Swango Swamp
Swango Swamp lies in the southwestern corner of Vardura.
Geography
Dotted with murky pools and crooked swango trees, Swango Swamp is a barren and destitute plain of marshy muck. Thick fog, which collects as a thin film on any surface that stays stationary for too long, blocks most visibility and provides the constant smell of rotting vegetation.
Ecosystem
Swango Swamp's ecosystem was recently in significant trouble. Ancient-old Varduran experiments that focused on using transmutation magic to turn undead creatures back into living ones havesignificantly impacted the stability of the swamp, giving birth to not only Lord Vine and the Seedling Queen, but the cancerous sema. Traveling by underground waterways, the corrupting refuse from sema spawning made its way into the Heart of Swango Swamp, a literal organ that manages the swamp's base functions. The corruption was killing Swango Swamp and driving its slow-moving consciousness aggressively insane.
Currently, balance is returning to the swamp. A group of adventurers from Echwink Expeditions recently took on the sema, befriended Lady Blight, and brought the Seedling Queen out of hibernation to reseed the Swamp. Though slow, this reintroduction of the symbiosis that once sustained Swango Swamp will stabilize its ecosystem and allow the Swamp to proliferate once more.
Localized Phenomena
Swango Swamp is effectively one giant "swampkin" with a beating heart, arteries that course throughout the region, and humanoid avatars that help maintain its defense and systemic functions.
Fauna & Flora
Swangoes, bulbous oval-shaped fruit about two feet long, are native flora. They are encased in a thick waterproof skin that requires skill to remove but can be reused after harvesting.
History
Swango Swamp was once a beautiful place teeming with the rampant growth of life. Thick-trunked swangrove trees, much different than the current vegetation, made the swamp nearly a forest. Thin vines dressed in white flowers twisted around every available branch in a symbiotic relationship. Then, the Vardurans came and buried Swango Swamp beneath concrete, stone, and cities. For ages, the Swamp laid dormant and buried, until the swamp itself became "aware." The first thing it knew was something called "The Evervoice", a natural phenomenon native to Vardura that manifests as musical tones and harmonies. According to the Seedling Queen, the Evervoice told the swamp SOON, which she took as a promise of vengeance against the Vardurans who wronged the swamp so.
Eventually, whatever happened to the Vardurans happened, and Swango Swamp erupted in a violent rage alongside a percussive crescendo of the Evervoice commanding NOW NOW NOW. The exploding swamp destroyed as many Vardurans as it could and tore their buildings down to nothing. Refuse from the Varduran experiments bled into the lifeblood of the swamp and imbued it with an ability manifest aspects of itself. The swamp then created Lord Vine for protection, the Seedling Queen for propogate, and the Heart to subconsciously manage the local ecosystem.
Unfortunately, these same magicks gave birth to the abominable sema. Their influence on the Swamp would result in a growing corruption that demanded to be met on the field of battle. Over the next few decades, Lord Vine was forced to become much stronger to combat the sema, but this forced the Seedling Queen to diminish. Eventually, she became so weak that she only served as a liability. Lord Vine hid her away, buried deep beneath a hidden grove guarded by a number of lethal traps. Lord Vine lost himself in the fight.
When Lady Blight came, Lord Vine took pity on her, assuaging his guilt of burying the Queen by protecting this helpless child. She then dedicated her life to protecting Swango Swamp and Lord Vine.
When adventurers from the Second Echwink Expedition came to the Swamp, they worked to recover the Seedling Queen, beat back the sema, and replant the Swamp. Now, Swango Swamp slowly recovers from the Sema War, growing once again into something completely new.
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