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

326 Iron Kingdoms
108.1.141.197
or two. Many centuries have passed since the pirate
king’s demise. Though many have speculated over the
generations, none can say for certain if anything yet
lies undiscovered beneath the rubble.
Dragonmoor: The bogs of Dragonmoor were once
the domain of Darkmoor and lorded over by the pirate
king called Threnodax who, like Moorcraig (see Castle
Moorcraig above), fell to Toruk when he refused to
bend the knee. Today humans, bogrin, and trollkin
sparsely inhabit the moors. Though some meager
villages exist along the coast, the area has terrible
farmland and is too boggy for lasting construction.
Most of these inhabitants are put to work fishing,
mining the hills, or left to breed like cattle. The mistwreathed
bogs are notorious for sheltering all manner
of monstrous life and form the favored hunting
ground of black trolls in the region.
Dragon’s Roost: Towering over the Dragonmoor,
this great black fortress is charged with the defense of
Cryx’s northern shore. Though most of the island is
sheltered from attack by the jagged Scharde Islands,
Dragon’s Roost was constructed at the most likely
point of attack from the mainland directly through
the Windwatcher’s Passage. Garrisoned by an army
of thralls and helljacks, the docks of the Roost are
also home to a small fleet of blackships. Many of the
major raids on the mainland are launched from the
Dragon’s Roost, and most of Cryx’s finest fighting
vessels consider it their home port.
Hell’s Hook: Hell’s Hook is the tall, slender
watchtower on the Hell’s Hook Peninsula overlooking
Cryx’s barren southern coast. The lonely tower is
maintained by the exiled witch Agathia (female
Scharde Ftr7/Sor10) and her retinue of thrall
servitors. Agathia was sealed in the tower after her
apparent betrayal of Lich Lord Daeamortus. Though
no lock bars her escape, Agathia has remained in the
tower for nearly two decades and views her punishment
as a great mercy. Those seeking her wise counsel
occasionally visit. The peninsula itself encompasses all
of the hills and coastline east of Dreggsmouth. Several
large ogrun communities inhabit the hills, kept busy
mining and smithing weapons and armor.
Pits, The: All but consumed by the dense rainforest
covering the region, the moss-slicked ruins known as
the Pits were abandoned long before Toruk arrived
on Cryx. Though the place and the calamity that
destroyed it have been lost to time, the crumbling walls
and refuse remaining imply it was once a fortress of
huge size. The Pits were named after the vast deposits
of massive bones littering the forest floor, making the
region a popular destination for necrotechs seeking
charnel materials for their horrific experiments.
This vile and warped place is thoroughly blighted
and avoided by virtually all living inhabitants of the
Nightmare Empire.
The Scharde Islands
& the Broken Coast
Considered part of the Nightmare Empire of Cryx,
the Schardes are a cluster of large islands off the coast
of Cryx ranging from Gharlghast in the north through
the myriad of smaller islands to tropical and swampy
Morovan in the south. Cryxian influence weakens the
further one travels from the Island of Cryx, and many
of the larger islands are populated by savage humans,
trollkin, ogrun, and bogrins free of Toruk’s dominion.
Many of these settlements date back to the days when
the Molgur fled the Menite priest-kings of old. Some
of the islands were settled by Orgoth before they were
eventually destroyed by Toruk’s legions. Still, Orgoth
ruins and abandoned outposts dot the Scharde Islands
to this day.
Off Cryx’s eastern coast are countless tiny islands.
These bleak, black rocks punch skyward from the
waves in stark, curtain-like cliffs. The treeless stumps
are storm-wracked and wind-torn, blasted by freezing
winds throughout the winter and sluiced by constant
deluges in the summer. When the sun does shine, it
is bright and baking; there is no moderation here,
no respite. These islands provide Cryx with some of
its most formidable defenses. Coves and beaches are
few and far between, and the waters between these
islands are riddled with reefs that make navigation
extremely treacherous. They are also a breeding
ground for hull grinders thronging in the thousands
at certain times of year.
Within these coves a twisted network of tunnels
exists where enclaves of bogrin, ogrun, and trollkin
live in a manner their mainland kin would consider