By:Zakri Kneebone
Date: (Insert Info Here)
Edited by: nyet
TARRIEN BOG
The TARRIEN is...
-An old way of...
--Teaching the youth to spell.
--Seeing the grave.
--Telling a story.
--Making weapons and warriors.
-A clan that seeks complete perfection.
-Forever building a secret cove in the hill...
--Where savage elves of Kelsha can hide from their jailors.
-Seeking more than a crop...
--A bear.
--An eagle.
--A derelict fox.
--A fish with a belly full of row.
--A marra hiding beneath banedread bramble.
--A magical trident made of jade.
-Speaking where...
--Rafts of the abandoned hamlet rot.
--Shards of painted red clay strewn with black beads.
Year Established: The borders with Belniran were informally demarcated in 4E3A, 1991 (2010 BC). The lizard folk have never ventured far beyond the physical confines of the Bog.
Ruler: Graentig Yosh Ishishik
Ruler's Titles: Great Holy High Wizard Lizard, Lord of Ishik, The Fine-seed.
Capital: Hh'tsi
Population: 540,000
Government Type: Confederated Tribalism. Ruling caste is chosen every ten years by a grueling physical challenge of representative members from each of the five major bloodlines. The winner becomes the ruling class for next ten years. Intratribal affairs use the tuath system. There are patriarchs among the family units, each reporting to the tribal King. The King in turn answers to the High King.
Government Stability: Technically unstable since there is constant contention for power, although the current form of government has remained in place for centuries and the current dynasty has ruled for 54 years.
Climate: Subtropical swamp.
Languages: Draconic, Dwarven, Common
Currency: No legal tender or coinage. Some foreign currencies can be acceptable barter.
Technology Level: Dark Ages
Wealth: Poor
Allies & Alliances: Proffyt
Enemies & Rivals: Aytheon, Shattered Lands
Demographics: Lizardmen 96%, Savage Elves 2%, Others 2%
National Colors: Green and white.
Natural Resources and Manufactured Goods: Fish, pottery, clay, fruit, tree sap products, wine, small arms, especially polearms. Potable plant tinctures of benign and malign disposition.
Primary Religion: The most powerful faith is the Order of Light.
Other Religions: List the others here.
Terrain: Swamp
Description: The Tarrien Bog is a like a hot, steamy bowl of onion soup. It consists of a large swollen basin carved from the mountains by a stray comet in the first age. Since that forgotten time the lizardmen have made this their home. Putrid and stagnant water dominates the landscape, though here are a few soggy sand hills that peek out.
Here and there a large bed of stringy pinong reeds float lazily on the surface where a landbound man might dare to lightly tred. Trees have adapted long roots, forming a dizzying, tortured maze of mangroves. Large man-eating fish lay in wait beneath the muddy pools. The essense of raw, natural danger will raise the heckles of the bravest orc.
Geography:
1) Lake Hableth and the Lower Bogs. The largest single feature 0f the Tarrien Bogs is Lake Hableth in the northwestern corner which forms the border with Tachan and partial borders with Jarrien and Proffyt. It is a crater lake left by a meteorite impact thousands of years before the age of man. The rift opened by the impact makes it incredibly deep for its size. Its deepest point is just miles outside of the crater rim at 2,487 feet. The lake has an average depth of 480 feet. The lake and its contents are the cultural focal point of the Tarrien Bogs. The greatest portion of commercial traffic in and out of the Bogs transits the lake between Hutsi City and Laqueshire, Proffyt.
-1a) Hableth Crater. The soutwestern corner of the lake is occupied by the crater and the encompassing deep. It forms a ring of small islands that are no more than a hundred feet at the highest point. If one dives deep enough the bare meteorite protrudes some distance above the silt which is cleaned away by the clerics of Tuatha Ishik. The igneous extrusions left by the impact form a circular archipelago to which the enormous rafts of Hutsi City are anchored.
-1b) Hutsi City is the only population center in all of the Tarrien Bogs and it exists primarily for the purposes of ritual and trade. Every ten years the Olympiad fills the city for festivities and sporting of the highest levels. The Five Tribes sends its finest athletes to compete in a series of extreme physical challenges culminating in the "Upaniss" or Decathalon. The city becomes the domain of the winner's tribe and thus virtually all trading.
-1c) Hutsi Rivershed is the domain of the winning caste in addition to the tribal lands. It consists of a short river on the mainland and Hableth Crater.
-1d) Grey Yeppin Rivershed is the northernmost of the tribal lands on the lower (northern) portion of the river. Its area stretches from Lake Gissol to Lake Hableth and is centered on the main outlet of Lake Gissol. It is home to the Ishik tribe with the moon-camp at Hishik.
-1e) Green Yeppin Rivershed is just south of the Grey on the southwestern branches of the Yeppin. It is the domain of the Leshik tribe who train the National Guard. The western frontier borders the Shattered Lands and the Guard is frequently assailing incursive bands of goblins and orcs along the border. The area is also home to a relatively large population of swamp trolls which keep the guards busy near campsites. The trolls are territorial and will also attack the incursive goblin forces which makes them barely tolerable.
2) Lake Gissol and the Upper Bogs. The Upper Bogs are home to the lesser tribes. It is considerably more remote because it is surrounded by escarpments. The streams briefly became raging whitewaters and falls as they plummet hundreds of yards into the green abyss 0f the Tarrien Basin. The main rivers here originate in Aytheon where farmers tell their cattle, "make sure you hit a lizard." The Elgaard River crosses the border to become the Arliss and likewise the Hartmouth, the Kalsha.
-2a) Arliss Rivershed: Shinites
-2b) Kalsha Rivershed: Tribe of Wizards and Wanderers
Flora:
Trees: Blackwood, brumbee, darius, klooshtalt, klooshan, priest plant, stillwater swamp oak, throttle bush.
Vines: Banedread, crawler, kavir, lockhart.
Fungae: Blue dream, cloud, firecap.
Forb: Dream flower, handale fern, indar fern, meadowstar, sallad, silver hair herb, smother stalk.
Grasses: Pinong reed.
Fauna: Kissy Fish, leeches, tree slugs, small carnivores.
Compatible Beast Encounters: Bargdataur, blackorb, drachnid, maer'goth, marra lizard, swamp troll, tarrien swamp bear.
History or Timeline:
( ca. 3500 BC ) - The Great Comet collides with Belandir in the southeastern foothills of the Belniran Mountains. The impact and path of entry leaves a blast zone nearly a thousand miles long and hundreds of miles wide. Over centuries, the remaining basin fills with sediment, creating the current topology of the Tarrien Bog. The event is considered the birth of the race of Lizardmen.
143, 5E3A (1858 BC) - Lizardmen of the Tarien Bog sign a non-aggression pact with the The Five Clans. In reality, this pact is fairly meaningless, as the Dwarves have little or no interest in the swamps, and the Lizardmen have no interest in the cold climes of the Belnirân Mountains.
153, 5E3A (1848 BC) - First Triad War. Lizardmen set traps for Triad battallions staging raids against Belniran from inside Bog territory as well as enslaving the locals. The Triad retaliates, sending a full invasion against them. Many civilians are captured and enslaved.
250, 5E4A (1751 BC) - Dwarves from Belniran sue the Lizardmen for a trade agreement. The dwarves withdraw early when they contract a deadly flu that devastates their homeland.
587, 5E3A (1414 BC) - Raids launched by the Lizardmen of the Tarien Bog are met with stiff resistance by the Five Clans. The raids come as a surprise, and are believed to be in response to raids carried out against the Lizardmen by the Triad, who left evidence behind to point them at the Dwarves.
589, 5E3A (1412 BC) - Lizardman legend Urush leads a victorious retaliatory raid against the Triad securing all lands South of the Arliss River.
1313, 3E4A (5312 AC) The Graentig establishes the Five Tribes Confederation and the current caste structure.
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Government: The Lizardmen of the Tarrien Bogs' first concept of international borders or politics was the signing of the Belniran-Tarrien Non-Aggression Pact in 143, 5A4E. The current form of the Five Tribes Confederation was ratified by the Graentig in 1313, 3E4A. The five tribes in order of highest rank are Ishik, Leshik, Renik, Shin and Thepsin.
Every ten years the Olympiad is held and the winning tribe becomes the ruling caste with its tribal lands becoming the seat of power. The current ruling caste is the Ishik Tribe and its tribal elder High King Yosh Ishishik is the official head of state. His duties are High Justice and Minister of State. (By coincidence he also happens to be the Graentig, leader of the Order of Light.) Twice per year all the tribes send their Kings to Hishik to meet the High King and discuss crop reports, trade and issues of high court.
Legal System: The lizardman life revolves around the Games, breeding and trade issues. The legal system is primarily concerned with the suitability of marriage and the training and participation of the games. A pact of marriage is usually temporary: to be exercised for a period of months or years. However marriages must be applied for and approved by a judicial council because of a strong emphasis on perfect progenesis. Geneology and individual attributes are graded and matched by the local judiciary commitee. Sometimes pairs are assigned as mates for a time to take advantage of high pedigree. Geneological records are required to be maintained by each of the tribes. Every tuath keeps the tribal council aware of new births and deaths.
Military: Each tribe is expected to maintain the foreign borders within its territory except during major incursions or invasion. The Leshik tribe maintains an army which is quick to assist with such major threats. It is their dharma as the second highest caste to train and maintain a national guard. The current army guard consists of 4,200 individuals of both sexes divided into eight army battalions and two specialist companies. There are no barracks, so they train on the move.
Economy: Primarily a barter economy nationally. On the international scale, goods are traded almost exclusively to the Esteemed Guild of Bankers Moneylenders and Exchangers (EGBME) of Proffyt for foreign goods and naval protection. There is a central market in Hutsi City where enormous values of goods are traded with the EGBME and wholesale and retail barter dominates.
Social: The most important issue for the Lizardfolk of the Tarrien Bog is breeding. Daily life is all about raising the young to produce better offspring, selection of mates and physical training.
Important People of Note or Heroes: Details description of people that we should know about. Cities of note: Hh'tsi.
Towns of note: none.
Villages of note: The five tribal moon-camps of Shini, Hishik, Renish, Lesho, Thepsa.
Below this point all information is for the top of this file.
