Crystalglade

"The moisture gets under your clothes and in your skin, and I don't just mean if your boots aren't waterproofed. And it's so warm and bright...honestly, it's a little disorienting at first. And then once you get back, there's always this noise in the back of your ears, and the colors get in your eyes, and you can't stop yourself from pushing yourself onwards. It's like the whole damn place is an anglerfrog's lure. Is this what everywhere was like before the Nightfall?"

- Vren Grablock, Varen cartographer

Crystalglade is a wetland located in southwest Tevhetra. It is the largest surviving area of natural growth on the continent, along with the largest crystalline cluster on the surface. Along with its wealth of biodiversity, Crystalglade is home to the city of the same name.

Geography

Crystalglade fills a large yet shallow basin in southwest Tevhetra. It is fed by the Ratavan River, and the warmer air produced by the crystal cluster increases weather activity, including precipitation. The water eventually seeps down to Tevhetra's underground, particularly the Underbog. 
Small islands dot Crystalglade, while the larger islands in the northern part of the marsh now constitute the land of the city of Crystalglade. The water depth varies throughout Crystalglade, but the average is about four feet deep. The deepest water is in the southern marsh, with areas around twenty feet deep. 
The wetland is constantly bathed in pink, violet, and blue light from the crystal growths throughout it. Some crystal chunks can be almost as large as the trees and fungi around them. Flowers and vines cluster around them for warmth, many as brightly colored as the crystals. Luminescent pollen drifts through the air. The air is humid and consistently warmer than anywhere else on Tevhetra, usually over fifty degrees F. The hum of the crystals mixes with the buzzing and squawking of the animals. Nowhere else could be so dense with life.

Localized Phenomena

Crystalglade is sustained by a massive crystalline cluster which provides enough warmth and light to keep the waters liquid and sustain the plant life. The core of the cluster is located in the southern part of the marsh, but connected growths sprout throughout the basin.

Fauna & Flora

Flora of Crystalglade include mangrove and tanglewood trees, fruit vines, flowers, reeds, thornsnakers, tubers, and a few species of small carnivorous and omnivorous plants. In most parts of the marsh, the trees provide a tightly-knit canopy that keeps in the heat and moisture. 
Crystalglade also has numerous species of fungi, ranging from tiny glowcaps to the mountain stalks, which can grow to size of small trees over several decades. Some species are bioluminescent. The heavy fungal presence consumes most dead biomass, restoring nutrients to the soil but making it difficult to recover dead organisms if they are not quickly retrieved. 
Crystalglade fauna includes insects of varying size and opacity, small freshwater fish and medusae who can live in the fairly shallow water, crawfish, turtles, amphibians, arboreal lizards, snakes, waterfowl, small songbirds, waterwyrms, beavers, otters, arboreal and amphibious horrorbeasts, and spindlewalkers. Several of these species are bioluminescent, such as anglerfrogs, waver bees, lantern jellies, crystalflies, and star-chested thrushes. Many of the species had to adapt to the constant light of the crystals. Thankfully, the region has avoided major Elder Beast activity.

Natural Resources

Wood, fruit, an other plant material, fungi (the bodies of mountain stalks are as sturdy as wood), fishing and hunting, and crystal harvesting, though the denizens of the city have recently grown a lot stricter about regulating the harvest of natural resources so as to preserve the marsh. The shallow waters around the city islands can be used for swamp agriculture.

History

Crystalglade existed before the Nightfall, as records exist of travelers praising its beauty or being terrified by its wildlife. However, it's likely that the crystal growth was much smaller before being fed by the massive increase of natural quintessence post-Nightfall. With many other verdant Tevhetrat areas wiped out by the cold and darkness, some of the surviving wildlife made it to Crystalglade where they could live.

Alternative Name(s)

Orugutsulgul (Torugk, "Crystal Marsh"), Orgutsul (Aphelian Torugk)

Type

Wetland / Swamp

Location under

Tevhetra

Owning Organization

Southern Garrok Federation