Crowded Rivers

The Crowded Rivers is a region, historically populated by the Lightfoot Halfing people, that has been recognized as one of the most habitable Wildlands in the Southlands. As such, both the Crowded Rivers and the Lightfoots have been under regular occupation for centuries. Most recently, the nation of Galumær has invaded and occupied the Crowded Rivers, wresting control from Shini-O.   The Magic of the Rivers     As with all Wildlands, the Magical output of the Crowded Rivers is largely unique when compared to other Magical Locations. In times past, this has historically been shown in folktales and mythology: The Crowded Rivers are mythologically seen as a place "where finding something and losing someone happen together." In short, people can easily go missing when acting overconfident in the Crowded Rivers, but clever eyed travelers can sometimes find things that have been missing for a long time.     The rivers themselves tend to shift and undulate in various patterns that seem to repeat over the course of years. It is safe to assume that an unprepared person can easily find themselves trapped between two shifting bodies of water flowing in opposite directions. Each individual river has its own shapes and patterns that it follows, but making sense of which body of water is which can be a remarkably challenging thing to do in the moment.  The Lightfoot people have developed a complex system of understanding the Crowded Rivers, known as "Following the Water."  This has helped them escape persecution in times past, and has made them indispensable for those seeking to exploit the locations resources.     The other side of the Wild Magic of the Rivers is harder to predict, as there is no discernible pattern at all.  The waters of the Rivers have a habit of making things disappear.  An unwary eye can lose almost anything in the Crowded Rivers, even items that by all conventional logic shouldn't be moved by the water.  In famous folktale, an old king once traveled to the Crowded Rivers to intimidate the Lightfoot.  In his hubris, he claimed to be stronger than the mightiest river, and waded out into the nearest stream.  Before he was even waist-deep, his royal cowl had been pulled off his shoulders, and his crown had fallen into the water.  To his shame, the crown immediately vanished in the clear water, and the king was sent home wet and humiliated.  A child of the Lightfoot found the crown sitting upon a rock in the same river decades later, dry as a clear sky in summertime.