Settlements and Sites of the Four City-States #274

Settlements and Sites of the Four City-States #274 

October 2nd, 2023 

• Number: 274 

• Name:  Deep Dive on a Site of Interest: The Dismal Marsh and Lotus Delta of Danthas – Part 1 

• Location: Northeast Wastelands where the Danthas River meets the Sea of Hethichol 

• Population (approx.): Varies 

• Brief: The Danthas River, flowing down from the Ulu Maug and bolstered by other sources such as the Red and Saut Rivers, cuts across the continent, defining the border between the City-State of Taodeas and the scattered minor states and peoples of the Wastelands. The river slows as it approaches the Sea of Hethichol, the pastoral foothills to the north forcing the river swirling through the hot and inhospitable Dismal Marsh (which dries out to the south as the land becomes the Mu Onno Desert) and then artfully depositing its sediment in the Lotus Delta (so named for from above the channels resemble the flower). 

• The traffic upon the Danthas River prefers to stick to central channels, giving the Swamp Queen (#20) her due for the Marshwardens (#87) are ineffective, rather than face the strangers and dangers further south. In contrast, the Lotus Delta is a beautiful place of quiet distributaries threading between grassy scrub-covered islets, the river-dwellers living in huts perched on pillars above the earth proof against spring floods and ocean storms. 

• Geography: East of where the Saut River joins the great Danthas, the latter becomes wider and sluggish, meandering through an area of dismal marsh that frequently floods from the west after winter and from the east due to ocean storms. There are a small number of relatively high and dry islands rising above the channels of the river. The marsh covers about 70 miles of the course of the Danthas, gradually turning into the delta itself about 20 miles from the Sea of Hethichol. The Dismal Marsh covers over 1500 square miles of lowlands, almost all south of the Danthas, that gradually dries out to become sparse meadows that soon disappear into the Mu Onno Desert. The Lotus Delta is roughly circular covering over 300 square miles with grassy strips of land between the numerous distributaries. There is some debate among local cartographers and magicians as to why, from the air, the pattern of channels through delta appears to duplicate the flower so closely. Some sort of intelligent design but by whom or what is unknown. 

• Next Article: Over the course of this week, we’ll present some of the notable peoples, happenings and plot threads of six notable sites in the Dismal Marsh and Lotus Delta.