.: Broken Empires :.: The SWAMPS of MAGRETH

The Lowlands of Iagos

If one travels west from the coasts of Iagos toward the interior, the rocky hill-country will give way to the harsh expanse of the San Leone desert. At the border of these arid plains, the dwindling muddy rivers from the north are fed by the run-off from the hills, forming the great Swampland of Magreth.

In the heat of summer, this area is a sweltering bog full of insects and fever. In winter and spring, it grows swollen and flooded from the highland rains, and traversing them becomes a cold, wet, treacherous endeavour. Even so, one may find small villages there, especially along the old Imperial road.

The MAGRETHI FOLK

It is said that in olden times these marshes were actually a fertile land inhabited by an ancient people called the Magrethi. Tales suggest the original Magrethi were a line as old as the First Men, or that the blood of the Fading Folk ran in their veins. When the old Cyron Empire pushed into Iagos, the Magrethi initially defended their territories, but were quickly forced to retreat into their swamps, and remained there ever after.

Today, the Magrethi are few in number, a diminished, inbred, almost primitive folk who live on the fringes of Iagosi society. Many have left the swamps and their old ways behind, but a few squalid, isolated communities still remain lost among the reeds.

The Magrethi are a small, lean-bodied people, with pale skin, dark hair, and large sullen eyes. They speak a distinctive, garbled patois of Brin, Imperial, and some older tongue. Most do not worship the Prophets, but cling to old pagan beliefs. Although degraded, elements of their culture seem to be shared with similar peoples in other parts of Duatha, such as the Grennish of Delon, and the Weirish of Kaelthea. They are adept archers, and sometimes Magrethi hunters may find mercenary work as scouts or skirmishers where their wetland skills can be of some value.

The Village of MORROW'S REST

The village now called Morrow's Rest sits on the site of an old Magrethi settlement near one of the secondary roads that lead through the swamplands. It takes its name from the nearby ruins of a fort, which according to local legend, was built by the knight Thorbrad Morrow during the period of the Great Reclamation of Iagos around 150 years ago. His forces were meant to march east toward Torrena and Ladroa, but halted at the edge of the San Leone desert, never to finish their quest.

Morrow's Rest has no walls. The area of the old fort was reclaimed by the swamp long ago, and now the village is little more than a cluster of a dozen moldering buildings, including a dreary but serviceable inn. Most of the surrounding terrain experiences heavy flooding in the winter and spring, and so the higher ground of Morrow's Rest has made the location a traditional rest point for those navigating the marshes.

The folk of Morrow's Rest are a mixed group; some may be of old Magrethi stock, while others are descendants of Sir Morrow's Reclamation force, and still others are even more recent arrivals. Compared to most small, remote communities, Morrow's Rest is relatively friendly to travellers and pilgrims, and seems eager to hear news of the world.

SIR THORBRAD MORROW of TORVARIA, Templar of the Wheel

Sir Thorbrad Morrow was a celebrated Torvarian knight who came to Iagos to fight the Talumar heretics in the Great Reclamation. He swore an oath to the Hierophant of Parona that he would march until he bent his knee in prayer to Saint Oran in Ladroa, a sign of his intention to not only reclaim the lands between him and the coastline, but also to reclaim a Saint honoured by the Talumars for the Holy Wheel.

Sir Morrow and his forces would never reach Ladroa, and the liberation of Iagos came to pass without them. It was fulfilled instead by Escalo the Furious, a claimant to the old Iagosi throne who led mixed Braicosi forces from across Duatha. The Daramadi Caliphate was driven into the sea, the Furioso royal line ascended, and the Holy Wheel’s power in Iagos became absolute.

During the Sack of Ladroa, the Talumar temple of Saint Oran was raided and its sacred treasures looted. The holy remains of the Saint would be taken to Capracia by knights of the Reclamation, and placed in a reliquary at the temple of Oran-of-Ascenzia.

The failure of Sir Morrow's expedition became little more than a footnote in the history of the war. It is known that his army’s movement was stalled on their progress through the desert of San Leone. Historians believe that Morrow's men found themselves blocked by Talumar forces in the highlands and were forced to winter in the marshes.

After the changing of the seasons, they waited for reinforcements from allied nobles that never came, and they were hit hard by fever and dysentery in the summer months. All told, they were waylaid for two years, culminating in Morrow's own death, after which the army's survivors disbanded. However, the locals of Morrow's Rest tell a more romantic and eerie version of this tale.

THE BALLAD OF MORROW'S REST

According to the folk song, The Ballad of Morrow's Rest, Sir Morrow and his column of followers rode through the Swamps of Magreth, and lost their way in the mists. They stopped at a town to regroup, and there Morrow fell in love with a woman of the Magrethi marsh people. In spite of his holy quest, he was so smitten by her that he refused to leave until she became his bride. His men grew impatient, but Morrow would not decamp until he had his woman.

The legend goes that she would only agree to marry him if he built her a house in accordance with the traditions of her people. He complied and built her an earthen house among the rushes, but come autumn, the house sank into the bog with the rains, and was washed away. Next, she asked him for a lodge made of wood, mounted on posts, but it too sank into the bog and was ruined.

Finally, she demanded a hall of stone that would last forever, and Morrow had his men build such a hall. Morrow then held a wedding banquet within, and took the Magrethi maid to bed while the rains fell in the hills. There they stayed. When the waters rose, the hall of stone sank into the mire of the bog. Morrow and maid would not leave, and so sank with it, and perished.

Now, in the dryness of summer, the tower of the hall is seen to emerge from the bog when the waters recede. It is said that the Bog Knight and his Magrethi lady dwell there forevermore...