Carrig River
One of the only remaining rivers in Cairne that still flows, the Carrig River at one time supplied a great deal of industry and trade to the southern regions of the Becht Empire. Now, a sluggish and tainted waterway filled with strange mutations and dangerous elements that teem below it's toxic surface, only the very brave or the very stubborn remain along its banks.
Geography
The river snakes southwest from the The Ephemeral Sea branching into several tributaries. The land around the river is saturated with the toxic water table that results from the absorption of the essence of the Void that now fills it, resulting in a marshy, barren landscape where very little grows and the things that do are so vastly changed from what they once were that they are almost unrecognizable. The husks of many trees still dot the banks here and there, the saturation of the Void energy preserving them by keeping most of the creatures that would facilitate their decomposition at bay.
Ecosystem
Despite its barren nature and still water, brackish appearance, all manner of new life exists within the river's waters. Fish, snakes, amphibians, and a myriad of plant life not only survived, but evolved and mutated in order to survive the drastic alteration of their native environment. The vast majority of these, due to the very nature of the source of the changes, are violently aggressive and dangerous if encountered, and with their forms so altered and warped, they remain inedible to most creatures as well that are not naturally resistant to those energies.
Fauna & Flora
- Fish - The majority of the fish that once made this such a viable and even profitable location died off with the Blight, however, there were many that did not and adapted to the new landscape. Due to their constant immersion in the concentrated energies of the Void and their short lifespans, the mutations are virtually impossible to track as they change rapidly, but common constants are that these fish are all voracious carnivores, territorial, and organized in schools that prowl the waters looking for anything they can either overcome with sheer numbers, or that is unlucky enough to fall into the toxic waters
- Snakes - The serpents of the Blackrun have always been a danger to the citizens that made their lives around the river, but they were a respected danger that the fishers and traders that lived there understood. The mutations that led to their continued survival pushed them into a strange state of constant hunger and aggressive behavior. They are no longer content to make their lives along the banks of the river, but will regularly foray further inland in search of prey. Their sizes have become substantially larger, leading to venomous snakes that have been known to measure up to six meters in length and able to single-handedly devour an adult humanoid. No longer do they shy away from villages and settlements, and as a result many homes and outer perimeters of these locations are webbed with twisted lengths of metal wire or rings of sharp glass and metal in attempts to dissuade the creatures from seeking food there.
- Birds - Most of the avian life forms no longer frequent the river as they once did when it was a bountiful source of food for them, but those that remain are horrors to be sure. Primarily the most commonly seen birds are gnarled ravens that seem to carry an infection similar to The Breathless Plague , those oddly they remain docile and make no attempts to attack or harm the population of the river, humanoid or otherwise. Instead they perch on windows, roofs, and fences and watch the people that make their homes in these locations silently. While there remain other, less common type of birds that do not exhibit this behavior, the majority of them only seem to subsist on insects and are nocturnal, flying out in the dark of night to hunt the myriad insectoid life that infests the waters edges. Their songs can be heard all along the river as warbling, breathy calls that echo distantly.
- Cryptids - Locals that remain in the areas around the river have many tales of strange and unusual creatures that haunt the shadows and darkened corners of their lives. While there may have once been a time when these claims would have been laughed at or written off as folk superstitions, in the modern age people are far less quick to jump to such conclusions. This does make the area a point of interest for would be monster hunters and desolation striders that seek to make a name for themselves. Creatures such as the Dobhar-chú , the Wendigo , and other aberrant horrors are common tales in taverns and gatherings.
- Flora - There is a great deal of undocumented aquatic plant life beneath the surface, though most of what has been dredged up to study dies and wastes away too quickly to get an accurate sample of that remains viable long enough to pull forth details. Along the banks, most of the area remains barren, but several strains of mundane toadstools, lichens, and molds are very common, not to mention the Red Veined Touch-Me-Not which are actively avoided by most creatures.
History
At one time the Carrig River was a prime source of freshwater resources for the Bechtlarite Empire, and villages and hamlets covered it's bank from the mouth of the river at the edge of the Ephemeral Sea to the river's end. The aquifer is believed to stretch a substantial distance eastward, feeding into the Lakeland region to the East and possibly even concealing several underground tributaries that could potential stretch even further. These suspicions were never fully iunvestigated prior to the Blight, and now remain such a tremendously expensive and dangerous thing to investigate further that it has long since been passed off as an item of curiosity that doesn't hold enough merit to look into further.
The origin of the name, "Carrig" has been lost to time, though it is believed to belong to one of the first explorers that set out from the beginnings of the Becht Empire when Armuun was first founded. For many years before the troubles between them began, the Becht and the Seanachaisians would engage in a fair amount of trade between the river mouth and the the southern islands of the Seanachaisian Empire. The blockade that closed off the island nation did significant economic damage to the region, adn many of the long time residents began to move away. This led to an increase in crime and eventually several breaches in the Becht security of the region opened the way for many clandestine operations seeking to undermine the rule of Daimus III.
Alternative Name(s)
The Carrig, Blackrun
Type
River
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Owner/Ruler
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