Callistor and the Gnatmarsh

Callistor is a town of 4,000, located on the Duntide, below Arnford. Like Arnford, Callistor is a ferry town that acts as a gateway to the towns of the south coast and a market for produce brought from the Gnatmarsh. These desperate folk try to make a living by bringing back swamp hay, trapped animals and birds, and the great eels which can be found there.

The living conditions in the Gnatmarsh are desperate and dangerous. Local folk set off in their small, often untrustworthy punts with sharpened wooden spears, snares, nets and a few real weapons. Many fall prey to the lizard men, troglodytes and alligators of the marsh, and to human bandits desperate enough to dwell within the disease-ridden miasma’s of this grim' place. Often, sales of their produce take place by night outside of town, in secluded barns and farms, so as to avoid taxes and confiscation’s by the 200 militia. These swamp dwellers deal only on a strict barter basis.

The local soldiers are supposed to patrol the northern margins of the marsh, but they hardly venture there now. As a result, monsters emerge from the swamp without folk being warned or the militia dealing with them. An otyugh recently claimed a dozen men before it was slain, and other creatures feast on human flesh these days.

From the Ashes gives basic information about the Gnatmarsh, but the Dungeon Master may add details as desired. Certainly, there are repeated rumors of a green dragon lairing there, and the lizard men of the deeper marsh are very cunning, using traps, snares and spears anointed with poison made from a purple-gray fungus (Class B).

Wild rumors of many kinds, such as bronze-skinned troglodytes possessed of exceptional strength, two-headed marsh trolls, sunken lich's tombs, and swamp water elementals (controlled by a magical stone) that choke and poison victims, circulate about the marsh. Perhaps some of these rumors could lead to adventures.