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

108.1.141.197
60 Iron Kingdoms
Frequently, publications distributed without licenses
are suppressed, the publishers arrested, and the
copies destroyed. For a generation now, The Weekly
Newes has remained the only officially sanctioned
newspaper in Cygnar. Editions regularly appear in
Llael, Ord, the Protectorate, and even as far as the
capital city of Khador.
Many of these same printers also receive funds from
promoters who use their broadsides as advertising, and
throughout the larger cities postboys tack broadsides
to advertising boards and on posts and walls along
streets, street corners, and buildings. Advertisements
consist of anything and everything from propaganda
to entertainment, from bootmakers to travel, and from
medicine to military. All manner of goods and all types
of services await those who know how to read and can
follow the right instructions.
rumor has it…
underground publishers are rearing up in droves throughout
the southern kingdoms and releasing their oWn editions of
The Weekly NeWes. in Caspia alone a half dozen short-lived
broadsides seem to Crop up every year.
none of these independent periodiCals are sanCtioned by the
leaders of the kingdoms, and disCussions are underWay on
hoW to suppress this movement. the publiCations range from
sensationalized reports to libelous allegations, politiCal
opinions, and just plain hearsay. some of the more CirCulated
pieCes throughout the kingdoms inClude the gossipy and
often sCathing CeryliaN CeNTiNel, the investigative and
informative Corvis leTTers (rumored to be published out of
Corvis university), the all-enCompassing shipmaN’s ToWer
in berCk, and the Candid and boldly inCiting imperial Board
out of khardov in the north, reCently knoWn for CritiCizing
the high kommand’s War efforts and treatment of llaelese
Citizens. it is rumored that the khadoran queen is fierCely
seeking the publishers of this latter pieCe, but so far there
has been little progress in this pursuit.
Canneries
Canneries, salteries, and fish processing plants are
scattered along the shoreline of western Immoren.
Cities such as Mercir, Point Bourne, Fisherbrook,
and Clockers Cove actually began with salteries
and later fish hatcheries that grew into canneries.
Bainsmarket is credited as the first official cannery
town, preserving locally grown fruits and vegetables in
handmade tin cans. These days, much of the canning
out of Bainsmarket goes directly to the Cygnaran
military to support its troops. Currently machines are
in development to increase canning production, but
most people still do their food preserving by hand in
small factories or at home.
Cygnar
Commonly Traded
Goods
Cygnar’s lands provide most of the resources it
needs. The Wyrmwall Mountains are rich in iron,
coal is plentiful near the Thornwood Forest, and the
fertile farmlands of Bainsmarket and along the Market
Line provide an array of vegetables and a rapidly
burgeoning sheep leaf trade. Cygnar is also famed for
its crafts. Refined goods from Cygnar sell across western
Immoren, and export trade is encouraged (only
imports are taxed). However, restrictions are imposed
on trading military goods—government licenses must
be obtained to trade in blasting powder, weapons, and
mechanika, for example. The border guards are trained
to spot forgeries and are entitled to confiscate any items
they suspect bound for illicit trade. Cygnar imports as
much as it exports either because of better prices or
because demand outstrips supply.
Winds of War
this past year, the War effort has put an inCreased demand
on Certain goods, and skilled tradesmen are sWitChing over
to produCing Commodities to bolster Cygnar’s defenses.
additionally, a drought struCk hard this harvest season and
put a severe strain on agriCultural produCers and Canneries.
the CroWn has issued an ediCt that 90 perCent of Canned
produCe out of bainsmarket must go to troops abroad.
nightmare hordes out of Cryx have also targeted grain silos
and food supplies of late, so this food shortage has resulted
in starvation epidemiCs throughout the southern regions. it
is a trying time for Cygnar’s Citizens as Well as its soldiers.
pipes and stogies? Credit a gobber.
no one knoWs When the first gobbers started to gather the
fluffy, pale doWn and leaves of the hooaga (knoWn as sheep
leaf in Cygnar) or Why they deCided to Wrap the doWn in
the leaves, set the end of it alight, and suCk on the other
end. feW Could have imagined that this outlandish behavior
Would CatCh on, but it did. soon, smoking Cigars and pipes