So I haven't really run anything in this setting, I've just kind of been working on this bit of worldbuilding in my free time. I may develop dungeons and specific towns at a later point, but not for a while I think.
Introduction: The Bog Lands of Squee are a large part of the territory controlled by the Bog Person Confederation. Due to the 3 massive rivers (known as the Mud River, the Bogmother, and the Frontier River) which flow through this relatively flat region that each flood for part of the year, the bog lands are very wet and nutrient-poor. Although the entire area is referred to as bog lands, there are actually many different types of wetland that make up this area, resulting in a diverse patchwork of habitats. The bog people of this region rely heavily on their stilt houses and raised nursery pools to avoid the worst of the flood season. Life in Squee revolves around the annual snowmelt floods which turn the entire region into a network of bogs, stagnant ponds, and muddy flats. The area gets very little rainfall during the year, but there is usually so much snowmelt that the 3 rivers are flooded for nearly half the year, overflowing to the point that they each become hundreds of miles wide and mix their waters before reaching the ocean.
Geographic History: The bog lands sit in a gigantic dip in the continental shelf, funneling the 3 rivers of the bog lands through the area. Squee has never had much precipitation and the soil is mostly salt and sand beneath the organic layer. This results in a relatively hostile environment for most plants with deep roots, which is why trees are a relative rarity in the bog lands. Without the annual snowmelt from the mountains to the East, Squee would be a desert with almost no nutrients in the soil, and it has been one during colder and drier periods in Tero’s climate. The floods each year not only deposit nutrients from more fertile mountain soils, but also provide habitat for algaes and plants that will stabilize the soil and leave behind nutrients when the rivers return to their banks after the flood season ends. Over thousands of years, the organic layer has gotten deeper and deeper, allowing the bog lands to act as a gigantic sponge, maintaining a relatively damp environment during the parts of the year without flooding.
The Bog People: A species of tall, bipedal salamanders known as the Bog People. Despite what outsiders might view as a crude society with a low level of technology, the bog people have a complex and thriving culture and government which oversees the homeland of the bog people. This matriarchal society is generally peaceful, but invaders tend to meet their ends more than anything else. Bog people seem content to stay in their ancestral homelands, and they seem to want others to do the same.
The bog people of Squee are particularly tied to their traditions and relationship with the bog spirits because they deal with the worst of the flooding each year and rely on their relationship with the spirits the most for their stilt houses and nursery ponds. Bog people from Squee also tend to be less trusting of outsiders and will frequently mock those who struggle to traverse the bog lands or deal with the flood season. Matriarchs and queen mothers tend to rule a more insular, traditional, and sometimes even xenophobic society in Squee.
Settlements made by the bog people here tend to be smaller than on the damp plains, contributing to the insular attitudes of the bog people of Squee. The stilts of the houses are very important and tend to be taller and more robust than those on the damp plains. In needing to stand up to annual flooding, the bog people here also tend to be strong swimmers, able to move around their towns even if a strong current has taken over the streets. Although they still consider them kin, the bog people of squee seem to think of themselves as better than those of the plains.
Rough Timeline
5,000 years ago- the earliest bog person families claim territories in Squee, maintaining a nomadic lifestyle and rebuilding their nursery pools every dry season after the floods receded
4,000 years ago- the bog people begin to settle the Damp Plains
2,000 years ago- exiles from an ancient snake person kingdom invade and conquer the bog lands and the damp plains, subjugating the bog people of both regions
1,500 years ago- the bog people develop a relationship with the spirits of the bogs and wetlands around them and use the powers of the spirits to drive out the snake people
400 years ago- agents from the First Empire arrive for the first time to establish diplomatic and trade relations between them and the Bog Person Confederacy
Major Factions
Most of the bog lands are controlled by the bog people, but there are several other groups that call the bogs home. Most of the inhabitants of Squee are actually quite dangerous, even the bog people, to outsiders and the unprepared, so it is often best to be aligned with one of the more powerful groups in Squee to guarantee some amount of safety.
The Bog Person Confederation- Led by the Queen Mothers’ Council, they maintain a positive relationship with the bog spirits to be able to maintain their peaceful way of life in Squee. The bog people in Squee tend to be traditional and very mindful of their relationship with the bog spirits. Bog people maintain many towns and even a few cities of stilt buildings that stay above water during the flood season. The Queen Mothers’ Council meets in a secret location in the middle of Squee, and their policies tend to favor the more conservative bog land residents. While they are generally welcoming to outsiders, they generally look down on anyone who needs their help traversing the bog lands, which is most people who aren’t bog people.
Bog Person Towns- Bog person stilt towns and cities tend to have a lot of influence over the immediate area. The surrounding lands are where the bog people of a given town hunt and gather for food and supplies. Towns are all built around one or more hills which hold the nursery pools for the town. These hills are also where the matriarchs and queen mother have their homes. Buildings are all made from magically grown plants, built with the help of the bog spirits. Gaining the favor of these bog spirits to be able to build settlements in the first place requires the inhabitants of each town to observe certain customs and take part in regular rituals, the details of which vary greatly between settlements. Some areas have much more hospitable spirits than others so some towns merely have to hold an annual festival and abstain from certain foods, while others have hundreds of arbitrary taboos and weekly acts of ceremonial worship. Every town is controlled by a single family of bog people, with many families controlling several towns with several matriarchs serving under a single queen mother for the entire family. These groups of settlements populated by a single family form de facto provinces within the Bog Person Confederation.
First Empire Diplomats- The First Empire Diplomatic Corps exists to maintain positive relationships with the territories that border and trade with the First Empire. They set up and maintain embassies whenever possible, and they ensure a direct line of communication between the leaders of other territories and the First Emperor. While the empire is not currently focused on expanding its borders, it still values the work of the diplomatic corps because a good relationship with its neighbors will make future conquests that much easier. Any attempt to conquer Squee is centuries away, however, and it is unclear if the diplomats of today are even aware of this long-term plan.
First Empire Merchants- Merchants from the First Empire are civilians with a license from the First Emperor to leave the empire and travel abroad to sell the excess of the empire and bring back exotic goods for the people of the First Empire to buy. Some merchants are more reputable than others, but they all must meet a certain standard of trustworthiness to maintain their merchant's licenses. They are mostly concerned with making money and retiring with a small fortune as soon as possible, so merchants try not to spend too much time in a single place. Merchants tend to know many local rumors and can be great resources for those looking for unorthodox money-making opportunities.
Snake Cultists- In the many years since the snake people were ousted from Squee, a strange religion has arisen surrounding the secretive oppressors. These cultists believe that the ancient snake people who conquered Squee and the Damp Plains left mainstream snake person society to venerate an ancestral snake spirit. The cultists also believe in and worship this ancestral snake spirit, as they believe that the spirit is destined to one day swallow the world, consuming all who did not help it and sparing its loyal worshippers. The bog people and humans who join this cult eschew their former culture and join the other cultists who live and worship in ancient snake person ruins. These ruins, built by the ancient snake people who conquered Squee, are seen as holy sites built by the founders of the cultists' religion. Cultists see these ancient people as demigods, gifted with power for their decision to leave home and establish their own lands in the name of their new god. It is worth noting that modern snake people have records from the time of the conquest of Squee which indicate the snake people who took over Squee and the Damp Plains were exiled for attempted revolution in the name of a false god and had no exceptional influence or power before their exile.
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