The Valley of Smoke
Hundreds of miles from the nearest civilization, deep in the heart of the Plains of Avarice, sits the mysterious Factory—a massive monument to the advanced war machines that populate Crudilex. This land has come to be called the Valley of Smoke, due to the cyclopean stacks that blacken the sky. The inner valley is inhospitable for any non-warforged, with extended stays causing serious respiratory problems.
The edges of the valley are lined with small but active volcanoes, constantly spewing magma that flows north to south through the region. The two standout districts of the valley are the Gold and Grey Wards, each detailed below. This enigmatic location is only made more mysterious by its owner: the reclusive genius...
Battlemaps set in this location
Goldward
Goldward gets its name from the ornate gold and bronze coloring that adorns nearly all buildings, constructs, and creatures who call it home. Each bears an undeniable elegance, reminiscent of the masterwork of Maestro, who crafted this place to his exact specifications with meticulous attention to detail.
At the heart of Goldward stands a grand spire, its shadow stretching across the district: the Portunmenti, or "Key of Progress." This magnificent obelisk is constructed around its central feature—the world’s last active warforge. An arcane furnace resides within, and when an artifact is tossed inside, a mechanical humanoid simulacrum emerges, imbued with sentience and a facsimile of the artifact that birthed it.
Greyward
Greyward is home to the majority of the population in the Valley of Smoke.
The Masterpiece of Business
Duke Halmer
Duke of Greyward, Duke Halmer is a towering, smoke-spewing merchant of airships and automata. He lords over the Warforged, commanding the endless mining of rare materials needed to fuel the machines of the factory. Halmer is driven by a singular focus: maximizing the profits he delivers to his master in the factory.
Business is his nature, and he acts in that interest with unwavering predictability.
The Masterpiece of Creation
Duke Maestro
Duke of Goldward, Maestro is a grand golden Warforged who resembles an astrological clock or a tarot card more than a machine built for conquest. Renowned as the greatest musician on Crudilex, with a mind sharpened for creativity far beyond mortal capability, Maestro is a sight to behold. His charge is predicting the next great innovations in engineering and pushing the world forward—a feat he is, some might say, far too adept at achieving.
The Outriders
The mounted tribes of Outriders are wild enough to hunt for fragments using any means necessary. They down automota, shatter totemic caravans, and even fight aberrations. These madmen are survivors in the aftermath of the Great Fall, and they have nothing left to lose.
The Outriders are feared almost as much as the monsters of the plains, precisely because they look death in the face and, instead of fleeing, scream war cries and embrace it.
Around the City
Lesser Location
The
CULTURE
Rulership
The Dukes act as the leaders of the Valley of Smoke, but they are the creations of Caspian Lark, its true baron. However, as Caspian has seemingly never left the Factory, it’s difficult to declare him as anything more than a legend.
The city is protected by the Bronze Legion, an army of automata created by Maestro and commanded by Halmer.
Events
Turmoil
Supplying Innovation
The machines of conquest created in the Factory seldom remain there. They find their way to every corner of the world, often missing a single component needed to operate them: fragments of IV. Each nation receives variants tailored to their specific needs. In nearly endless supply, these titanic weapons of war simply appear outside the Factory, crafted to their specifications. The world wields these weapons like cudgels and engages in wars among themselves for their fuel: the fragments.