Settlements and Sites of the Four City-States #280

Settlements and Sites of the Four City-States #280 

October 8th, 2023 

• Number: 280 

• Name:  Deep Dive on a Site of Interest: The Dismal Marsh and Lotus Delta of Danthas – Part 7 

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

• Population (approx.): 233 (Gentle Warg tribe) 

• Brief: The tribe of Locathah, Protectors of the Lotus Delta, maintain the waterways of the Danthas River delta, with established relationships with the inhabitants of the islands of the delta and the local authorities of Taodeas represented by the Sailors and Travellers Guilds. The Protectors have been very particular about who they’ll permit to settle the usually dry ground formed by the distributaries. The Half-Orcs of the Gentle Warg tribe emigrated to the continent with the larger Steel Talons tribe (#223) in the distant past. Wishing to put their bloody history behind them, the smaller tribe split from their brethren, who remain in Ceannar to this day, and made their way south, through Taodeas, to the north shores of the Lotus Delta. They made contact with the Locathah, offering artwork and objects carved from local native wood in trade. The Protectors were intrigued and sensed they were kindred spirits. After years of barter and interaction, the Locathan offered the Half-Orcs the island at the base of the Lotus to call their own. 

• Gulod, 25, male Half-Orc,is one of the master woodcarvers for the Gentle Warg tribe. He is very tall and has large biceps from chopping wood. He has curly black hair and dark brown eyes. Gulod has a tattoo of his wife, Gezi, 23, on his back. He wears brown cloth pants and a bright red jerkin. He wields a giant double-edged tree-cutting ax as a weapon when defending his home. 

• Gulod has a slightly larger than regular hut that houses his workshop. He works there most days, coming from a long line of skilled woodworkers unique to the tribe, producing goods and works that the tribe barters for everything they want or need. Gulod loves to carve the unique metal-like wood found in the Dismal Marsh to the west. The carvings are solid and last for many years. Business has been good, and Gulod is thinking of expanding his workshop. 

• Gulod and Gezi live in a hut near his workshop. Their only child, Orad, died of an illness when he was three. Gezi cared for Orad, but once he died, she returned to work as a forager for the tribe. They both hope to have more children one day soon. 

• Geography: The Gentle Wargs live on a 5-mile square island at the base of the Lotus Delta (location 9 see below). Their very sturdy and elegantly crafted wooden homes are raised on thick decorated pilings to weather the spring floods of the Danthas and the storms off the Sea of Hethichol. The buildings are connected by walkways with ladders and elevators to reach the ground. The settlement is enclosed by a palisade of ironwood foraged from the Dismal Marsh with an inner walkway about the top and watch towers at the 4 points of the compass. The base of the wall is dotted with canoes used to travel the local waterways. The sounds of animals, such as chickens and goats as well as a small number of dogs and wargs, can be heard from within. The Gentle Wargs can be spotted rowing the canals while hunting and foraging or traveling to trade with the Marshwardens (#87), the Locathah and the sailors of the nearby lighthouse (location 6). They generally avoid the Hobgoblins and Lizardfolk (locations 3 and 4).