Barrad-Faout
Lightning cracked across the sky, forking through the swirling black clouds and lighting up the frothing sea below. The rain pelted against the dark crenelations, perpetually slick and black from the torrent of water. Rivers atop and alongside the ramparts flowed through the channels into the massive gargoyles, ejecting waterfalls onto the razor sharp rocks below. The crash of wind and waves, the rumble of the rivers and peels of thunder were only barely muffled by the thick, alchemically reinforced walls. The air crackled with an electrical power. The Alchemist smiled as the distinctive green glow of Faerie-Fire began to appear of the edges of the brass instruments...
Demographics
Caught in a perpetual Wyldstorms, the Bediz population of Barrad-Faout is largely made up of Beormerzh and boasts the largest population percentage of Milliget on the Armorican Peninsula, a result of the magically infused atmosphere that continuously hammers the citadel. Stormbreak is a gathering place for both Arkanists and Alchemists looking to channel the region's unique magikal properties, and the majority of the settlement is dedicated to the study and exploitation of the Wyldstorm.
The nobility of Stormbreak are often drawn from this population, residing in the heights of the Iron keep at the center of the citadel, surrounded by lower gentry and guilds in the middle levels and around the edges of the city. The majority of the population is made up of scribes, assistants and servants catering to the studies and domestic life of these powerful individuals. A large population of civil servants maintains the spillways, canals and walls, in constant need of maintenance due to the ever-present storm.
This last group is heavily made up of Milliget, direct exposure to magic warping them as they work. The Kriores and Gargoul making up the largest segment of the Korrigan population. The Tempestarii also make up a significant segment of the populace, one of their few permanent settlements on Kornôgel.
The Marie-Morgane maintain a presence in the city through the Merrow, as the storm makes it easy to hide their true natures. Fomorians, willing to do enforcement work for the Iron Nobles, make up a large portion of the city garrison, but some have entered civilian life as well.
The nature of the city makes it difficult to patrol, and feral Gargoul, as well as stone-Harpy Chimere prowl the storm-tossed ramparts while Finfolk and Sluagh stalk the often-flooded lowest regions of the citadel.
Government
The Bediz Nobles of the Iron Keep, their strongholds isolating them from the constant bombardment of Faemagik, control the settlement, allied with lesser Boermerzh nobility and guilds, using Fomorian mercenaries and alchemical creations like Brassgaurd and
Minor Historical Figures to enforce order. A collection of densely packed fortresses within the thick seawalls, there is a large degree of autonomy within these complexes, allowing the nobility to act as they please without fear of reprisal from others, so long as they maintain the essential infrastructure within their domains that keeps the city working.
At the center of it all is the Lord of Kab Sizun, a powerful Alchemist operating out of a large iron fortress in the centre of the citadel. With an array of alchemical creations at his disposal, his rule is rarely contested by the local nobility, nor by the Counts of Kernev.
Defences
Alchemical creatures, such as Brassguard, are kept by the Iron nobles as their personal retinue and enforcers, while mercenaries drawn from the Fomorian and Milliget populations make up the majority of the town garrison. Each keep is responsible for its own security, maintaining some control into the common areas, such as stretches of the Eye-Wall connecting with their own ramparts. The Eye-Wall itself is located atop high cliffs overlooking razor sharp rocks below, the constant storm making approach by land or sea incredibly difficult. A massive pot-de-fer, charged by the storm, is able to knock out most unfriendly windships that approach from above.
Industry & Trade
The Lightning Forges provide the majority of the income to the Iron Nobles, with their creations being sent out via windship all over the Western Realms. While no windships are made in the city itself, its nobility and guilds are patrons of the practice, funding other shipyards and providing important equipment to their operation, including Pot-de-Fer, large scale Rods of Taranis, navigation equipment and Brassguard power sources.
Infrastructure
The citadel is built on Kab Sizun, a peninsula in the West of the Kontelezh Kernev taking up the entirety of the eye of a massive, perpetual and relatively stationary Wyldestorm that batters the region. The center of the city rests in the eye itself, a collection of large stone complexes built within thick walls. A massive network of canals, spillways and dams controls the flow of rainwater, transporting it through the city and out of the mouths of massive stone gargoyles. These canals run alongside and on the ramparts, connected with aqueducts and sewers, and the streets below.
Walkways in the city, are raised on alchemically treated boardwalks, allowing the frequent flooding to pass underneath. Houses are elevated, with the lower floors serving as cisterns. Stormwater is collected and reused, with iron being used to filter out excess magik for the nobility. The common people are rarely given the same, creating a large population of milliget and Boermerzh.
The Ironkeeps, located throughout the city, are named for their iron-lined interiors, blocking out the magik of the Faewylde and allowing those inside to avoid exposure to the reality corrupting forces present in the storm. Most keeps and larger buildings are topped with Ironglass, an alchemically reinforced crystal with a high iron oxide content. These serve as gardens or laboratories for the nobility, alchemists and Arkanists. Many also contain docks for Windships. With the exception of brief periods of calm, the only safe access to the city is from the air, entering through the eye from his above the storm. As a result, most nobles have at least one Windship at their personal disposal, while a communal spire is located near the centre of the complex.
The citadel is ringed by a massive seawall fortification, named the Eye-Wall, after its location in the storm, hosting a massive canal network and the gargoyles that expel the water onto the razor sharp rocks below. This area is constantly battered by the winds and rains, but houses some of the most important structures of the citadel, the Lightning Forges. These factories create the Rods of Taranis, alchemical blasting rods containing powerful elemental magik, a favoured weapon of the nobility, as well as globes of light, locking Faerie-Fire into crystal spheres to light the Western Realms.
Guilds and Factions
The Ironlords control the majority of the government and industry, backed by powerful Arkanists and Alchemists. Some independent guilds of these also exist, but most are on retainer for a noble house.
The bird-like Temperstarii are the largest fae faction, thriving in the Stormwinds, their own windships granting them easy access to the city locked off for most. Outside of Magonia itself, Stormbreak is their largest population center. The Korrigan Gargoul, stowing about Windships, also have contributed a large population group, operating in the chaos of the Eye-Wall.
The Lugoni, the Lavigerien Guild
and other merchant guilds operate small offices in the city, but are largely restricted from many industries and trade routes, monopolized by the Iron Lords.
History
Prior to the Great Storm, the Lordhip of Kab Sizun was a backwater, a remote peninsula ignored by most. The storm, appearing during the 3rd Bleed, destroyed most of the existing settlements, but proved a draw for those seeking to tap into its magikal power. With the advent of Windships and an alliance with the Tempestarii, construction of the city began in earnest. Numerous iterations were swept away by the storm, but the strongest towers survived, building out in the eye to reach their current form.
Tourism
The city is home to a thriving hospitality and guidance industry. Many, especially the lower classes, visit city looking for work or to secure the alchemical wonders of the Lightning Forges, arriving during the occasional lulls in the storm that allow for hard, but passable overland travel. Once inside, they are often forced to bunker down for long periods, waiting for another opening in the temperamental chaos of the storm. Hotels and taverns line the boardwalks, often operated by the noble families of the Ironlords or at least paying tribute to them. Stormguides who can navigate the treacherous conditions outside the city are sought after and can become quite wealthy offering their services.
Architecture
The city is marked by its high, thick stone walls and complex canal network. Stone Gargoyles expel waterfalls over the walls, ranging from simple spouts to elaborately carved beasts. The towers of the city lack many windows, opting instead for massive and monolithic designs, capped with Ironglass domes and windspires. For the especially wealthy, the interiors of these are often lined with iron, blocking out the magic of the storm. These range from massive complexes to single saferooms, the latter of which can also be found in some of the better inns and merchant's halls in the town itself. Wood is rare, rotting quickly in the humid air, but when present, such as on the boardwalks, it is made with alchemical reinforcement. Similar techniques, such as galvanization, prevent rust of the iron as well.
Geography
Kab Sizun is a narrow peninusla on the Western Coast of Kernev, marking part of the Penn-Ar-Bed (World's End). High cliffs stand high above sharp rocks, constantly beaten by the storm, below. The citadel is built on the tip of the peninsula, surrounded by cliffs on three sides. A large gash, town apart by the magik of the Wyldestorm, seperates the fourth side from the mainland, crossed by massive stone bridges. The Eye-Wall is constantly under the extreme weather of the storm, while the eye itself generally is able to avoid the worst of the storms. The result still forces the city to content with an unnaturally warm and humid climate, handling massive quantities of water from the storm.
Natural Resources
The primary resource of the city is its access to the storm itself, especially the raw magikal power found in its lightning.
Alternative Name(s)
Stormbreak
Type
Citadel
Population
5,000
Inhabitant Demonym
Stormers
Location under
Owning Organization
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