The Mistyeyed

A Complete Guidebook to Belsyrian Society

The Mistyeyed is the name given to the people who live in the rather small outpost or town called Belsyr on the southeastern edge of Helvater Swamp. The people of this little berg have lived there since at least the disaster of Arnsholdi. Due to a lack of records it was impossible for me to determine if they had lived there before this time. Their demographics are primarily human, though at rare times there have been reports of a tiefling living amongst them. The earliest recorded evidence of the town existing comes from a series of maps documenting the Great Southern Plains. A map published in 5 BU, only shortly after Helvater's formation, shows a marking on the map where Belsyr currently is, though there are no names on this map. At this time, there were no set trails or paths leading to Helvater. Another map from approximately 100 years later had Belsyr noted. Markings in the margins of this map noted that "ein Reiseleiter kann innerhalb der Mauern gefunden werden," which according to a close friend who studies the ancient languages of Emaniquora roughly translated to "A guide mayeth best be found within these h're walls." This leads me to believe that the people of this city were leading expeditions through Helvater sometime before 100 years post-disaster. Other documents from just after Helvater's formation note early expeditions, all failed, that attempted to create paths. The best document I could find came from the personal diaries of Hebzibiah the Traveler, the famous explorer of the Empire's early days. While exploring the Great Southern Plains with his adventuring party he noted the following as they approached the Helvater's edge:

These past few days have been strange to say the least. Una [a fighter within their party] noted strange sounds during her watch in the night. This morning we say the tracks of an enormous beast. It almost had the appearance of a tree trunk had it not had deep gouges where large claws must be. The terrain is terrible, alternating between waist-deep water, mud, and rocky outcrops. It is much changed from the farm and ranch lands of my father's time. As the tree line came into view we were approached by a man. His hair had been shorn short, with lines carved in the hair along the sides. His clothing was disguised as the landscape and we almost didn't notice him. Waving his hands, he told us to avoid the swamp and to instead follow him to his settlement, due north some number of miles. Wanting to keep our lives and limbs intact we decided to keep with him and are now heading to a small town and are following the river.
— Hebzibiah Reisender

Hebzibiah goes on to describe the town and people in brief detail before heading through the swamp. His only note of the journey through the swamp is a one sentence description, rather unlike the rest of his writings, that only said: "Made it through alive and unscathed physically and I shan't speak on it more." The town is a rather small settlement given its age. Having visited it once I shall do my best to describe it in full. The city is built from wood harvested from the swamp. A large, spiked wooden wall surrounds it. The buildings are low, rarely reaching two stories. There are four entry and exit points: one for travelers to enter through to the south; to the west there are three exits following three paths for expeditions to enter the forest. Only Belsyrians are allowed to live within the walls, which has caused some strife with various merchants desiring to set up business in the city to capitalize on the travel in and out of the city. As such, there are a small number of businesses that have been built just outside the walls of Belsyr. As horse travel is impossible in the swamp, there are several horse traders outside as well as a general store, an inn and tavern, and a brothel. As mentioned before, the Belsyrian people are called "The Mistyeyed." Prolonged exposure to the mists of the swamp have altered them somewhat. They are said to have enhanced abilities as well as unique physical traits. Their skin seems to glisten with a pearlescent liquid, almost like sweat. Their eyes are clouded over but they seem to be able to see perfectly fine. While there I noted that young children and babes did not seem to have these qualities, only those that had grown and had spent much of their time in the swamp had gained these qualities. Other than their shimmering skin and cloudy eyes, the seemed for all intents and purposes to be normal humans. I did see a couple of human tieflings. Their skin was a pale gray-blue with ram-like horns and scales. Their eyes were completely white, lacking pupils or irises. All individuals wore the same clothing. Like Hebzibiah's account, they all seemed to wear camouflage clothing that blended into the surrounding landscape. The base of the clothing is a tight-fitting suit with no hanging elements. Mosses and twigs were woven expertly into their earthen-toned suits. While entering the city I was often caught by surprise to see the land move only to find that it was a sentry or guard of the city hidden within the reeds. I also noted an embroidered patch on the guide's suits that consisted of a skull stuffed with moss. When asked they said that it was a deity that watched over them as they went through the swamp. The most interesting thing to note physically about the people of this city was their haircuts. All had close-cropped hair, longer on top and shorn short along the sides. Some wore the longer top of their hair in braids while others kept is shorter, though not as short as the sides. Within the short sides were small lines of varying length and number of slightly grown out hair, which protruded from the buzzcut of the rest of their head's sides. After much interviews, I was able to understand the designs:

One ridge means they are a novice, unfit to guide their own group. These novices accompany seasoned guides until they are able to lead their own party.
Two ridges mean they are fit to guide.
Three ridges mean that they have been guiding for at least 13 years.
If half of their uppermost ridge is missing, that means they have experienced a loss during their expenditions within the past two years. It is a badge of dishonor that must be worn until two years have past, and even then they must then wait until the hair grows out properly again.
If all three ridges are missing, it means they are retired.
I noted while there that there was a guide with their entire head shorn. It was explained to me that after this guide's next expedition, they would return to the forest to "return to the mist" and, essentially, die. It was the highest honor among them that one could be chosen for this apparently. This individual is named "Erhaben." As close as I could tell, it was some sort of auto-sacrifice to the swamp, which they believe to be a living and divine being.

Finally, I noted that Helvater was never named as such in their settlement. Instead, it was called "Ort Ruhe," or "Place of Calm" amongst the people there. It could also be translated as "Place of Rest" or "Calm Place." At times, it was shortened to simply "Ruhe."

Type

Guide, Generic

Location

Belsyr

Authors