The Swamp

A foul smell permeates the air, the ground sinks upon being disturbed, The Swamp accepts all that enters, but is less open to letting things go. That's what the swamp's only human inhabitant, Lottie Doofner, says as she walks through with knowledge of where to step and how to stay above a watery land that seemingly wants to consume them. The trees form a disorienting maze and many who enter soon get lost. Doofner exists as a guide for not just the living who wish to explore the swamp or seek out her mad wisdom, but also to those tragic few who wish to uncover the secret sorrows of the swamp and wind up forgetting that their life and an outside world still exists.
This swamp, like so many others, has always been seen as wasted land that ought to be made useful. The first settlers in the area tried filling it in with earth, tried draining it, tried building over it, all to no avail. Wood seems to rot faster, nails rust and break, any construction soon collapses. While most would chalk this up to a rare oddity of geography, Lottie says the swamp is older than humankind and resents our encroaching on its territory. I don't know about that, but I do know it's no place I'm looking to stroll.

Uncanny Occurrence

"Careful be, child o' mine
In the swamp, take your time
A little light, don't be fooled
Stay the path, not toward the pool
Those motes lead us to our death
Ignore them, don't take their test"
- Local nursery rhyme
People say they've seen someone out in the mists of the swamp holding a lantern, someone too small to be Lottie. A lost child perhaps? Any calls into the swamp go unanswered and most folks will only venture so far in to pursue the light. Some say it's a trick of moonlight but others swear that's impossible because the color is all wrong. Seems likely that Lottie knows, but the trick is finding her among the trees.