Green Rot

The Mawr Swamp covers a sizeable amount of the Lower Hinterlands; a vast region of marshland giving way to an expansive and dense swamp swathed in perpetual fog and with tree cover so dense sunlight cannot pierce it. Few dare venture into its depths, even though doing so means a shorter route instead of the Rhulan Mountains. Those that do chose to use the Mawr Swamp are rarely seen again. And the few that have survived are haunted by the horrors they endured.

For the Swamp is the dominion of the Rotting King, an undead abomination who rules a kingdom of the damned, all bound together by the horrific infection known as the Green Rot.

THE KINGDOM OF NUSHARD

The Green Rot came about with the fall of King Nushard, a brutal tyrant whose Kingdom rose to power following the Cataclysm. With the Great Ones gone countless kingdoms emerged to fill the power vacuum, even as the chaos of the Dark Age swallowed the realms. King Nushard, a gifted Dewyn, forged a kingdom through the offer of sanctuary within his borders. His gift was a connection to nature and he could command flora and fungus. Refugees flooded into his domain and in exchange for pledges of loyalty King Nushard protected them with tall walls wrought of vines and guardian avatars formed from fungus and fibrous roots. In a time of chaos, the Kingdom of Nushard was an oasis of order and safety.

As time went on King Nushard grew increasingly tyrannical. He demanded more and more of his subjects and used his gift to suppress any dissent, real or imagined. Worse, those under his rule found themselves leeched of life and passion, as if something force was draining their essence.

A band of wandering Dewyn came to his kingdom and the King welcomed them, eager for more magic users to join his flock and augment his power. This band however quickly learned the dark truth of this kingdom; the King was using his gift to drain the life of his people, absorbing it into an underground mycelium network that Nushard was the heart of. They feared what would happen when the network invariably spread and how many others would fall under this insidious affliction. The Dewyn challenged the King who cruelly used his power to dominate the minds of his subjects and threw them into battle, innumerable meat-shields that the Dewyn had to fight through.

Little is known of that battle when the Dewyn finally reached the King, his true form reputedly a grotesque fusion of flesh, fungus and plant. At great cost the King was defeated, though it was a hollow victory. So deeply had the bonds between the King and his land had grown that whilst his physical form was destroyed, his spirit remained. Bitter and spiteful, it cursed the Dewyn who fled its borders and then set warding stones, a great undertaking yet one that succeeded in ensuring the King could never again spread his corruption. The cost was great and none of the Dewyn lived long after.

The Kingdom of Nushard crumbled, dying like an overripe fruit on a branch. But so great was his malice and evil that the land was infected. Lush plains and forests become foetid swampland. The fallen subjects of the King rose, animated by his dark will and infected by what would come to be known as the Green Rot; slaves to the spirit of King Nushard who would come to be called the Rotting King, ruler of came to be known as the Mawr Swamp.

THE GREEN ROT

Any who enter the Mawr Swamp risk being infected by the Green Rot. The wandering undead carry it and any who are bitten, scratched or wounded by them will be tainted by the infection. Whipping vines will curl around limbs and drag the unwary down into foul water, flooding lungs with infected water as the Rotting King brings the entire swamp to life to claim those who dare trespass his domain. Only the most gifted healers would be able to fight the infection and only if treatment is begun immediately. Thus for most, it is a death sentence.

Dewyn who find themselves in the Swamp invariably suffer the most. The Rotting King toys with them, tortures them, taking pleasure in bringing them low, savouring their suffering as the Green Rot takes hold.

The Green Rot creates a vile cancer that consumes the host from within. Death comes swiftly and painfully but offers not relief for in short order the infected rises again, its mind and body now a puppet under the control of the Rotting King. They become mindless servitors, bound unto the will of the Rotting King and infected with his malice, envy and hatred of life.

It is not just humanoids who can be afflicted by the Green Rot. Beasts of all shapes and sizes can be found within the Swamp, each infected and bound to the King's service. There are several large creatures such as Giants and a thunder lizard known as the Green Tyrant; a monstrous predator whose cadaverous form belies its speed.

Guided by the will of the Rotting King and bound together by the Green Rot, the undead of the Swamp are a nigh on unstoppable horde who throw themselves into battle against any who dare invade the Swamp. Many attempts have been made to purge the Swamp over the centuries, yet none have succeeded and all who try become part of the horde.

If there is a cure, then it most certainly involves the utter eradication of the dark spirit of the Rotting Kingdom. His lair resides in the heart of the swamp, a vile citadel forged from flesh and fungus. And deep within his physical form resides; a bloated mass of fused flesh, fungus and plant. Via the mycelium network the spirit of the Rotting King can travel throughout his domain, forming an avatar to taunt and torment the foolish who trespass his borders. Occasionally the King will offer mercy in exchange for service; the removal of the warding stones that contains his infection, constraining it within the borders of the Swamp and preventing his mycelium network from spreading. Yet the Dewyn who created the warding stones bound them with powerful protection and none have survived who tried to move or destroy them.

So the Rotting King sits and waits. He draws treasure hunters and the desperate to the Swamp with glimpses of wealth and promises of secrets. He seeks to build a great army, one that will burst forth and infect all Caenar the day the warding stones come crashing down.