Marshlight

From the quill of Brother Sargath
A Brief Historie of Marshlight:
Located near the river delta where the mighty Obbe enters the sea, the site of Marshlight has always been a haunted place. Sailors who came close to the shore told tales of strange stone monoliths set into the marshland of the estuary and more disturbingly of strange lights seen moving around the area after nightfall…
Sehkmet Ghannis, Locuator and head explorer/archivist of the Ivory Order had taken an interest in the area after coming upon mention of the ruins of a fallen civilization that rested upon the spot. He gathered a large expedition of fellow archaeologists and scribes as well as the workers that would help in the excavations and made way to what would become the town of Marshlight. After a few months of work a small village had grown up about the work site where the families of the laborers started harvesting the sea to sustain the site as supplies dwindled. One night in a mad fever, Sehkmet gathered his most trusted staff while ranting that he had found the entrance to some great city deep in the swamp… They gathered a few workers and left on a small flotilla of flat bottomed river barges headed into the deep swamp and would not be heard from again for 15 years.
Control of the site fell upon the head scribe Cornelius Tarnis. Several rescue missions were sent but only the empty boats of the expedition were located, no trace of any of the men was ever found. The first few years were mostly uneventful, Cornelius continued the work of studying the ruins for the Ivory Order and the fishing village grew and prospered. But then the lights in the deep swamp started coming ever closer to the village, almost as if testing it and strange noises and dark murmurs were heard at night coming from the swamp. Worse yet the fish that were being caught seemed somehow… strange, mutated, sometimes an extra eye, or maybe a strange growth… but always covered in a thick slime coat that made them impalitable.
As the supplies of untainted fish dwindled and starvation set in, a lone survivor from the expedition returned from the swamp after being gone for over 5 years… Carl Weisserman, a simple fishing boat captain. He didn’t return empty handed.. He had golden relics that he said had been found in the swamplands, strange looking things, but gold was gold and they allowed the village to buy dreadfully needed supplies. When questioned by Cornelius, Carl states he doesn’t know how he found his way back but that the group was lost in a strange fog and his simply feel asleep and then woke up near the village, but behind his back he told those closer to him that he had spoke to the beings in the swamp, that Sehkmet had pleased them and that if they pledged their allegiance that the gold would keep coming.
For the next ten years the village grew and prospered due to the wealth it pulled from the swamp… all the while the ranks of those who followed Carl swelled. At first it was just a secret group who knew the truth and who shared the greater share of the bounty… but slowly it began to take on more of a religious aspect. Finally One day Sehkmet himself returned with a few of the men who had left with him at his side, they came dressed in dark purple robes and adorned with strange golden jewelry… and they work intricately carved masks of strange fish like creatures. The crowd gathered and Sehkmet pronounced himself Supreme Prophet of the Illuminated Order of Tzaltorgath and demanded that all who were faithful to kneel before him… the majority of the villagers did so. Cornelius tried to appeal to the crowd and stated that they were sworn to the Ivory Order but he was drowned out in a sea of chanting… almost as one creature the crowd stood and turned upon those who dared not serve their new master. Thus was Marshlight born… in blood and gold. Several decades have past and the village grew into a prosperous town and trade port. Now the servants of Tzaltorgath turn their eyes outward and seek to spread the word of their fortune to the rest of the world...