The Shadowed Mire
The Shadowed Mire is a large riparial forest sandwiched between the Meadowseep and the Nitca river.
Geography
This locale is only slightly higher aboveground than the Meadowseep. The boundaries of the forest are marked by either a raise above sealevel or the boundary of a body of water.
Ecosystem
The Shadowed Mire is named as such because of the massive cypress and tupelo trees. Their canopies sheild the wet ground from most light, which leads the forest floor and understory to be shade-tolerant. Some species of plants have even developed a form of bioluminescence, which attracts organisms to their fruiting structures.
The buttressed trees are often covered in lianas and epiphytes closer to the understory. The patchy ground cover is predominantly woody and watertolerant shrubs, ferns, and reeds.
Ecosystem Cycles
Seasonal flooding is typical of the area, especially low-lying pockets. This is driven by snowmelt and summer rains from the area around the Meadowseep.
Climate
The Shadowed Mire is a subtropical forest, hot and muggy through most of the year with trees that are never cold enough to lose their leaves.
Fauna & Flora
Interesting Endemic Species
- Mire Mothtrap: A bioluminescent species of carnivorous plants that attracts moths to its light.
- Dusky Ibis: An uncharacteristically large bird species that feeds on large amphibians, reptiles, and crustaceans. Many wive's tales feature a dusky ibis taking of with naughty children.
- Luminous Panther Orchid: A bioluminescent species of fragile flower, rarely seen blooming, that has a characteristic sweet smell and faint glow. It is though to be pollenated by nocturnal mammals and insects.
- Chorus Toad: A particularly loud toad species that dwells under wet leaflitter. Its song sounds like an off-key tenor. Chorus toad legs are delicious when fried.
History
The Shadowed Mire is unique in its inaccesability. It is an exceedingly difficult area to maintain any sort of guard due to the unpleasant terrain and isolation.
The Mire is home to a criminal underworld like no other. Along the border exists a population full of folks hiding from the law of Phenada and Idris, taking advantage of the lack of supervision, and creating the foundation for Odaesong's unruly syndicates. The only way these people can settle in this area is thanks to the help of the forest; the tall trees with their thick trunks provide the perfect scaffolding for a town build above the flooded forest floor.
Type
Forest, Cloud / Water (Subtropical)
Location under
Included Locations
Included Organizations
