Saralaga and Brigabanniers II
THE SARALAGA and THE BRIGGABANNIES
The Saralaga are a peaceful race, native to the Sticky Fen of the Feywilds. They are akin to Dryads, except that they are not tied to a specific part of the Fen. Rather they are spirits of the Fen at large, their life at one with the life of the swamp. They are not war-like creatures and have little to help them defend their land from aggressive and violent outsiders. Their warnings are mind-affecting rather than physically destructive.
All who have passed through the Fen in the past 2000 years (at least) have heeded the warnings of the Saralaga and kept from harming the swamp. Many of these creatures have been elves, who have formed an instinctive bond with the swamp, and with its protecting race of beings. Saralaga will automatically trust elves, and reach out to them for help, if help is needed.
The Saralaga’s origins are not known, except that the elves say the creatures are swamp spirits, simply faratew, or “one with the swamp.” The swamp is, so the Saralaga are. The swamp has existed for at least 4000 years, by the records and historic scholarship of the elves, and so the Saralaga are at least that old. As the Gnomes are to the Earth of Summer’s Tale, so the Saralaga are to the Sticky Fen in the Fey wilds.
The appearance of this race is hard to describe in one way. They are thought to rarely appear outside of the Fen, as small beings with round faces and green skin. They keep this form hidden, however, with black clothing and a hooded cloak worn over it. In this form, they are sneaky and swift, and they can melt into shadows with ease. Thus they can make contact with “mortals,” as they call them, then slip away suddenly.
Their natural form is less concrete. They rise up out of the swamp grasses and reeds and pools, like people made of reeds and rushes, held together by the sticky, slimy muck of the Fen. Their alternate form--the small green people in black--is for interacting with mortals, or for special missions away from the Fen.
The Saralaga are generally good in nature, but if the Fen is disrespected or intruded upon by anyone, especially evil creatures, the swamp spirits will rise up and either lead them to a drowning in the muck, or simply chase them away with fear.
In the past 5 years or so, the Saralaga have been invaded by a new creature, against which they have little or no defenses. A band of rogue fey (if indeed they even are; most doubt it) called the Briggabannies has come down the Merry River with the intent to mine the Fen for Fairy copper, which they will use for jewelry and ornament. The Briggabannies are already decked out in jewels and fancies--necklaces, bangles and bracelets, earrings, pendants, and more--and they wish to find copper and fashion more such items. What they cannot take by thievery, they must take by force, and so they have moved into Saralaga territory to capture them (get them out of the way) and dig in the muck for their precious copper.
The copper mining process is toxic, which our heroes will soon find out. The Briggabannies use a chemical of their own device, derived from a toxic flower (called “The Toxication”) that grows further up the Merry River in the Dreamglade (where the ‘Bannies originate).
Briggabannies are small creatures with spindly arms and legs and disproportionately large hands and heads. They have long pointed noses (rather canine), bushy eyebrows, large ears, and a wicked leer. They most often wear dapper outfits and jewelry of silver, gold, or rarely platinum, along with circlets or crowns, and in some cases well-made weapons as well. Their attire can seem at odds with their sinister appearance. Nevertheless, their ability to sneak and thieve and burglarize remains fully potent.
The Saralaga are defenseless against the Briggabannies, as the latter have an innate immunity to the Saralga’s mind-magic. The Briggabannies have very strong and “closed” minds, almost completely resistant, particularly to the Saralaga, but also against some other Fey races. They have burglarized and stolen up and down the Merry River for many years, with no one to completely stop them. Even the Elves of the Region have not been able to extinguish them.
Long, long ago--hundreds of years ago, even 1000--the Briggabannies released an attack on the Saralaga, for their copper, and a war ensued. The Saralaga won the war, but only using a potent weapon of now-unknown origin. The weapon was lost, its location known only (and vaguely) by Saralaga elders, and perhaps by a race of creatures called the Grimlock... The weapon is needed now, and badly.
The Briggabannies, using some cruel sorcery that only they know, have created a “battery,” known as the Bunnynutter. It is a large and heavy block of some kind of transulecent stone or salt crystal. They keep it permanently on a palanquin blessed in the name of Banny Dogg. They can thus carry it from place to place to defend it, or to change its range of effect.
The battery gives the Briggabannies a greenish glowing heart area, pulsing faintly in their chests. Its main purpose is to give power over fey whenever they wish. With their particular hatred of the Saralaga (they who represent all that is good and wild in the fen), the Briggabannies direct the power at the former to control and enslave them.
And the Bunnynutter really works.
So the Briggabannies have moved downriver into the heart of Saralaga territory, and they have (with the power of the Bunnynutter) rooted out the latter race and displaced them to the Large Island, where they are forced into labor, building a fortress a mile long and a mile wide, made of reeds and mud that they must dig up themselves. Saralaga are not built for physical labor of any kind. This alone can kill them in a matter of weeks.
Perhaps worse, many Saralaga must help in the mines; they are the chief handlers of the Toxication essence, and many are getting very sick. The Briggabannies take their positions and begin draining the swamp and digging mines, and the Saralaga are forced to help. The mining is fully underway when our heroes arrive. Meanwhile, there are Saralaga refugee camps (hideouts) on the perimeter of what is now Briggabannie territory.
Because of the evil Bunnynutter, many Saralaga are dying with the swamp, or dying in enslavement, or dying from the Toxication, or becoming irreparably depressed or stressed, or both. The Saralage are helpless, it seems, unless help comes to them from the outside. How long can they stand this treatment?
The Saralaga are a peaceful race, native to the Sticky Fen of the Feywilds. They are akin to Dryads, except that they are not tied to a specific part of the Fen. Rather they are spirits of the Fen at large, their life at one with the life of the swamp. They are not war-like creatures and have little to help them defend their land from aggressive and violent outsiders. Their warnings are mind-affecting rather than physically destructive.
All who have passed through the Fen in the past 2000 years (at least) have heeded the warnings of the Saralaga and kept from harming the swamp. Many of these creatures have been elves, who have formed an instinctive bond with the swamp, and with its protecting race of beings. Saralaga will automatically trust elves, and reach out to them for help, if help is needed.
The Saralaga’s origins are not known, except that the elves say the creatures are swamp spirits, simply faratew, or “one with the swamp.” The swamp is, so the Saralaga are. The swamp has existed for at least 4000 years, by the records and historic scholarship of the elves, and so the Saralaga are at least that old. As the Gnomes are to the Earth of Summer’s Tale, so the Saralaga are to the Sticky Fen in the Fey wilds.
The appearance of this race is hard to describe in one way. They are thought to rarely appear outside of the Fen, as small beings with round faces and green skin. They keep this form hidden, however, with black clothing and a hooded cloak worn over it. In this form, they are sneaky and swift, and they can melt into shadows with ease. Thus they can make contact with “mortals,” as they call them, then slip away suddenly.
Their natural form is less concrete. They rise up out of the swamp grasses and reeds and pools, like people made of reeds and rushes, held together by the sticky, slimy muck of the Fen. Their alternate form--the small green people in black--is for interacting with mortals, or for special missions away from the Fen.
The Saralaga are generally good in nature, but if the Fen is disrespected or intruded upon by anyone, especially evil creatures, the swamp spirits will rise up and either lead them to a drowning in the muck, or simply chase them away with fear.
In the past 5 years or so, the Saralaga have been invaded by a new creature, against which they have little or no defenses. A band of rogue fey (if indeed they even are; most doubt it) called the Briggabannies has come down the Merry River with the intent to mine the Fen for Fairy copper, which they will use for jewelry and ornament. The Briggabannies are already decked out in jewels and fancies--necklaces, bangles and bracelets, earrings, pendants, and more--and they wish to find copper and fashion more such items. What they cannot take by thievery, they must take by force, and so they have moved into Saralaga territory to capture them (get them out of the way) and dig in the muck for their precious copper.
The copper mining process is toxic, which our heroes will soon find out. The Briggabannies use a chemical of their own device, derived from a toxic flower (called “The Toxication”) that grows further up the Merry River in the Dreamglade (where the ‘Bannies originate).
Briggabannies are small creatures with spindly arms and legs and disproportionately large hands and heads. They have long pointed noses (rather canine), bushy eyebrows, large ears, and a wicked leer. They most often wear dapper outfits and jewelry of silver, gold, or rarely platinum, along with circlets or crowns, and in some cases well-made weapons as well. Their attire can seem at odds with their sinister appearance. Nevertheless, their ability to sneak and thieve and burglarize remains fully potent.
The Saralaga are defenseless against the Briggabannies, as the latter have an innate immunity to the Saralga’s mind-magic. The Briggabannies have very strong and “closed” minds, almost completely resistant, particularly to the Saralaga, but also against some other Fey races. They have burglarized and stolen up and down the Merry River for many years, with no one to completely stop them. Even the Elves of the Region have not been able to extinguish them.
Long, long ago--hundreds of years ago, even 1000--the Briggabannies released an attack on the Saralaga, for their copper, and a war ensued. The Saralaga won the war, but only using a potent weapon of now-unknown origin. The weapon was lost, its location known only (and vaguely) by Saralaga elders, and perhaps by a race of creatures called the Grimlock... The weapon is needed now, and badly.
The Briggabannies, using some cruel sorcery that only they know, have created a “battery,” known as the Bunnynutter. It is a large and heavy block of some kind of transulecent stone or salt crystal. They keep it permanently on a palanquin blessed in the name of Banny Dogg. They can thus carry it from place to place to defend it, or to change its range of effect.
The battery gives the Briggabannies a greenish glowing heart area, pulsing faintly in their chests. Its main purpose is to give power over fey whenever they wish. With their particular hatred of the Saralaga (they who represent all that is good and wild in the fen), the Briggabannies direct the power at the former to control and enslave them.
And the Bunnynutter really works.
So the Briggabannies have moved downriver into the heart of Saralaga territory, and they have (with the power of the Bunnynutter) rooted out the latter race and displaced them to the Large Island, where they are forced into labor, building a fortress a mile long and a mile wide, made of reeds and mud that they must dig up themselves. Saralaga are not built for physical labor of any kind. This alone can kill them in a matter of weeks.
Perhaps worse, many Saralaga must help in the mines; they are the chief handlers of the Toxication essence, and many are getting very sick. The Briggabannies take their positions and begin draining the swamp and digging mines, and the Saralaga are forced to help. The mining is fully underway when our heroes arrive. Meanwhile, there are Saralaga refugee camps (hideouts) on the perimeter of what is now Briggabannie territory.
Because of the evil Bunnynutter, many Saralaga are dying with the swamp, or dying in enslavement, or dying from the Toxication, or becoming irreparably depressed or stressed, or both. The Saralage are helpless, it seems, unless help comes to them from the outside. How long can they stand this treatment?
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