Ulkenko Wetlands

The Ulkenko Wetlands are what remains of the Great Ulkenko Sea that expanded across much of Ulkenkostan. Due to a climate shift that happens once every century, the Great Ulkenko Sea dries up, leaving highlands that used to be the islands within the sea as well as an expansive series of swamps, rivers, and lakes that dot the country. Although administered by Ulkenkostan's government, the swamplands have become lawless lands that have been nearly impossible to develop the deeper into the wetlands one might go.

History

During the Age of Cultivation, the Great Ulkenko Sea was home of the sea-faring colonies located throughout the scattered archipelago within. However, right around 120 AC, the coastlines of these archipelagos began to recede further and further, leaving behind boundless marshes where the sea used to be. As much of the islands' livelihood and transport were based around fishing and boating, the islands faced a crisis that forced them to adapt to an ecological situation their civilizations weren't prepared for, which quickly lead into the wars and territorial disputes leading to the Age of Unrest.
Eventually, the former colonies within the highlands were conquered by the lands north and south of the former sea, which paved roads and created river navigation networks that connected the highlands to their neighbors. Following a bloody war of conquest between the north and south, the nation of Ulkenkostan was formed and administered by the North and South as well as a counsel that administered the highlands and many of the water settlements. However, the Wetlands between the North, the South, and the major island settlements quickly became difficult to govern due to their difficulty to travel and develop. As such, many criminal gangs such as the Mukadyol and the Tetras have used the cover of the wetlands as bases for smuggling, kidnapping, and manufacturing drugs. Many presidents of Ulkenkostan have attempted to enforce the rule of law within the wetlands, but none have succeeded. As such, travelers are to be wary if they travel throught the wetlands.

Flora and Fauna

Because of the water level shifts every century, many of the wildlife have adapted to semi-amphibious lifestyles, whereby they can change between ecosystems generation by generation. Species that live in the wetlands include:

• Platform Lilies - Wide and hardy lilypads with beautiful flowers in the center, they are used as homes for animals who stay on their pads as well as for fish who stay in their long roots, which can hold up the lilypad like a tree during low tide and act like a trunk of sorts. They play a major role within both ecosystems.
• Dardaks - Large porcine mammals that feed off tubers and shoots in the wetlands and lilyfruit and lake kelp in the sea. They are the primary prey of the predators of the wetlands.
• Arrowskippers - Swarms of small carnivorous squid with hardened fins used to penetrate their prey together. Dominant during the high tides, they still possess lethal capacity in low tide where they are capable of short term flight through skipping across water to catch their prey outside of the water. They eat their fill of their prey before crawling back to the closest source of water.
• Tigermander - An amphibian with powerful legs that possess claws for climbing the platform lily trunks and fins for swimming through the water at high tide. Possessing two rows of sharp teeth on quick trap-like jaws, they are capable of tearing limbs from their prey quickly and without hesitation. They are the apex predator of both the wetlands and the great sea, and they are a problem for both travelers and the wetland gangs. However, some have managed to train tigermanders and use them as guards for valuable stock, owing to their high food motivation.

Type

Wetland / Swamp