Mirkwode
The Reivers' Marshes are a mixture of labyrinthine bog marches and flooded, cold swamp forests.
Travellers leaving the safety of the loch's coastline, past the village of Wylburgh and the Lochwylside harbour, will need to stick closely to the Burgh Causeway. The Causeway is the main safe route through Lowside skirting the market town of Willknowe.
The largest and most dangerous peat bog is situated around the settlement of Mirkwode. The Mirkwode Bog is punctuated by jagged low hills, which are also very dangerous in their own way.
Further east, towards the wilder part of the marshes, submerged forests trace unknowable patterns on the landscape. This part of the Marshlands is called the Sink. Only very few communities manage to eke out a living in the cold, drowned forests and glades. Small villages such as Mirkwode and Wylmire remain hidden within the swamps and are hard to reach if you do not know the safe paths through the bogs.
The Reiver Clans
The swamps used to be the clanlands of Lost Clans such as Clan Cranston, whose ancestral lands included the most significant settlement in the Reivers: Mirkwode.
Hollow Moons Note: Sage Wearall has the honorific title of Marshland Chieftain and is a descendant of the Cranston clanbearers. He is now an influential Clanbearer of Clan Wylfedd.
Five hundred years ago, the Reivers were a much-feared alliance of three clans whose ancestors had settled down in the treacherous marchlands: Clan Cranston, Clan Wingswan and Clan Bogfrog. Life was hard in the bogs and to supplement their income, the clans raided mercilessly the more prosperous surrounding clans, including Clan Wylfedd.
At that time, Clan Wylfedd was gaining in power through the increasing trade on Loch Morgunt. Wylfhom Keep and surrounding harbours were taking advantage of the opening roads to the east and were making a brisk trade with goods from all over Alven, including Hollyholm and the Eastern Isles.
The then Chieftain of Clan Wylfedd, Markan Heathmor, decided to launch a 'pacification' campaign against the Reiver Clans. Chieftain Markan enlisted the help of Reiver scouts who were able to let the Wylfedd Fyrds through the bogs and swamps straight to the Reivers' heartlands.
Chieftain Markan was also astute in his dealing with the Reivers. In exchange for pledging allegiance to Clan Wylfedd, the Reiver Chieftains would become Clanbearers within their new clan, and thus retain influence in their local affairs.
Over the last centuries, the Reivers have become staunch allies of the Wylfedds. Their unparalleled knowledge of the swamplands and its resources has helped maintain Wylfedd's strength in Lowside. Through their association with the Wolves of Alven, the Reiver population has known unprecedented prosperity.
The largest and most dangerous peat bog is situated around the settlement of Mirkwode. The Mirkwode Bog is punctuated by jagged low hills, which are also very dangerous in their own way.
Further east, towards the wilder part of the marshes, submerged forests trace unknowable patterns on the landscape. This part of the Marshlands is called the Sink. Only very few communities manage to eke out a living in the cold, drowned forests and glades. Small villages such as Mirkwode and Wylmire remain hidden within the swamps and are hard to reach if you do not know the safe paths through the bogs.
The Reiver Clans
The swamps used to be the clanlands of Lost Clans such as Clan Cranston, whose ancestral lands included the most significant settlement in the Reivers: Mirkwode.
Hollow Moons Note: Sage Wearall has the honorific title of Marshland Chieftain and is a descendant of the Cranston clanbearers. He is now an influential Clanbearer of Clan Wylfedd.
Five hundred years ago, the Reivers were a much-feared alliance of three clans whose ancestors had settled down in the treacherous marchlands: Clan Cranston, Clan Wingswan and Clan Bogfrog. Life was hard in the bogs and to supplement their income, the clans raided mercilessly the more prosperous surrounding clans, including Clan Wylfedd.
At that time, Clan Wylfedd was gaining in power through the increasing trade on Loch Morgunt. Wylfhom Keep and surrounding harbours were taking advantage of the opening roads to the east and were making a brisk trade with goods from all over Alven, including Hollyholm and the Eastern Isles.
The then Chieftain of Clan Wylfedd, Markan Heathmor, decided to launch a 'pacification' campaign against the Reiver Clans. Chieftain Markan enlisted the help of Reiver scouts who were able to let the Wylfedd Fyrds through the bogs and swamps straight to the Reivers' heartlands.
Chieftain Markan was also astute in his dealing with the Reivers. In exchange for pledging allegiance to Clan Wylfedd, the Reiver Chieftains would become Clanbearers within their new clan, and thus retain influence in their local affairs.
Over the last centuries, the Reivers have become staunch allies of the Wylfedds. Their unparalleled knowledge of the swamplands and its resources has helped maintain Wylfedd's strength in Lowside. Through their association with the Wolves of Alven, the Reiver population has known unprecedented prosperity.
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