child in the city. So
many corpses rotted in Uld Vroggen that the cloud
of carrion flies above the city blackened the sun. The
site remains a dangerous ruin. Inhabitants of New
Vroggen claim it is haunted by fell creatures—many
of these tales are spread by Greylord agents who have
a vested interest in the ruins and their many Orgoth
artifacts and scripture.
Khadoran Wilds
Blackroot: North of the forbidden Shadoweald is
the Blackroot Wood, a highly harvested and traveled
stretch of prolific conifer trees rooted deeply in black,
fertile soil—hence the name. The woods have been
generally domesticated for lumber teams to come and
go as they please, and some farming communities have
sent wagons to bring back heaps of the fertile soil for
crop use. Occasional difficulties have mainly to do with
uncovering nests of ill-tempered burrow-mawgs.
Kovosk Hills: Many old estates of the ancient
horselords, several of them long forgotten, lie nestled
in the nooks and crannies of these rocky hills. On their
eastern edge, the largest of the inhabited estates is
Tzepesci Manse overlooking the lands of old Umbrey
as it has for centuries. The hills are also home to small
lurking tribes of barbarians and thousands of bogrin.
The hills themselves contain vast amounts of copper
and iron ore, but the resistance of Great Prince
Tzepesci and his people has kept most mining efforts
out of the Kovosks.
Malgur Forest: As the main source of game and
lumber to the city of Skirov, the Malgur Forest is
traveled primarily by loggers and hunters from the
city and its outskirts. Malgur has many undiscovered
groves and hidden villages still devoted to the
Devourer Wurm. The forest also shelters several wolf
packs that are somtimes heard baying during the night
from as far away as the walls of Skirov. In the past
few years, Devourer cultists in the forest have begun
waylaying groups of travelers—even attacking clergy of
all faiths—which causes growing concern in the city.
Nyschatha Mountains: Cold and bitter, the
lofty Nyschatha Mountains contain several Nyss
strongholds, although sharp drop offs and deep
chasms kill more explorers than winter elf arrows.
A large number of winter trolls also lurk in the
mountainside caverns and near freshwater springs,
always ready to make meals out of anything foolish
enough to venture near. Every year or so, emissaries
travel from Tverkutsk to make contact with the Nyss,
but none of them ever return.
Scarsfell Forest: Men harvested the Scarsfell for
its thick, strong oak trees, many of them wider than
a steamjack’s arm span. The forest has provided
lumber for several generations, and most of it remains
unexplored due to the high number of predatory
animals in its depths. Trolls, bears, great mountain
cats, and even deadly spinerippers appear frequently.
Every logging season two or three logging operations,
along with their armed escorts, simply disappear in
the Scarsfell. Some historians claim that the forest is
a draconic burial point and that dragonblight is what
makes the animals there so hostile.
Shadoweald: About ten miles north of Port Vladovar,
the fringes of the woods called the Shadoweald begin.
Deep in the woods exists an ancient Blackclad meeting
circle where the order has dwelled for centuries.
Trained argus wolves and mystically-influenced widow
bears constantly harass the locals, but fatalities remain
uncommon—the druids simply wish to spread fear, not
death. Blackclads are not tolerated by local Menites
and would have already been forcibly removed from
the Shadoweald were it not for the presence of their
powerful woldwardens.
Scharde Spires: The Schardes Spires are the
ancestral home of the winter elves called Nyss and, like
them, it is mostly unknown. Dangerous and deadly for
the unprepared, the jagged snow-capped Schardes
suffer avalanches and flash freezing storms regularly.
Entire caravans have vanished overnight under a
single storm’s snowfall, and whole mountainside