The Gunworks of Alkenstar was built in 4620 AR[1] and has been the primary source of firearms in the Grand Duchy and the rest of Golarion ever since.
The Gunworks resembles a small castle, and is defended by the mighty bombard known as the Great Maw of Rovagug. The main perceived threat are the forces of the Gorilla King, which successfully raided the Gunworks in 4690 AR. However, the most frequent attacks are by giants from the Western Ravage—some of these raids actually resulted in firearms being stolen.[2]
Firearms manufacture
Manufacturing only one small-arms weapon a day and five siege weapons a year, one would think this massive facility highly inefficient considering its size and twelve-hour workdays. In fact, the Gunworks is capable of a much higher rate of production but maintains a slow schedule to keep the market price of the weapons artificially high by limiting supply. This conservative approach also helps ensure the small nation's safety, as it is estimated that Alkenstar keeps over ninety percent of the weapons they manufacture, making it one of the most heavily defended kingdoms in the Inner Sea region.[3] The slow production rate also allows a great deal of time to be spent on improving the science of firearm production.[2]
Maw of Rovagug
The Great Maw of Rovagug is the second-largest bombard ever constructed, measuring 81 inches in diameter, boasting a range of eight to nineteen miles, and firing three-ton shells capable of leaving a 60-foot crater on impact. Manufactured by the Gunworks of Alkenstar around 4500 AR, this massive cannon has been fired only twice as of 4709 AR: the first as a demonstration, and the second to ward off three rampaging sandkrakens headed for the city.
Despite its lack of frequent use, the Great Maw is ever-ready, built into the face of the Hellfallen Cliffs overlooking the approach to Alkenstar through the Mana Wastes. After being fired, 14 men must spend a full hour to reload it.
These days, the bombard is used to deter giant incursions from the mountains to the west, or a second invasion by the Gorilla King.[1][2]
References
For additional resources, see the Meta page.
James Jacobs et al. (2011). The Inner Sea World Guide, p. 111–113. Paizo Publishing, LLC. ISBN 978-1-60125-269-2
Erik Mona et al. (2008). Campaign Setting, p. 59. Paizo Publishing, LLC. ISBN 978-1-60125-112-1
Perched atop a craggy hill on the edge of Lake Ustradi sits a massive castle with a commanding view of the surrounding wasteland. This citadel is the Gunworks, where Alkenstar’s engineers and metallurgists labor to advance the city’s black powder and firearms technology. The walls of the keep are angular and jutting. Behind their protection stand three large towers as well as the Gunworks’ proudest achievement: a massive cannon known as the Maw of Rovagug, which looms atop the castle like the horn of a mighty beast.
The acrid scent of gunpowder lingers over the fortress, spread through the wastes by a near-constant breeze that wafts from Lake Ustradi. During the day, the courtyard hums with the haggling of artificers and the whinnying of horses, punctuated frequently by resounding booms. Newcomers often dive for cover during the first explosion of the morning, while local residents barely look up from their tasks, accustomed as they are to the deafening crescendos that emanate from the Gunworks’ testing chambers.
After a brief flurry of bartering in the Artificers’ Market at dusk, blessed quiet falls over the castle at nightfall. Behind the protection of the keep’s wall, engineers and inventors scribe their latest innovations to parchment by lantern light, while adventurers and card sharks carouse late into the evening at the Last Stop Saloon. Meanwhile, stoic shieldmarshals stand watch atop the walls, eyes and ears alert for any encroaching raiders or mutated beasts. Occasionally, the booming of ominous drums echoes across the lake from deep within the Western Ravage—a grim reminder that past the walls of the Gunworks, the comforts of the city come to an abrupt and violent end.
Construction of the Gunworks, as it’s known today, was completed in 4620 ar. With the might of Alkenstar growing, Ancil recognized the shieldmarshal’s demand for more, deadlier firearms was quickly outstripping the city’s ability to manufacture them. He also knew the best alchemical and metallurgical experiments were usually the most dangerous, and permitting such work to be conducted within the city’s walls was folly. He ordered the wooden fortress near Lake Ustradi leveled and raised a new fortification in its place. This castle would have three functions: a bastion against giant raiders from the west, a manufactory where firearms could be produced at a rapid pace, and a research and development facility for new types of dangerous technology.
When it was finished at last, the Gunworks swiftly filled with brilliant young minds from the city seeking to work on innovative science. Over the decades, they outfitted the shieldmarshals with powerful firearms and ever-greater siege bombards. Eventually, they developed a massive mobile cannon, greater than any the world had seen. They boasted that its fearsome size alone could inspire opponents to lay down their arms in surrender, thus winning battles without ever firing a shot. This theory was put to the test in 4684 ar, when the Gorilla King of Usaro led a surprise attack against Alkenstar. His army invaded Alkenstar’s hinterlands via hidden tunnels beneath the Shattered Range. The Gunworks’ bombard was wheeled to the field of battle, but when the invaders refused to retreat and it came time to ignite the cannon, the weapon misfired. The gorilla hordes quickly overran the cannon’s position, slaughtered the artillerists there, and hauled the cannon away as a prize for their simian lord.
The forces of the Gorilla King were eventually repulsed. Although the Gunworks stood unconquered, the pride of Alkenstar was tarnished. But the citizens of the Gunworks were used to sudden turns of fortune, and they weren’t disheartened for long. They began building a new, even more fearsome bombard with renewed vigor. Though somewhat smaller than their previous effort and lacking its mobility, this latest weapon had a far greater range and was thoroughly tested. Because the new cannon was effective at a distance of nearly 50 miles, the engineers could construct it within the walls of the Gunworks, ensuring it would not easily fall into enemy hands. They dubbed their devastating new weapon the Maw of Rovagug.
In 4699 ar, new troubles began brewing in the Western Ravage. After a successful raid on the docks of the Gunworks, a mutated giant calling himself Lord Gorge united several war bands from the wastes. Dubbing them his “Slugs of the Wastes” (as poetic a phrase as the warmonger could muster), Lord Gorge quickly set about organizing the monstrous hordes into a fierce guerilla force to torment Alkenstar. The hordes engaged in regular raids along the Ustradi River. By hurling boulders and triggering landslides, the giants sank or blockaded dozens of river boats and rafts bearing firearm-laden cargo from the Gunworks. River traffic slowed to a crawl. For three years, the Gunworks relied upon “gun runs” to deliver new firearms to Alkenstar—madcap sprints in which grim shieldmarshals steered heavily armored stagecoaches pulled by clockwork steeds. Usually, such gun runs were successful. Occasionally, the runs ended in tragedy as marauding giants intercepted carriages, slaughtered the crew, and made off with the goods. Lord Gorge ordered any captured stagecoaches to be retrofitted for his ogre minions. Soon, berserkers astride spike-covered war wagons chased shieldmarshals across the desert, practically eliminating the viability of gun runs.
One summer, a band of daring shieldmarshals ranged deep into the Western Ravage and located Lord Gorge’s war camp. At the cost of many lives, they relayed the camp’s coordinates to the Gunworks. Once the coordinates were received, a single blast from the Maw of Rovagug obliterated the camp and Lord Gorge along with it. Without their leader, the might of the united war bands was shattered at last.
The returning shieldmarshals were hailed as heroes and formed into a new special unit called the Ravage Raiders. These elite commandos were charged with patrolling the Mana Wastes to ensure no Slug war bands ever united again. However, some whisper rumors that a new power is emerging along the Western Ravage. Supposedly, one of Lord Gorge’s daughters survived the blast that killed her father and is looking for a way to continue Gorge’s bloody legacy. Harnessing the rogue magic of the Spellscar Desert, she purposefully mutates her giant servants so they can breathe underwater, burrow underground, and, in some cases, fly. If her efforts are allowed to continue, “Lordess Gorge” will soon have a force of mutated raiders far surpassing the original Slugs of the Wastes.
Erdrik was raised by a rock gnome named Olteo, who taught Erdrik everything he knew about metalworking and artisanship. Deeply passionate about his work, Erdrik saves his highest respect for other engineers and artisans. According to the customary bylaws of the Tower of Engineering, Erdrik is bound to meet with any visitor to the tower who requests an audience. After several months of particularly annoying petitioners seeking his engineering expertise, Erdrik had a complex mechanical door installed in his office—part vault door and part puzzle. Visitors are still welcome to visit Erdrik any time they please, provided they can figure out how to open his door.
Goltor assumed command of the Ravage Raiders four years ago after a mutated blue dragon with eight eyes and spider-like pincers ate her predecessor. She still hunts for the dragon, named Y’maxxinara, to this day.
The Thunder Fair’s most spectacular and hotly anticipated competition is called the Bombard Battle. In the days before the fair, the towers set up boulders (and sometimes statues) at intervals in the desert beyond the Gunworks’ walls. The factions then compete to see who can demolish the boulders most effectively and at the greatest range, while spectators watch from a safe distance with spyglasses. The Bombard Battle keeps adventurers in demand year-round at the Gunworks, as each tower constantly work to secure rare reagents for testing their latest engines of destruction. Most years, the grand duchess or her most trusted bureaucrats personally attend the Bombard Battle, making note of promising inventions that should receive grants from the Grand Duchy of Alkenstar.
Past Thunder Fairs were plagued by attacks from mutated titan centipedes (Pathfinder Bestiary 2 50; burrow speed of 50 feet instead of climb speed). These beasts seem attracted to the explosions that pulverize the desert sands during the festival. To keep the centipede numbers down, the garrison commander annually honors the bravest and most cunning badlands rangers with the position of wastehunter. Each wastehunter leads a hunting party that scours the desert for miles around the citadel. The hunts almost always encounter at least a few centipedes, and the battles are fierce and deadly, but the result is a safe Thunder Fair. By the end of the month, up to half a dozen titan centipede heads are mounted above the gates of the Gunworks where they remain as grisly trophies for the duration of the Thunder Fair.
Another unique Thunder Fair attraction is blast lancing. Blast lancing bouts are essentially jousting tournaments, except the jousters ride clockwork steeds and carry special weapons called blast lances (page 74). The blast lance delivers a powerful blast upon striking an opponent, occasionally throwing a rider up to a dozen feet from their mount. To mitigate the fatal nature of blast lancing contests (severe injuries and death are common occurrences), wealthy contestants often enter clockwork jousters into the competition in their stead. Nowadays, roughly half the jousters in blast lancing bouts are constructs. Of course, young and foolhardy aristocrats eagerly compete each year, and many do so with the protection of specially reinforced plate armor. The winner of last year’s blast lancing tournament was a mysterious figure whose name on the tourney bracket was Sable Clockwork. The stoic competitor appeared in a suit of full plate mail festooned with gears and powered by clockwork windings. The figure spoke no words during the entire tournament and bested each challenger with unmatched skill. None can say for sure whether Sable Clockwork was a construct or actually a living person hidden beneath the suit of armor. Sable Clockwork is the talk of the upcoming Thunder Fair, and all hope for the enigmatic jouster’s return.
This year, special foreign security measures are underway; according to rumors, a group of powerful thieves calling themselves the Wraith Council is planning a heist at the upcoming Thunder Fair. The thieves are rumored to be remnants of distant Westcrown’s defunct but legendary Council of Thieves. When Cheliax caught wind of the rumors, the country sent a contingent of Hellknights from the Order of the Gate to the Gunworks to apprehend the rogues. The Hellknights are led by Signifer Dolazzan, who claims to have special knowledge of the Wraith Council and has asked shieldmarshals to aid Cheliax in preventing the upcoming heist. So far, Dolazzan’s entreaties have been rudely rebuffed. Many at the Gunworks speculate about the Order of the Gate’s arrival, since this branch of Hellknights is known to specialize in conjuring and summoning outsiders. The order’s presence in Alkenstar could indicate a potential extraplanar threat, though Dolazzan has remained tight-lipped on the matter until he secures local aid.
Several times per year, Clif is provided with a large stipend to purchase new cattle for the Gunworks. For the past several years running, instead of buying normal cattle, he’s purchased stolen cattle from cattle rustlers for half the price and pocketed the difference. He has yet to be caught, further emboldening him to experiment with smuggling illicit goods into the fortress at night along with the herd.
The proprietor of the inn is a retired one-eyed ranger called Hatchet. No one knows Hatchet’s real name, despite much speculation by saloon regulars. Hatchet remains tightlipped on the issue. Some say he is merely stoic, while others say Hatchet has a troubled past and built the Last Stop Saloon to lay low on the edge of civilization.
The saloon gets rowdy during afternoons and evenings. A popular drinking game involves ordering a round of shots every time the patrons hear a boom outside (which is often, due to the constant testing of explosives and black powder in the Gunworks). Years ago, an adventuring band returned to the saloon with the skull of a half-giant skald from a Slug war band. During mana storms, this skull—now mounted on the wall over the bar—takes on a life of its own and sings guttural battle ballads. Regulars know the words to these songs by now, but newcomers often gawk in horror.
Further down, in a hallway known only to Della and a few of the tower’s oldest metallurgists, is a locked adamantine door. Years ago, an experiment developing a self-repairing alloy ran awry, and the newly created metal began growing through the labs of the tower, slowly consuming everything in its path. Attempts to destroy the metal proved fruitless, so the metallurgists sealed away the infected portion of the tower with an adamantine door, which has remained closed ever since. Not even Della knows what lies on the other side or what has become of the all-consuming metal in the years since it was isolated from the rest of the tower.
On the roof of the tower, visible from the plains outside the Gunworks, is an incredibly complex machine of winding gears and intricate mechanisms that the engineers affectionately named the Machine Ponderous. A small diamond rotates inside the heart of the fiendishly complex machine. To gain admission to the Tower of Engineering, applicants must retrieve the diamond without disrupting the device. Few who try this test succeed; those who do not only gain admittance to the prestigious Tower of Engineering but they also get to keep the valuable diamond.
The current leader of the Ravage Raiders is Goltor Baird, a half-giant ranger with decades of experience.
Adventurers heading into the Western Ravage often stop at the market to purchase weapons and armor. The engineers treat such adventurers as both customers and research assistants, and many sellers are willing to vend their more experimental wares at steep discounts to those who agree to report their experiences with the unproven technology.
Although it has the capacity to produce many firearms, the Gunworks has long kept production levels artificially low. This has always rankled the minds of some of the Gunworks’ most ardent creators, who prefer to produce a wide variety of weapons for experimentation and testing. For centuries, many of these artificers circumvented production-limiting mandates by dumping excess weaponry into Lake Ustradi, which is quite deep even just a few dozen yards from the docks. Loy Ayton put an end to this wasteful insubordination, but decades of discarded experimental technology remains lost at the bottom of the murky waters.
In recent years, perhaps disturbed at the thought of compromising unknown tunnels beneath the fortress, Loy Ayton has reconsidered this approach. The doors now stand open from dawn to dusk each day and the garrison commander pays a bounty to adventurers willing to venture into the caves and return with maps of the tunnels. Initial forays revealed tortuous tunnels and extensive caverns. The upper caves are said to be inhabited by roaming colonies of mobile fungi, unusual insects, and—if the wilder rumors are to be believed— bands of mutant humanoids with mole-like features. Several adventurers returned to the surface bearing ancient Nexian artifacts, indicating undiscovered ruins may lie deeper in the tunnels.
Newly sketched maps of the tunnels (often of dubious value) are common gambling items at the Last Stop Saloon, sometimes trading hands several times per night.
The acrid scent of gunpowder lingers over the fortress, spread through the wastes by a near-constant breeze that wafts from Lake Ustradi. During the day, the courtyard hums with the haggling of artificers and the whinnying of horses, punctuated frequently by resounding booms. Newcomers often dive for cover during the first explosion of the morning, while local residents barely look up from their tasks, accustomed as they are to the deafening crescendos that emanate from the Gunworks’ testing chambers.
After a brief flurry of bartering in the Artificers’ Market at dusk, blessed quiet falls over the castle at nightfall. Behind the protection of the keep’s wall, engineers and inventors scribe their latest innovations to parchment by lantern light, while adventurers and card sharks carouse late into the evening at the Last Stop Saloon. Meanwhile, stoic shieldmarshals stand watch atop the walls, eyes and ears alert for any encroaching raiders or mutated beasts. Occasionally, the booming of ominous drums echoes across the lake from deep within the Western Ravage—a grim reminder that past the walls of the Gunworks, the comforts of the city come to an abrupt and violent end.
HISTORY
War bands have battled for dominance along the rocky outcropping upon which the Gunworks is built since the beginning of Nex and Geb’s ancient war millennia ago. A strategic mound on the shore of Lake Ustradi, the site provides an unparalleled view of the surrounding region. When the city of Alkenstar was founded, Ancil Alkenstar knew river trade would be key to his fledgling nation’s survival and growth. He devoted substantial resources to securing the Ustradi River, which at the time was ruled by dozens of petty kings, each vying to maintain absolute control over their section of the water. One by one, Ancil defeated each of these would-be rulers until he reached a fortress atop a prominent rocky outcropping near Lake Ustradi. After driving out the violent berserkers inhabiting the wooden fortress, Alkenstar’s commanders left behind a strong garrison of shieldmarshals to protect the spot, which has remained in the hands of the Grand Duchy of Alkenstar ever since.Construction of the Gunworks, as it’s known today, was completed in 4620 ar. With the might of Alkenstar growing, Ancil recognized the shieldmarshal’s demand for more, deadlier firearms was quickly outstripping the city’s ability to manufacture them. He also knew the best alchemical and metallurgical experiments were usually the most dangerous, and permitting such work to be conducted within the city’s walls was folly. He ordered the wooden fortress near Lake Ustradi leveled and raised a new fortification in its place. This castle would have three functions: a bastion against giant raiders from the west, a manufactory where firearms could be produced at a rapid pace, and a research and development facility for new types of dangerous technology.
When it was finished at last, the Gunworks swiftly filled with brilliant young minds from the city seeking to work on innovative science. Over the decades, they outfitted the shieldmarshals with powerful firearms and ever-greater siege bombards. Eventually, they developed a massive mobile cannon, greater than any the world had seen. They boasted that its fearsome size alone could inspire opponents to lay down their arms in surrender, thus winning battles without ever firing a shot. This theory was put to the test in 4684 ar, when the Gorilla King of Usaro led a surprise attack against Alkenstar. His army invaded Alkenstar’s hinterlands via hidden tunnels beneath the Shattered Range. The Gunworks’ bombard was wheeled to the field of battle, but when the invaders refused to retreat and it came time to ignite the cannon, the weapon misfired. The gorilla hordes quickly overran the cannon’s position, slaughtered the artillerists there, and hauled the cannon away as a prize for their simian lord.
The forces of the Gorilla King were eventually repulsed. Although the Gunworks stood unconquered, the pride of Alkenstar was tarnished. But the citizens of the Gunworks were used to sudden turns of fortune, and they weren’t disheartened for long. They began building a new, even more fearsome bombard with renewed vigor. Though somewhat smaller than their previous effort and lacking its mobility, this latest weapon had a far greater range and was thoroughly tested. Because the new cannon was effective at a distance of nearly 50 miles, the engineers could construct it within the walls of the Gunworks, ensuring it would not easily fall into enemy hands. They dubbed their devastating new weapon the Maw of Rovagug.
In 4699 ar, new troubles began brewing in the Western Ravage. After a successful raid on the docks of the Gunworks, a mutated giant calling himself Lord Gorge united several war bands from the wastes. Dubbing them his “Slugs of the Wastes” (as poetic a phrase as the warmonger could muster), Lord Gorge quickly set about organizing the monstrous hordes into a fierce guerilla force to torment Alkenstar. The hordes engaged in regular raids along the Ustradi River. By hurling boulders and triggering landslides, the giants sank or blockaded dozens of river boats and rafts bearing firearm-laden cargo from the Gunworks. River traffic slowed to a crawl. For three years, the Gunworks relied upon “gun runs” to deliver new firearms to Alkenstar—madcap sprints in which grim shieldmarshals steered heavily armored stagecoaches pulled by clockwork steeds. Usually, such gun runs were successful. Occasionally, the runs ended in tragedy as marauding giants intercepted carriages, slaughtered the crew, and made off with the goods. Lord Gorge ordered any captured stagecoaches to be retrofitted for his ogre minions. Soon, berserkers astride spike-covered war wagons chased shieldmarshals across the desert, practically eliminating the viability of gun runs.
One summer, a band of daring shieldmarshals ranged deep into the Western Ravage and located Lord Gorge’s war camp. At the cost of many lives, they relayed the camp’s coordinates to the Gunworks. Once the coordinates were received, a single blast from the Maw of Rovagug obliterated the camp and Lord Gorge along with it. Without their leader, the might of the united war bands was shattered at last.
The returning shieldmarshals were hailed as heroes and formed into a new special unit called the Ravage Raiders. These elite commandos were charged with patrolling the Mana Wastes to ensure no Slug war bands ever united again. However, some whisper rumors that a new power is emerging along the Western Ravage. Supposedly, one of Lord Gorge’s daughters survived the blast that killed her father and is looking for a way to continue Gorge’s bloody legacy. Harnessing the rogue magic of the Spellscar Desert, she purposefully mutates her giant servants so they can breathe underwater, burrow underground, and, in some cases, fly. If her efforts are allowed to continue, “Lordess Gorge” will soon have a force of mutated raiders far surpassing the original Slugs of the Wastes.
NOTABLE PERSONALITIES
The Gunworks is filled with a strange blend of personalities, ranging from eccentric intellectuals who pursue knowledge for its own sake to leathery roughnecks whose gruff and ruthless personalities make them well-suited to guarding the remote outpost.DELLA SANGREY
Della Sangrey is the head metallurgist of the Tower of Metallurgy. All in the Gunworks recognize her brilliance, even though she has a habit of speaking slowly and overexplaining things to those she deems her intellectual inferior, which is nearly everyone. Sangrey is meticulous in her methods and teaches the same precision to her students when overseeing their (often quite dangerous) experiments. Outside the scientific arena, she is considerably more flexible and has a reputation for bending rules and finding loopholes in pursuit of the greater good. She frequently associates with adventurers who display a similar willingness to play outside the lines and often pays them to procure rare materials for her research.
ERDRIK MARTH
Erdrik Marth is chief engineer of the Tower of Engineering. He’s an excitable man, small in stature, with a habit of speaking in hurried bursts. Although he finds the longstanding rivalry between the Tower of Engineering and the Tower of Metallurgy a tad childish, he nevertheless finds himself frequently at odds with Della Sangrey. Erdrik has a fascination with the ancient golems and constructs of the Spellscar Desert. Every year, he takes a monthlong sabbatical and leads a group of hired adventurers into the bizarre wasteland to excavate mechanical wonders from the hard-packed soil.
Erdrik was raised by a rock gnome named Olteo, who taught Erdrik everything he knew about metalworking and artisanship. Deeply passionate about his work, Erdrik saves his highest respect for other engineers and artisans. According to the customary bylaws of the Tower of Engineering, Erdrik is bound to meet with any visitor to the tower who requests an audience. After several months of particularly annoying petitioners seeking his engineering expertise, Erdrik had a complex mechanical door installed in his office—part vault door and part puzzle. Visitors are still welcome to visit Erdrik any time they please, provided they can figure out how to open his door.
GOLTOR BAIRD
The current leader of the Ravage Raiders is Goltor Baird, a half-giant ranger with decades of wasteland experience. Goltor grew up among the Slugs of the Wastes and served under Lord Gorge during his reign of terror. The course of her life changed when a band of shieldmarshals, led by a young Loy Ayton, cornered and slaughtered Goltor’s war band. Loy sensed something unusual in Goltor and ultimately decided to spare the young ranger’s life. She joined the Ravage Raiders soon after and has served them loyally ever since.
Goltor assumed command of the Ravage Raiders four years ago after a mutated blue dragon with eight eyes and spider-like pincers ate her predecessor. She still hunts for the dragon, named Y’maxxinara, to this day.
LOY AYTON
Loy Ayton is the Gunworks’ garrison commander. Although he’s ostensibly in charge of the entire fortress, Loy usually allows Della Sangrey and Erdrik Marth to run their towers with little intervention. Now in his later years, he’s a surprisingly laconic man whose typical leadership style is to let non-fatal matters work themselves out. Ayton runs things by the book and is usually content to follow all the necessary bureaucratic protocols, even if they take unreasonably long. Once his mind is made up, however, he is quick to act and unbending in his convictions. Although one could scarcely guess it by his easy manner, Loy is a battle-hardened gunslinger who has served in countless dangerous missions throughout the wastelands. He has an uncanny eye for talent and for solving multiple problems simultaneously, especially when it comes to trading favors with visiting adventurers.
THE THUNDER FAIR
Every year during the height of summer, pavilions are erected, dozens of boats dock along the riverside, and the wealthy elite of Alkenstar arrive to see the latest wonders manufactured by the minds of the Gunworks. This festival, called the Thunder Fair, is the main battleground in the intense rivalry between the Tower of Metallurgy and the Tower of Engineering.The Thunder Fair’s most spectacular and hotly anticipated competition is called the Bombard Battle. In the days before the fair, the towers set up boulders (and sometimes statues) at intervals in the desert beyond the Gunworks’ walls. The factions then compete to see who can demolish the boulders most effectively and at the greatest range, while spectators watch from a safe distance with spyglasses. The Bombard Battle keeps adventurers in demand year-round at the Gunworks, as each tower constantly work to secure rare reagents for testing their latest engines of destruction. Most years, the grand duchess or her most trusted bureaucrats personally attend the Bombard Battle, making note of promising inventions that should receive grants from the Grand Duchy of Alkenstar.
Past Thunder Fairs were plagued by attacks from mutated titan centipedes (Pathfinder Bestiary 2 50; burrow speed of 50 feet instead of climb speed). These beasts seem attracted to the explosions that pulverize the desert sands during the festival. To keep the centipede numbers down, the garrison commander annually honors the bravest and most cunning badlands rangers with the position of wastehunter. Each wastehunter leads a hunting party that scours the desert for miles around the citadel. The hunts almost always encounter at least a few centipedes, and the battles are fierce and deadly, but the result is a safe Thunder Fair. By the end of the month, up to half a dozen titan centipede heads are mounted above the gates of the Gunworks where they remain as grisly trophies for the duration of the Thunder Fair.
Another unique Thunder Fair attraction is blast lancing. Blast lancing bouts are essentially jousting tournaments, except the jousters ride clockwork steeds and carry special weapons called blast lances (page 74). The blast lance delivers a powerful blast upon striking an opponent, occasionally throwing a rider up to a dozen feet from their mount. To mitigate the fatal nature of blast lancing contests (severe injuries and death are common occurrences), wealthy contestants often enter clockwork jousters into the competition in their stead. Nowadays, roughly half the jousters in blast lancing bouts are constructs. Of course, young and foolhardy aristocrats eagerly compete each year, and many do so with the protection of specially reinforced plate armor. The winner of last year’s blast lancing tournament was a mysterious figure whose name on the tourney bracket was Sable Clockwork. The stoic competitor appeared in a suit of full plate mail festooned with gears and powered by clockwork windings. The figure spoke no words during the entire tournament and bested each challenger with unmatched skill. None can say for sure whether Sable Clockwork was a construct or actually a living person hidden beneath the suit of armor. Sable Clockwork is the talk of the upcoming Thunder Fair, and all hope for the enigmatic jouster’s return.
This year, special foreign security measures are underway; according to rumors, a group of powerful thieves calling themselves the Wraith Council is planning a heist at the upcoming Thunder Fair. The thieves are rumored to be remnants of distant Westcrown’s defunct but legendary Council of Thieves. When Cheliax caught wind of the rumors, the country sent a contingent of Hellknights from the Order of the Gate to the Gunworks to apprehend the rogues. The Hellknights are led by Signifer Dolazzan, who claims to have special knowledge of the Wraith Council and has asked shieldmarshals to aid Cheliax in preventing the upcoming heist. So far, Dolazzan’s entreaties have been rudely rebuffed. Many at the Gunworks speculate about the Order of the Gate’s arrival, since this branch of Hellknights is known to specialize in conjuring and summoning outsiders. The order’s presence in Alkenstar could indicate a potential extraplanar threat, though Dolazzan has remained tight-lipped on the matter until he secures local aid.
LOCATIONS
The following locations correspond to the map of the Gunworks on page 70.1. STOCKYARD
In addition to larders of grain and preserved foods, the Gunworks also maintains a large herd of cattle that keeps the garrison supplied with fresh meat year-round. Since raiders are a constant danger, the herd is typically moved within the fortress walls at night and kept within this fenced area. During the day, they are let out to graze on the dry grasses surrounding the keep under the watchful eye of Clif Warken, the head cattle hand.
Several times per year, Clif is provided with a large stipend to purchase new cattle for the Gunworks. For the past several years running, instead of buying normal cattle, he’s purchased stolen cattle from cattle rustlers for half the price and pocketed the difference. He has yet to be caught, further emboldening him to experiment with smuggling illicit goods into the fortress at night along with the herd.
2. LAST STOP SALOON
This large saloon is the last watering hole for adventurers headed from Alkenstar to the Western Ravage. The saloon is frequented by a wide variety of gunslingers, card sharks, and deadly mercenaries in addition to off-duty shieldmarshals. Due to the local presence the Ravage Raiders, many of whom are half-ogre or half-giant, roughly a third of the furniture and lodgings in the saloon are sized for Large creatures. A wide porch runs around the entire saloon, from which gunslingers lounging in rocking chairs size up the Gunworks’ newest arrivals.
The proprietor of the inn is a retired one-eyed ranger called Hatchet. No one knows Hatchet’s real name, despite much speculation by saloon regulars. Hatchet remains tightlipped on the issue. Some say he is merely stoic, while others say Hatchet has a troubled past and built the Last Stop Saloon to lay low on the edge of civilization.
The saloon gets rowdy during afternoons and evenings. A popular drinking game involves ordering a round of shots every time the patrons hear a boom outside (which is often, due to the constant testing of explosives and black powder in the Gunworks). Years ago, an adventuring band returned to the saloon with the skull of a half-giant skald from a Slug war band. During mana storms, this skull—now mounted on the wall over the bar—takes on a life of its own and sings guttural battle ballads. Regulars know the words to these songs by now, but newcomers often gawk in horror.
3. TOWER OF METALLURGY
Inside this reinforced tower, Alkenstar’s finest alchemists and metallurgists continually devise new alloys and explosive compounds under the guidance of Master Metallurgist Della Sangrey. The tower’s rank-and-file researchers live in dormitories on the upper floors, while the lower levels house labs with workbenches covered in pipes and beakers and vials used for testing chemical compounds—an area the metallurgists call the Glassworks. Under the ground floor is the Hall of Crucibles, a cavernous chamber dominated by two enormous crucibles used to smelt new alloys and a dozen smaller crucibles for test batches.
Further down, in a hallway known only to Della and a few of the tower’s oldest metallurgists, is a locked adamantine door. Years ago, an experiment developing a self-repairing alloy ran awry, and the newly created metal began growing through the labs of the tower, slowly consuming everything in its path. Attempts to destroy the metal proved fruitless, so the metallurgists sealed away the infected portion of the tower with an adamantine door, which has remained closed ever since. Not even Della knows what lies on the other side or what has become of the all-consuming metal in the years since it was isolated from the rest of the tower.
4. TOWER OF ENGINEERING
Chief Engineer Erdrik Marth supervises operations within the Tower of Engineering, where the region’s best engineers design and construct large guns and siege weaponry for Alkenstar’s holdings. The engineers live in dormitories on the upper floors, while the tower’s middle floors consist of crafting workshops. The ground floor, a hangar filled with the largest weapons of war currently under development, is known as the Hall of Siegecraft.
On the roof of the tower, visible from the plains outside the Gunworks, is an incredibly complex machine of winding gears and intricate mechanisms that the engineers affectionately named the Machine Ponderous. A small diamond rotates inside the heart of the fiendishly complex machine. To gain admission to the Tower of Engineering, applicants must retrieve the diamond without disrupting the device. Few who try this test succeed; those who do not only gain admittance to the prestigious Tower of Engineering but they also get to keep the valuable diamond.
5. MANUFACTORY
The majority of Alkenstar’s firearms are crafted in this long, low building. Most of the Gunworks’ engineers and metallurgists long ago lost interest in the rote construction of mass-produced firearms, so they constructed this building, which serves as a clockwork assembly line. Only a handful of technicians are required to ensure the assembly line’s smooth operation, allowing most of the Gunworks’ occupants to focus their attentions on more interesting projects and experiments. A mana storm recently swept over the Gunworks and, unbeknownst to anyone, bestowed a mysterious sentience upon the network of clockwork machines within the Manufactory. Overwhelmed by its sudden powers of cognition, the clockwork network has so far not revealed its self-awareness; rather, the cogs of its mechanical mind are formulating far-reaching plans.
6. GARRISON TOWER
Approximately 300 shieldmarshals live within this large tower under the disciplined eye of Garrison Commander Loy Ayton. Many of Alkenstar’s greenest, most adventurous shieldmarshals specifically request a post at the Gunworks in the hopes of seeing action in the Western Ravage. To counteract the spirited nature of his inexperienced garrison, Loy runs operations with militaristic precision and ensures new recruits are too exhausted to even think of starting trouble for trouble’s sake. In time, recruits who prove themselves capable are recommended for promotion to the Ravage Raiders, which is where the real action lies.
7. RAVAGE RAIDER BUNKER
The Ravage Raiders unit was established as an elite shieldmarshal force charged with scouting and obstructing the Slug war bands roving the Western Ravage. Over the years, their membership grew to include many orcs, half-ogres, and mutants, whose unique ancestries make them particularly well-suited to infiltrating, gathering information, and sabotaging the fearsome wasteland raider gangs. Due to the extreme danger of the Ravage Raiders’ missions, only the most skilled shieldmarshals are promoted to this respected unit.
The current leader of the Ravage Raiders is Goltor Baird, a half-giant ranger with decades of experience.
8. MAW OF ROVAGUG
The Maw of Rovagug, the second-largest cannon in all Golarion, stands atop this tower, which is itself part of the cannon’s complex machinery. A huge platform allows the Maw to rotate 360 degrees and fire in any direction. The interior of the tower is filled with clockwork elevators that lift the cannon’s massive ammunition rounds from storage to the roof. The cannon is capable of protecting the walls of Alkenstar up to a range of nearly 50 miles. Firing such great distances requires careful planning, calculation, and patience to avoid wasting both time and pricey ammunition. To ensure their strikes land true, the Gunworks sends outriders to scout wasteland targets and relay information back to the Gunworks to calibrate the giant gun’s angle and direction. Specially trained hawks and other animals often relay messages between outriders and the Gunworks to avoid either side having to rely on spells or magic items, which can be risky during mana storms.
9. ARTIFICERS’ MARKET
After the day’s work is done and the Mana Wastes descend into a hauntingly beautiful twilight, the small marketplace behind the Gunworks’ walls comes alive. Engineers and metallurgists ply their scraps, personal experiments, and duds in equal measure. Ostensibly, all the firearms crafted at the Gunworks are for the use of Alkenstar citizens only. In reality, the city’s bureaucrats long ago gave up trying to shut down this gray market, as prohibition only drove the sales underground. Alkenstar politicians feign ignorance of the Artificers’ Market as long as Gunworks inhabitants agree to sell their goods only to citizens of Alkenstar and not foreigners.
Adventurers heading into the Western Ravage often stop at the market to purchase weapons and armor. The engineers treat such adventurers as both customers and research assistants, and many sellers are willing to vend their more experimental wares at steep discounts to those who agree to report their experiences with the unproven technology.
10. LAKE DOCK
Located just outside the Gunworks’ walls, these stone buildings are sometimes raided by agile Slug war bands seeking an easy score. The docks supply the fortress with material from Alkenstar via boat along the Ustradi River. To discourage raiders, shieldmarshals greet every newly arriving ship and help unload cargo to get it inside the fortress as fast as possible. The docks have been burned and rebuilt dozens of times over the years. Some claim bricked-over rooms and buried sublevels exist within the structures, sealed away and long forgotten.
Although it has the capacity to produce many firearms, the Gunworks has long kept production levels artificially low. This has always rankled the minds of some of the Gunworks’ most ardent creators, who prefer to produce a wide variety of weapons for experimentation and testing. For centuries, many of these artificers circumvented production-limiting mandates by dumping excess weaponry into Lake Ustradi, which is quite deep even just a few dozen yards from the docks. Loy Ayton put an end to this wasteful insubordination, but decades of discarded experimental technology remains lost at the bottom of the murky waters.
11. THE COLLAPSED TOWER
Over a decade ago, testing of a new explosive compound triggered a chain reaction that collapsed an entire wing of the Gunworks. Upon investigation, adventurers found a series of strange tunnels beneath the rubble predating construction of the citadel. After several adventurers went missing, the garrison commander sealed the tunnel entrance with a heavy steel door and ordered all excavation to cease.
In recent years, perhaps disturbed at the thought of compromising unknown tunnels beneath the fortress, Loy Ayton has reconsidered this approach. The doors now stand open from dawn to dusk each day and the garrison commander pays a bounty to adventurers willing to venture into the caves and return with maps of the tunnels. Initial forays revealed tortuous tunnels and extensive caverns. The upper caves are said to be inhabited by roaming colonies of mobile fungi, unusual insects, and—if the wilder rumors are to be believed— bands of mutant humanoids with mole-like features. Several adventurers returned to the surface bearing ancient Nexian artifacts, indicating undiscovered ruins may lie deeper in the tunnels.
Newly sketched maps of the tunnels (often of dubious value) are common gambling items at the Last Stop Saloon, sometimes trading hands several times per night.