Sodden Lands
When the permanent hurricane called the Eye of Abendego formed in the wake of Aroden’s death, it catastrophically flooded the coastal nations of Lirgen and Yamasa. Today, the territory is a lawless, stormwracked swamp stalked by monstrous predators, bloodthirsty boggards, and the aggressive lizardfolk Terwa Lords. Most of its original humanoid population has fled, and those who remain have banded together in gangs of survivalists who scavenge the wreckage. Still, disaster always attracts opportunists, and many adventurers travel to the ruined nations, now called the Sodden Lands, to loot cities lost to the storm. One of the few settlements still occupied is Hyrantum, Lirgen’s former capital, where hundreds of towers built by the ruling Saoc Brethren now form tiny islands above the waves, connected by rope bridges and bedeviled by aberrations lurking beneath the water’s surface.
The onset of the Age of Lost Omens upended both the spiritual and physical landscapes of Golarion, causing a storm in the Arcadian Ocean that swept all before it. Called the Eye of Abendego, the hurricane’s wind and rain have wracked the Sodden Lands for over a century. The Boggard tribes claim the hurricane is the unblinking eye of Rovagug, peering out from his prison. Others whisper that the Eye is a gateway to one of the gems that imprison the benevolent elemental lords of earth or fire. If true, the jealous elemental tyrant gods Kelizandri and Hshurha guard the secret zealously. Even wilder rumors claim the hurricane’s eye is a portal to a realm beyond Golarion and even past the Great Beyond. The closest most people have come to the storm is the daring Free Captains’ Regatta, whose crews have skirted its winds to speed their journey. For every two ships that have managed that trick, a third lies torn apart, sunk beneath the waves.
Many see the Sodden Lands as the drowned remnants of two coastal nations, Lirgen and Yamasa. Gone entirely is Yamasa’s rich and fertile farmland, and all that remains of cosmopolitan Lirgen is a flooded city whose descendants live in the tower-tops above dark and murky waters. Predators of all kinds roam this lawless place, from boggards to crocodiles to aberrations to gangs of survivalists and the Terwa Lords.
But a lush beauty exists in these shaded and stormy wetlands. Deep-rooted trees, birds, fey, and all sorts of wildlife have arisen and adapted. Though the swamp is a mere century old, it feels primordial, a place out of time. Those traveling through can hear a soft, ever-present rain; whirring insects; and the songs of many birds and amphibians. As the land-dwellers fled, other cultures expanded into the wetlands. Boggard tribes, once limited to a few marshes, now cover most of the northern Sodden Lands. The south has been claimed by iruxis, a mix of peaceful villagers and violent Terwa Lords.
Type
Wetland / Swamp
Location under
Comments