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

108.1.141.197
Stolen technology is indeed a Cryxian tradition.
When the Orgoth were cast out of Drer Drakkerung
by Toruk’s hordes, Cryxian warwitches and blackships
soon began appearing in the Nightmare Empire based
perfectly on the sorcerous designs of the erstwhile
invaders. Of all the blackships, few are more infamous
than the funereal galleon called the Atramentous,
bathed in Toruk’s flames and manned by the ghastly
undead Revenants.
the AtrAmentous
the sCharde invasions (584–588 ar) are notated as suCh
LargeLy beCause oF the presenCe oF so Many bLaCkships and
their reaver Crews piLLaging the shores oF the MainLand
during these years. the vesseLs were Feared beyond reason,
but aMong theM the AtrAmentous was singuLarLy notorious;
the sea boiLed in its wake and it was responsibLe For the
destruCtion oF Many a seaside viLLage.
Cryxian aggression seeMed to CaLM For soMe tiMe aFter the
sCharde invasions with onLy an oCCasionaL sighting or
happenstanCe throughout the 590s and earLy 600s. in reCent
years More aCCounts oF the dreaded AtrAmentous and other
bLaCkships invading CoMMunities up and down the CoastLine—
espeCiaLLy in Cygnar—have been reported every Few weeks by
FLustered, wiLd-eyed survivors.
Notable Cities
Blackwater
In Power: Lord Craethan Morvaen
Population: 140,000 human (primarily Scharde),
27,000 bogrin, 20,000 trollkin, 8000 Black Ogrun,
2,500 ogrun, 1500 Satyxis, and 500 gobbers. Tens of
thousands more live in the vast ghetto surrounding
the city.
Military: Blackwater has no official garrison or city
watch. Security is provided to those who can afford it
by the numerous mercenary companies that operate
throughout Blackwater. Powerful gangs regularly
patrol their own territories.
Imports: Foodstuffs, plundered goods
Exports: Black market goods, illicit alchemicals
and intoxicants, manufactured goods
The eastern shore of Cryx is cloven by an ominous
fjord with steep cliffs plunging nearly a thousand feet
to the black, lightless water. The bogrin and trollkin
who dwell here say this is where the Devourer Wurm
clamped his jaws to hold Dhunia down as he sired them.
The city of Blackwater nestles on a narrow crescent of
shoreline under the looming black walls of the fjord
and oozes like a fungal growth of brick and rotted
wood over the water where half of the city’s buildings
float on pontoons or perch on stilts. Less than an hour
each day does the light of the sun permeate the fallen,
moss-covered trees over the fjord to touch the city in
the shadows, and rarely is the sky clear of clouds. It is
truly a dark place in both appearance and deed.
Before Toruk’s arrival, Blackwater was a port town
ruled by the legendary Pirate Kings of old, and this
teeming morass of wickedness and depravity has ever
been a source of perverse pride for Cryx. Many vessels
move through the city, flooding it with the plundered
wealth of western Immoren. Over the past centuries
Blackwater’s population has swollen tenfold, and
the city has far exceeded its natural boundaries. To
accommodate this overspill great slums have risen on
the outskirts of the city where the inhabitants live in
squalor and succumb to disease or the predations of
their ill-intentioned neighbors.
Blackwater is a town full of dangers both overt and
hidden. Danger stalks its streets and large sections of
the city are controlled by ruthless gangs of cutthroats
that regularly prey on anyone wandering into their
domain. Gangs, clans, and individuals with the
strength to control their territory or business concerns
dominate life in Blackwater. Pirate captains pay coin to
saloon owners for unwitting, often unconscious, bodies
to press into service while necrotechs prowl the ghetto
in search of ”candidates” for their experiments.
In addition to plundered goods, Blackwater’s flesh
trade attracts all manner of carrion vessels travelling
there to sell putrid wares to the city’s necrotechs.
These slaughter ships gather their dismal cargo in
raids on coastal towns throughout the mainland, and
although a slave trade exists in concert with the meat
markets, most of the flesh exchanged in Blackwater is
dead. Beneath the city, manic necrosurgeons ply their
trade assembling fresh abominations in bloody, chopshop
laboratories.
The city is run by Craethan Morvaen, a powerful
pirate king who claimed the city in a bloody uprising
eight years ago. While not an official representative of
World Guide 319