The Alhayic Wetlands
The Alhayic Wetlands are a marshland confined within the southern part of the Masdar Alhaya river, around the city of Tarka. In this region the mighty river is joined by the Tijdagakel and Assét rivers, which together with the contant elevation of the region leads to massive amounts of water becoming stuck in the wide floodplains of the river, leading to the creation of a marshland reaching for many miles beyond the confines of the river, reaching as far as 12 miles at some points from the river. The region is characterized by a relatively moderate climate, with relatively cool summers and warm winters, with more rainfall than anywhere north of the wetlands within Ashar.
Ecology
The region knows a wide variety of flora and fauna, including some not found anywhere else. The land is also dubbed the “Land of High Reeds”, due to the omnipresence of sugarcane, whose stalks can occasionally reach to 15 or even 20 feet tall. Besides sugarcane and other reeds like cattail and papyrus, rice is farmed by the locals in abundance. On islands and the river banks, forests exist mostly consisting of popular, tamarisk and willow trees. More than 30 species of birds live in the regions, among whom are flamingos, pelicans, herons, reed-warblers, ibis, darter, hooded crow and marbled ducks. Landborne creatures include the asharan porcupine, ring-tail rat, grey marsh wolf, matarati otter, water buffalo, several species of snakes and the rare shield-horned blue rhino, a species unique to the region. In the waters live several species of fish and other water based creatures, among them the mangar, carp, alhayic spiny eel, shabout, bull shark, lake barracuda and asharan river shrimp, but also large creatures such as the tarkan great-crayfish, alhayic catfish and marsh drake as well as more dangerous creatures such as the asharan reed angler and the feared yet luckily extremely rare black dragon.The Ahwari
The people of the wetlands, known as the Yaghlab al-Ahwar, (trans. Marsh Yaghlabi), or in short as the Ahwari, have been influenced significantly by their surroundings, which has led them to have unique traits in their culture and ways of living. The most outwardly visible of those, is their architecture. With marshlands being unsuited to build clay houses on, the Ahwari build houses made of reeds called Mudhif. Having mastered the techniques to build with this material, Mudhif often are well constructed and often large buildings, with these buildings often outsizing their stone and clay counterparts. Houses, town halls, temples, schools, but also ships and every day items are made from the reeds, with the people mostly using fish, rice, shrimp and water bufalo in their daily lives beside it.The City of Tarka
The exception to the water-based lifestyle of the Ahwari is the fortified city of Tarka. Built on a plateau rock known as Jabal Tarud, the city has the sturdy ground available to support stone buildings, which the people have made use of extensively. Tarka has in fact long been one of the most fortified cities in Ashar, its first walls dating back all the way to the Melisternian colony of Dunbeód in the early 5th century AAA. This regional masterpoint of strategic dominance has therefore always formed the very heart of the region. Nicknamed as the “Drowned Star City” after the rock’s shape and the fact it’s surrounded by water, the city has swapped hands many times over the course of history.
Alternative Name(s)
Land of High Reeds
Location under
Owning Organization
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