Volkanita

Description

Volkanita, colloquially referred to as "Volk" or simply "the swamp", is mostly a saltwater swamp laying several days ride east of Hilly Holes. Because the swamp portion of Volkanita is heavily influenced by the twice daily rise and fall of the tides of the eastern sea, they are subject to rapid changes in salinity, temperature and water depth. These rises and falls have been used to split Volkanita into two sectors, the "Low Swamp" floods twice daily with the tides and make up the majority of the region, while the so-called "High Swamp" floods only during storms and unusually high tides and exists as a slightly drier band only a couple miles between the dry land bordering Hilly Holes and the Low Swamp.

The people of Volkanita dwell mostly in the High Swamp section of the region in widely scattered villages of stilted huts. They are an extremely insular and crude people who are highly distrustful of outsiders. Inbreeding is common among them, as is cannibalism, and it is not unheard of for them to lead those traveling through their lands deep into the Low Swamp for ambush or to simply leave them to their fate. They live off the plants and animals of the Low Swarmp, and it is not uncommon for one village to raid another in lean times. The people of Volkanita learn to swim almost as soon as they learn to walk and are taught the secret ways and trails and dangers of the Low Swamp before reaching the age of majority. When threatened by a large outside force (as they have multiple times in the past) the typical response by the swamp-dwellers is to burn their villages and make their way into hiding in the Low Swamp and simply out-waiting their would be conquers, letting them stew in the brackish water that they have long grown used to. History shows that this simple tactic has proven effective, and even when an outside force have claimed domination over the region, the claim has rarely outlasted the withdraw of troops from the region.

Deep within the Low Swamp is one of the few worked stone buildings in the entire region. Looking like nothing so much as a small stone well of unknowable age with a low slate roof rising out of the foul smelling brown and brackish water of the swamp, those who have dared to peer within it's moss covered wall have found a deep and dry shaft that no light can seem to penetrate and that disgorges a dry warm breeze. This is the local Temple of the Apostles of the Abyss, and deep within the darkness, profane rites and incantations neigh forgotten by the more civilized world are chanted and sacrifices of human flesh are made in the names of the Daimons worshiped by the cult.

A few items of note are exported from Volkanita. Blue Ikrif, distantly related to the mountainous breed of Ikrif grown in the Far East, grows in clumps near mires in the Low Swamp and is gathered during the summer months. Blue Ikrif is a a flowering plant of eggshell blue hue that the leaves of which are dried and ground and smoked in small pipes of metal or cypresswood. Highly intoxicating, Blue Ikrif causes hallucinations, bodily euphoria, feelings of paranoia, apathy and indifference among users. Some users have stated that they have been visited by the spirits of the dead during Blue Ikrif use, but this is generally regarded as pipe dream. Due to it's difficulty to gather and rarity on the market, few beside nobles and rich merchants can afford to partake in Blue Ikrif, but it's highly addictive qualities insures that there is a steady market for it. Other noteworthy exports are Volkanita crocodile hides, which are used to make nice thick leather items like armor and saddles, and Swamp Cat furs, which are naturally water resistant and used to make cloaks.

-Vlad

February 16, 2009 by Bakkhaenal

Statues and Monuments

This region might also have a page on the wiki