Maiden's Refuge

On the eastern stretch of the Yaralon exists a large expanse of swampland. The marshes start roughly 200 miles east from the city, and extend for another 600 miles, where it meets the stretch of grasslands controlled by the Eternal Empire. Southeast of the swamp lands is the Nashaki, and to the north is The Spines. Due to the nature of these swamp lands, travel over land is quite difficult and takes much longer than it might over different terrain.

The swamp lands were named after Kata. After Anox died, Kata mourned him terribly and became extremely withdrawn from Mastes and others. She could not bear to be in the presence of the Grand Fracture that was borne from Anox's death, and so she left, seeking out a place to be left to her grief.

In her travels, Kata came across the toxic wilds that would go on to be named after her. There was no happiness here, no laughter, nothing but death and hardship. She felt it was the best place to not be found by anyone. The land, already twisted by the Fracture Corruption, was further influenced by the Immortal slipping further and further into madness. As she was twisted from within, she found small pleasure in twisting the creatures of this land. Creatures were shaped to no longer make sense, to be chaotic, driven by whims and ideas that only Kata herself might know. Eventually Mastes found Kata and she left this land. But it is widely believed that she regularly returns to this place of solace of hers, often talking to it like a dear old friend. Lisirra occasionally visits as well, though avoids it while Kata is here.

The Yari people have divided the swampland into three distinct regions; North, South, and East. The East swamp lands, colloquially called the desolations, meet both the Eternal Empire's border as well as Nashaki's. This is a transition zone from the deserts to the south, where the sands shift into a barrens comprised of maze like gorges and small canyons carved into sandstone. Geysers, acid pools, tar pits, and a lack of obvious flora are some of the most prominent aspects. Experienced travelers and caravan drivers have favorite pathways through this labyrinth. Much of the flora and fauna here, Tempered or otherwise, are venomous, poisonous, or otherwise toxic. The beginnings of the East Swamps at both the Nashaki and Eternal Empires are also a haven for opportunistic bandits, looking to raid travelers moving between the lands, without having to go too deep into the deadly swamps themselves.

The North swamps border the Spines, as well as the two other swamp regions. These particular swamp lands are a mix of fens and bogs. They have a lot more water available to them than exists in the East swamp lands. This gives them a higher diversity of flora, particularly with mosses, grasses, sedges, rushes, and wildflowers. This area receives the highest amount of water, for it gains the local rainfall, as well as the natural runoff from the Spines. But it isn't a lush paradise, for this swamp is full of aquatic and amphibious predators, particularly a massive variety of reptiles. Most of the predators here are ambush and trap hunters, and there is no such thing as a safe step among these peat swamps.

The South swamps are brackish tidal marshes. These swamps support large sweeping mangroves and other salt loving flora. These swamps contain the widest variety of fauna life, from birds, to reptiles and amphibians, and small to middle sized mammals. Kata spent most of her time in these particular swamps, but after Mastes pulled her from them, he set to work adding his own flair on their corruption. Every creature here survives based on some form of trickery. Luring prey of all types to unsuspecting death. Nothing here is as it seems, nothing can be trusted