Post by Emmarie on Jun 21, 2011 18:32:05 GMT -5
BACKGROUND
The Trak'an Myr Swamp was not always a swamp. Several millenia ago, it was a vast plain of windswept grasses in the shadow of mountains. Over time, rivers shifted, forming an alluvial plain. A large forest grew, attracting wood elves, fey, orcs, arachnids, green dragons and woodcutters. This is how it remained for thousands of years. Nearly 500 years ago an earthquake wracked the land and the wetlands were created. A shallow valley formed and began collecting runoff from the mountains and highlands around it. The estuaries, alluvial plain, and rivers all merged becoming the Trak'an Myr Swamp.
The name of the swamp varies from culture to culture, it's known by dozens of names but the common name "Trak'an Myr" is most prolific. The forest kh'ron call it "The Sinking Forest", "Soggy Bottom" by the ag'kh'ron, "Forlorn Swamp" by some who live in and around it, and even "Monster Mire" by many of the villages within a day's ride of the edges. Quagmire druids, and swamp rangers refer to it by a nicer name, "Wildwood Quag".
"Auldmallow Marsh" is also part of the "Trak'an Myr", as there are numerous areas of the massive swamp that are named.
Not everyone feels that Trak'an Myr is as bad as it's made out to be. Find a Quagmire Druid, or a Swamp Ranger and they'll tell you of the beauty of the swamp.
Of course, those that live in the Thicket, a much more peaceful area, don't have the same fears as those that venture into the Backswamp, which is deadly and spawns unholy monsters some never seen before.
Only hand drawn maps exist of this area, some areas more well known than others. There is one tome that contains these hand drawn maps plus all the information gathered over seventeen years of study, by the halfling Ineus Shortfellow, called "Cyclopedia of Swamp Environment and Cultures".
GEOGRAPHY
Drak'an Myr is surrounded by freshwater marshes (Auldmallow Marsh the largest), wet prairies, soggy savannahs, marshy ponds dominated by giant cutgrass, green arrow arum and spider-lilies - prime habitat for alligators and insect larvae. Around the marshlands are peat filled bays, waterlogged copses filled with standing water for most of the year. On the southwest side within the floodplain are several hardwood bottomland forests where stately oaks strung with moss, hickories and sycamores tower over the area.
Cutting through the center of Drak'an Myr are two major rivers that merge, the slow moving (1 mph) Hulya River that moves northeast then cuts to the west, and the muddy Duv'vel River that flows (3 mph) southeast through the Big Frog Lake. These wide (Duv'vel reaches up to 35 miles wide and up to 200 feet deep! Hulya up to 15 miles wide 75 feet deep) alluvial rivers move their sluggish waters towards the sea. There is also a smaller tributary that flows off of the Duv'vel, and one that flows from Farmere into the Hulya.
Hulya River is home to at least one family of elasmosauras dinosaurs, often mistaken for large snakes as they swim partially exposed along the water surface. An infestation of chuul plagues the eastern end of the river, as do giant constrictors and their naga mistresses. It tumbles down from the mountains, filling a series of calderas as it flows into the swamp, which are known as the Cauldrons. One caldera, called the Underground Forest, is 23,000 feet deep and it's floor is lined with lush vegetation including mobile carnivorous plants. There are numerous dire animals and dinosaurs in this area as well.
Big Frog Lake is a rather large lake created by the Duv'vel, halfway across the swamp towards the sea.
THE THICKET
The more peaceful section of the swamp is called The Thicket. It includes the entire southwest end of the swamp and the border area around the Backswamp. It is only as dangerous as ignorance allows. There are alligators, and the area is filled with white-tailed deer, raccoons, opposum, frogs, skunks, crabs, fish and other common creatures of various sizes. Common bats catch insects while birds sing their mating tunes.
The people of the bayous harvest swamp moss, crawfish, shrimp, crabs and oysters while avoiding the cottonmouth and copperhead snakes, biting flies, black widow spiders and wasps. Mosquitos are eaten by the dragonflies. Lizards and skinks and all manner of common snakes are found here. The Thicket is a fairly mundane and subtle place. Those that have no knowledge of the environment MUST have a guide to even venture into the Thicket.
Travelers on foot can wade through The Thicket at a rate of 8 miles a day. Punting a bateau boat you can traverse 15 miles, that's giving 16 hours of travel and 8 hours of sleep. If a ranger or quag druid accompanies the group, the walking speed is 12 miles in a day.
THE BACKSWAMP
As one gets closer to the heart of the swamp (Known as the Deadmire or Haunted Swamp), you begin to find monstrous versions of swamp creatures. Dinosaurs and a black dragon or two finds their home here. Foul Frogs and Mudbugs await those that travel this deep. You can also find ettercaps, stirges, shambling mounds, assassin vines, lizardfolk, and the ankheg. You'll also find a few black dragons, a nest of harpies, and the submerged cave of a medusa and water naga. You can traverse the Backswamp 5 miles a day, or by punting a bateua boat you can move 12 hours a day. A ranger or druid allows for 8 miles a day by foot.
THE DEADMIRE
At the heart of this swamp lies an area of perverted evil nature. Wicked monsters, dire and voracious animals and twisted and dangerous fauna. This is where the sunken city of Nostira is located, various bits and pieces of the city poking out of the swamp's surface.
Carved on the side of one temple a few fragments in the old language necronian of Nostira can be read, "..a goddess angered...transgressions...great flood...trees sinking...elves gone....plague upon the land..." A great earthquake shifted the rivers and lowered the forest several feet. The elves left, and the evil came in the form of necromancers.
On foot you can wade through the Deadmire at 4 miles per day, punting a bateau boat allows for 11 miles a day. Druids and rangers know very little about the Deadmire and are of no help for navigation.
[Note: I am using the book Dreadmire a d20 book I own, for inspiration and usage for this area for my questing!]
The Trak'an Myr Swamp was not always a swamp. Several millenia ago, it was a vast plain of windswept grasses in the shadow of mountains. Over time, rivers shifted, forming an alluvial plain. A large forest grew, attracting wood elves, fey, orcs, arachnids, green dragons and woodcutters. This is how it remained for thousands of years. Nearly 500 years ago an earthquake wracked the land and the wetlands were created. A shallow valley formed and began collecting runoff from the mountains and highlands around it. The estuaries, alluvial plain, and rivers all merged becoming the Trak'an Myr Swamp.
The name of the swamp varies from culture to culture, it's known by dozens of names but the common name "Trak'an Myr" is most prolific. The forest kh'ron call it "The Sinking Forest", "Soggy Bottom" by the ag'kh'ron, "Forlorn Swamp" by some who live in and around it, and even "Monster Mire" by many of the villages within a day's ride of the edges. Quagmire druids, and swamp rangers refer to it by a nicer name, "Wildwood Quag".
"Auldmallow Marsh" is also part of the "Trak'an Myr", as there are numerous areas of the massive swamp that are named.
Not everyone feels that Trak'an Myr is as bad as it's made out to be. Find a Quagmire Druid, or a Swamp Ranger and they'll tell you of the beauty of the swamp.
"I wish the farmers would understand that Wildwood Quag is a dichotomy, where on one hand it's a refuge for dangerous creatures, and on the other it's a forest of inestimable beauty and complexity, providing herbal cures and natural balance as a watershed for the entire region." -- Dolo Lightwind, Water Kh'ron Swamp Ranger
"Da key ta livin' off de Soggy Bottom is ta be 'ware of ya surroundin' at all times cause if ya stop too longs ta smell de water lilies, a monster eat ya every time." -- Goodeaux Undermarsh, halfling resident
Of course, those that live in the Thicket, a much more peaceful area, don't have the same fears as those that venture into the Backswamp, which is deadly and spawns unholy monsters some never seen before.
Only hand drawn maps exist of this area, some areas more well known than others. There is one tome that contains these hand drawn maps plus all the information gathered over seventeen years of study, by the halfling Ineus Shortfellow, called "Cyclopedia of Swamp Environment and Cultures".
GEOGRAPHY
Drak'an Myr is surrounded by freshwater marshes (Auldmallow Marsh the largest), wet prairies, soggy savannahs, marshy ponds dominated by giant cutgrass, green arrow arum and spider-lilies - prime habitat for alligators and insect larvae. Around the marshlands are peat filled bays, waterlogged copses filled with standing water for most of the year. On the southwest side within the floodplain are several hardwood bottomland forests where stately oaks strung with moss, hickories and sycamores tower over the area.
Cutting through the center of Drak'an Myr are two major rivers that merge, the slow moving (1 mph) Hulya River that moves northeast then cuts to the west, and the muddy Duv'vel River that flows (3 mph) southeast through the Big Frog Lake. These wide (Duv'vel reaches up to 35 miles wide and up to 200 feet deep! Hulya up to 15 miles wide 75 feet deep) alluvial rivers move their sluggish waters towards the sea. There is also a smaller tributary that flows off of the Duv'vel, and one that flows from Farmere into the Hulya.
Hulya River is home to at least one family of elasmosauras dinosaurs, often mistaken for large snakes as they swim partially exposed along the water surface. An infestation of chuul plagues the eastern end of the river, as do giant constrictors and their naga mistresses. It tumbles down from the mountains, filling a series of calderas as it flows into the swamp, which are known as the Cauldrons. One caldera, called the Underground Forest, is 23,000 feet deep and it's floor is lined with lush vegetation including mobile carnivorous plants. There are numerous dire animals and dinosaurs in this area as well.
Big Frog Lake is a rather large lake created by the Duv'vel, halfway across the swamp towards the sea.
THE THICKET
The more peaceful section of the swamp is called The Thicket. It includes the entire southwest end of the swamp and the border area around the Backswamp. It is only as dangerous as ignorance allows. There are alligators, and the area is filled with white-tailed deer, raccoons, opposum, frogs, skunks, crabs, fish and other common creatures of various sizes. Common bats catch insects while birds sing their mating tunes.
The people of the bayous harvest swamp moss, crawfish, shrimp, crabs and oysters while avoiding the cottonmouth and copperhead snakes, biting flies, black widow spiders and wasps. Mosquitos are eaten by the dragonflies. Lizards and skinks and all manner of common snakes are found here. The Thicket is a fairly mundane and subtle place. Those that have no knowledge of the environment MUST have a guide to even venture into the Thicket.
Travelers on foot can wade through The Thicket at a rate of 8 miles a day. Punting a bateau boat you can traverse 15 miles, that's giving 16 hours of travel and 8 hours of sleep. If a ranger or quag druid accompanies the group, the walking speed is 12 miles in a day.
THE BACKSWAMP
As one gets closer to the heart of the swamp (Known as the Deadmire or Haunted Swamp), you begin to find monstrous versions of swamp creatures. Dinosaurs and a black dragon or two finds their home here. Foul Frogs and Mudbugs await those that travel this deep. You can also find ettercaps, stirges, shambling mounds, assassin vines, lizardfolk, and the ankheg. You'll also find a few black dragons, a nest of harpies, and the submerged cave of a medusa and water naga. You can traverse the Backswamp 5 miles a day, or by punting a bateua boat you can move 12 hours a day. A ranger or druid allows for 8 miles a day by foot.
THE DEADMIRE
At the heart of this swamp lies an area of perverted evil nature. Wicked monsters, dire and voracious animals and twisted and dangerous fauna. This is where the sunken city of Nostira is located, various bits and pieces of the city poking out of the swamp's surface.
Carved on the side of one temple a few fragments in the old language necronian of Nostira can be read, "..a goddess angered...transgressions...great flood...trees sinking...elves gone....plague upon the land..." A great earthquake shifted the rivers and lowered the forest several feet. The elves left, and the evil came in the form of necromancers.
On foot you can wade through the Deadmire at 4 miles per day, punting a bateau boat allows for 11 miles a day. Druids and rangers know very little about the Deadmire and are of no help for navigation.
[Note: I am using the book Dreadmire a d20 book I own, for inspiration and usage for this area for my questing!]
