Settlements and Sites of the Four City-States #276

Settlements and Sites of the Four City-States #276 

October 4th, 2023 

• Number: 276 

• Name:  Deep Dive on a Site of Interest: The Dismal Marsh and Lotus Delta of Danthas – Part 3 

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

• Population (approx.): 133 (Cold Paws Warrior Tribe) 

• Brief: The Lizardfolk Tribes rarely war upon each other, preferring to settle disputes through contests of Mafalag, but they are more than happy to scrap with the Hobgoblin Tribes of the drier scrub hills to the east and south. Like the Lizardfolk and others, the Hobgoblins of the Dismal Marsh are not native to the region, having been driven there by force or led there by fate. A warlike folk, the Hobgoblins struggle to carve out a nation of their own for they are creatures of habit seeking heroic victories and thus tending to fight each other and everyone else wherever they live.  

• Rakarg, 35, male Hobgoblin, is an Animal Trainer for the Cold Paws Warrior Tribe. He is large, muscled, and wears a grim expression. He typically has matted fur on his red-brown skin, and his face is orange. Rakarg has a tattoo of a crude paw on his left arm. He wears leather armor that has bits of chain attached to it. His favorite weapon is a broadsword, but he is out of practice.  

• Rakarg began working with wargs when he found a stray one near a burnt-out hut. The warg went to bite his hand, and Rakarg tackled it. The two slowly became friends. Rakarg can handle any warg and turn it into a war animal or a pet. He also enjoys working with horses, wolves, and other animals that cross the Hobgoblin's path. One of Rakarg's favorite things is presenting an animal to its new master. The joy of the bond is terrific to see, and it is celebrated in the tribe. 

• Rakarg lives with his mate, Erebog, 31, female Hobgoblin. She cares for the home and their four children, Glerg, 8; Del, 5; Gac, two; and Ror, six months. They live in a large hut near Erebog's family. The family has too many animals to list here. 

• Geography: Cold Paws Warrior (see location 4 below) and the other Hobgoblin tribes of the Dismal Marshes live on a stretch of land south of the junction of the marsh channels with the main course of the Danthas River, also almost directly south of the Marshwardens’ fort (#87 and location 2). They claim and hunt over an area about 30 miles west to east and up to 25 miles south of the river. Cold Paws Warrior is a medium-sized tribe relying heavily on Rakarg’s trained animals and monsters to supplement their fighters. They regularly raid outlying areas, especially desert clans to the south, for animals, especially dogs, wolves and horses. The tribe's homes are wooden 1 or 2 room huts covered by roofs of rushes and sedge. Some are reinforced by mud bricks and stone blocks molded or cut from local earth.