The Way of Caine ,The Warcaster Chronicl - By Miles Holmes Page 0,48

time, sir. Was that not worth it?”

“The people of Llael are much as our own, son. In killing their king, whatever his vices, we may well have killed them too. I feel the weight of it,” Rebald said with sober certainty.

The clerk nodded, turning to the oak desk, and brought forward a brief, thumbing quickly to find a particular page.

“And of Caine, sir? By his own account, the mission was clumsy in its execution, nearly lost at several turns. Do you risk activating him again?”

Rebald looked dryly at his apprentice. “I think you’ve rather missed the point, Baldasarre. What Caine achieved in his first mission was … surprising. In the end, he succeeded on all points.”

The apprentice skimmed the brief again, running a finger down the margin of the page. He paused at a paragraph near the bottom of the page. “He killed an awful lot of men, sir. We can confirm only Rynnard’s death. Do you really believe this account?”

“I’ve no reason to doubt it. For all of his faults, Caine is no braggart. In Fellig, he proved a force of nature when properly motivated. Now, in Merywyn he has demonstrated a measure of control, though I suspect his best is yet to come.”

Baldasarre closed the brief, replacing it on the desk. “Impressive enough, I suppose.”

Rebald turned to the young clerk, surprised.

“I will tell you this, apprentice. That man was born to kill, and I will employ him to save this kingdom, whatever the toll to his soul ... or mine.”

IRON KINGDOMS INDEX

Ancient Icthier: An ancient city in the southernmost Protectorate, deemed the source of western Immoren’s Menite civilization and the original Canon of True Law.

Armsdeep Lake: This is a massive lake and river at the heart of Rhul, and source of the Black River. The Rhulic cities of Ghord, Ulgar, and Brunder are along its shores.

Battlegroup: A warcaster and the warjacks he controls.

Berck: Ordic port city, largest city in Ord and home port of the Ordic Royal Navy.

Black River: Longest river in western Immoren, which connects Rhul, Llael, and Cygnar. Merywyn, Corvis, and Caspia-Sul rest on this river and it forms the eastern border of Cygnar, separating it from the Bloodstone Marches.

Blackclad: Term applied to enigmatic and potentially dangerous mystics who are part of an ancient secret society that draws on the destructive power of the elements and the wilderness.

Blackwater: Cryxian port city and home to its pirate raider fleet.

Bloodstone Marches: A large barren geographical region between the Bloodstone Desert and western Immoren, occupied by tribal Idrians, farrow, and the Skorne Army of the Western Reaches.

Caen: Name of the world containing the Iron Kingdoms, Immoren, Zu, etc. Sometimes contrasted as the material world as opposed to the spiritual world of Urcaen.

Carre Dova: Ordic port city, located on the northern shore of the Bay of Stone.

Caspia: Capital of Cygnar, the ‘City of Walls’ and only human city not to fall to the Orgoth.

Ceryl: Cygnaran port city, home of the Fraternal Order of Wizardry and the Cygnaran Navy’s Northern Fleet.

Chatterstones: District of Five Fingers on Hospice Island, notable for a large mass graveyard filled during a former plague on the island.

Colossal: Massive predecessors to the modern steamjacks, these great machines were originally constructed during the Rebellion against the Orgoth.

Cortex: The highly arcane mechanikal device that gives a steamjack its limited intelligence.

Corvis: Northeastern Cygnaran city occupying the conjunction of the Black River and Dragon’s Tongue River, also called the “City of Ghosts.”

Crael Valley: Farm valley in northern Cygnar, south of Bainsmarket, briefly seized and held by Madrak Ironhide and the united kriels.

Cryx: Also known as the Nightmare Empire, an island kingdom of necromancers, undead, and pirates in southwest ruled by Toruk the Dragonfather.

Cygnar: Southernmost of the Iron Kingdom, ruled by King Leto Raelthorne, bearing the Cygnus on its flag.

Deepwood Tower: Northern Cygnaran border fortress, destroyed in 608 AR.

Dragon: Immortal and unnatural creatures spawned by Lord Toruk, the first and greatest of their number. Dragons are hostile to one another, and particularly to their progenitor, and rarely notice the affairs of lesser beings.

Dragon’s Tongue River: River stretching from Corvis to the Bay of Stone which separates Cygnar from Ord and is relied upon by a number of river towns such as Point Bourne, Tarna, and Five Fingers.

Drer Drakkerung: Ruins of the former Orgoth capital city on the Garlghast Island, now claimed by Cryx and deemed a seat of Lich Lord Terminus.

Eastwall: Southeastern Cygnaran fortress along the Black River.

Fellig: Northern Cygnaran city in the Thornwood, currently partly occupied by Ordic troops and cut