Bregasland
Overview - "The Dour Fens"
Sandwiched between the barbarian-held woods of Liathaven and the sea lies Bregasland, an area comprising partially of fenland leading to the coast. Home to “Bregas” (fenlanders), this is a place of small islands of abundantly fertile soil, surrounded by seemingly endless marshes where eels are caught. There are several households here made up entirely of merrow, and several settlements populated by people who have been shunned but cannot bring themselves to leave the Marches.
Bregasland is home to partially sunken ruins, including several stone circles that pre-date Marcher possession of the land. It is also home to dangerous man-eating lizards, giant insects, flesh-eating plants, bottomless bogs and strange lights that seek to lure the incautious into deadly situations. Those who explore the depths of the marshes here sometimes disappear without trace ...
Minor Settlements
Graven
Grew rich from Graven Rock, its high fields and mineral wealth. In happier times the Navarr came here often, with news and trade-goods from far afield. Many’s the inhabitant here who started life far, far away, brought here by a Navarr Guide. Nowadays, it’s the base of supply for the castles and forts that defend Bregasland against the barbarians in the Mourn and the forests of Liathaven.
Greywater
The furthest west any wise Marcher will go. Beyond lie foreign parts. The locals make their living primarily from eel-fishing, but since this isn’t a trade that leads to many exports, some of the more daring amongst them will scour the surrounding marsh for unusual plants and flowers. These are dried, and sold through the markets at Meade for study across the Empire. The “grey” comes from slip clay stirred up by frequent storms: it’s not the best water to drink. There’s a thriving market in pure water; left to settle in vast oak tanks and carefully decanted.
Ottery
A small fishing port that trades the produce of the marshes to Meade and across the Westmere to Wintermark.
Sallow
People here keep themselves to themselves to a degree found off-putting even by other Bregaslanders. If those who don’t know press friendship on Sallowfolk, long knives come out and many’s the Sallow-cut who can tell you it’s best not to pry. The people of Sallow deal in cutting and drying rushes that are shipped to the other towns of the Marches for roofing.
Places of Interest
Fisher’s Rock
A black stone mound that emerges from the middle of the fens near Greywater. Atop it is a ruined tower ascribed to the Sentinel. It is said to be haunted, often showing strange lantern lights that lead people astray in the fens. The area around the rock sometimes yields treasures - old cups, coins, or sometimes more significant artefacts. As a result, many of the local clannish Merrow spend their time as prospectors; although they are as likely to return bloated with poison and on the brink of death as they are to return with something of interest.
Rushring
A partially-submerged stone circle, the notorious site of a number of ritual killings in 365AF.
Graven Rock
An enormous smooth flat grey-stone plateau approximately 4 miles in each direction, extending from the ground with a gently sloping face of only 50 metres or so. If one could view it from a great height it would have the appearance of a large flat pebble buried in the ground with only its upper level surface exposed. This unusual stone deposit sits in some of the largest expanses of fertile territory in Bregasland. The outer surface of the rock is covered in various entrances and doorways, which are the evidence of many hundreds of years of mining and excavation of the rock’s rich mineral core.