Mere of Dead Men
The Mere of Dead Men was an irregularly-shaped, cold, saltwater swamp along the High Road. It was a desolate place full of monsters and few members of the civilized races. What few people lived there did so to avoid becoming embroiled in the troubles of elsewhere on the Sword Coast. The swamp constantly grew over time, swallowing homes and property located close to its boundaries. It was believed by some scholars that the eastern boundary of the Mere was magically bound to the High Road since attempts to reroute the road were futile and only caused the expansion of the swamp, but they don't know what magic the Lich Iniarv used to do it.
The Mere itself was full of trees, vines, quicksand, and hidden islands, and it was generally covered in shifting fog, making visibility very poor. The bones of fallen creatures were clearly visible throughout the otherwise murky waters of Mere. The water was deep enough that it could be navigated on a flat-bottomed boat, but the dark water and hidden obstructions made that choice dangerous. After the autumn of 1492, the Mere's waters lowered by a couple of feet, revealing extremely fecund mud, but increasing the dangers of traveling the place by removing much of the boating. It certainly didn't help the bog stench.
Inside the Mere were the flooded ruins of a number of castles and settlements. Many of the castles had strange wards that would either strengthen certain magic or negate it. The few farms and other settlements were built on pillars and decking. Since the draining of the Mere in 1492, Many settlements had considered building lower levels, but the increased lizardfolk aggression of the winter of that same year prevented it.
Geography
The Mere was located along the Sword Coast on the Sea of Swords between Neverwinter and Waterdeep. The High Road skirted its eastern edges on its way through the foothills of the Sword Mountains to the east. The nearest significant settlement was Leilon to the north.
Ecosystem
A variety of creatures were found in the Mere, including bullywugs and lizardfolk; sivs; aballins, behirs, flying fangs, giant frogs and giant toads, gibbering mouthers, giant leeches, hydras, meazels, monitor lizards, nyths, scrags, shambling mounds, snakes, and will-o'-wisps. Voaraghamanthar made his home in the swamp. Doppelgangers dwelt in some of the ruined settlements, posing as humans in order to lure unsuspecting travelers to their doom. Trolls also once lived in the Mere.
After the Time of Troubles and the death of Myrkul (1358 DR), the taint of the dead god infected the remains of the dead in the Mere, causing them to turn into undead ghouls, skeletons, and zombies that attacked travelers on sight.
Legends spoke of liches, a penanggalan, sea zombies, darktentacles, yuan-ti slavers, and other monsters, but their presence was not confirmed.
In the modern period of the Second Sundering, the Mere exists in a state of monstrous ferality. Since the draining of the Mere Fey have been seen in it for the first time since its creation centuries ago. Monstosities driven off from distant places have drifted into the Mere and made their homes, entering the feral foodchain alongside relatively normal Beasts. Very few humanoids reside in the Mere, and those that do are split between the civilised and monstrous races and compete for what few resources the Mere has. Vast numbers of undead were uncovered with the draining, and now roam in darkness. Oozes have been bubbling up from the underdark and trailing the shadowy paths of the muddy swamp devouring fetid corpses and living folks alike.
Ecosystem Cycles
When the monsters and beasts begin to sleep during the harsh winters, when the mud freezes to nearly rock-like, the Humanoids and Undead are vastly more active.
History
In the fall of 1492 the actions of Olga Margaster forever changed the Mere. When she fought the dwarves of Clan Stoneshaft and took over Thornhold just south of the Mere, she followed them into their tunnel network and collapsed one of its shafts. The collapse caused a mass amount of water to drain into the Underdark and the water level of the Mere to drop by two feet. The lowering of the Mere's water level has affected many things - mostly the prevalence of certain monsters.
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