Things you never thought you’d want to know about the Iron Kingdoms:

• The name of the planet the Iron Kindoms setting takes place on is Caen.
• Caen has three moons, Calder, Laris, and Artis.
• Calder has a lunar month of 28 days, Laris has a lunar month of 91 days, and Artis has a lunar month of 121 days.
• The predominant modern calendar in the Iron Kingdoms is based upon the Rhulic calendar, and has thirteen months of exactly 28 days, each with four seven day weeks.

I suppose we didn’t really expect to get the IKCG in April of this year, though there was talk of it being sent to the printers “for April.” This is now being interpreted as meaning that the printers should have everything by May, will subsequently print it, and it will hit the streets by some time in… 2043. In a continuing effort to keep the decreasingly-rabid fanbase interest piqued, the folks at Privateer Press have released another peek Behind the Iron Curtain. This time we get a rather neato grayscale image (presumably from the book) and some historical information about the tenative peace between Cygnar, Llael, Ord, and Khador (the Iron Kingdoms proper).

This version of the Iron Kingdoms history varies a bit from my previous understanding of things (as it implies that the Protectorate of Menoth, the Scharde Islands, Rhul, and Ios were signatories to the treaty). Older history info implied that the Corvis Treaties were specifically crafted to ensure an end to hostilities between the four human counties on the continent (the Protectorate did not yet exist, and Rhul and Ios simply weren’t involved). Perhaps it’s just some tricky wording in the second sentence throwing me for a loop.

Privateer Press has intensified its keeping-the-customers-tantalized campaign, and appears now to be making good on EIC Joe Martin’s promise to give us glimpses of the upcoming Iron Kingdoms Character Guide and Iron Kingdoms World Guide until such time as they are actually printed and distributed. The most recent installment includes a look at the names and prerequisites of new feats, as well as a chart of class skills for classes unique to the Iron Kingdoms. This is, I must admit, exactly the kind of information that doesn’t terribly interest me, but it is good to see that real progress is actually being made. I look forward to the next installment of the “Behind the Iron Curtain” articles.