Riask's Marsh

Riask's Marsh is mostly uninhabitable, mainly because of the many hostile creatures that hail there. Still, some people set up their homes in the outskirts, or settle down in one of the few towns. The Marsh is very popular with fighters and adventurers, who use it as training grounds to hone their skills. The best of them might even stand a chance to become monster hunters, and help stem the tide of ever-evolving monstrosities that threaten Syoll's people.  

Population and Culture

While most of the Marsh is uninhabited, there are a few settlements spotted across it, all of which are heavily walled off to protect from roaming creatures. The largest settlements are situated at the border to Farmer's Triumph or at the coast of Nessur's Eye. The few settlements further in the marsh have much fewer people, with the majority being skilled warriors or hunters of some sort.   Since the landscape outside these settlements is incredibly dangerous, Riaskans often live a relatively isolated life and don't travel often. Their communities are incredibly close-knit but not particularly attached to their individuals. Death is understood as a common occurence and embraced in a way that can make other Syollans uncomfortable. The ready acceptance of mortality leads the people to remain entirely focused on the present day. The freedom of doing what one wants to is valued as one of the most important things to a Riaskan.   With the rise of airships and thus increasing possibilities to safely travel, there has been a slightly steeper than usual decline in the Riaskan population, with many recognising the dangers of their native aspect and deciding to move away, should circumstances allow it. This change has led to a lower death rate, and has interestingly enough raised the number of visitors to the aspects. Simultaneously, recent efforts have been made to make life in the marsh easier, safer, and more accessible by improving communications between outposts and settlements to ensure timely warnings, studying the lives of native monsters, and encouraging the construction of protective buildings.  

Travel

Riask's Marsh is accessible by road, ship, and airship, although each of these have certain limitations. While larger ships reach coastal settlements quite well, some smaller towns along the water require smaller, faster vessels with more mobility to reach. It is common for traders to switch vessels in Chagred or Bleakstone if they are travelling solely on water. Airship travel is limited since there are no proper docks in the entire aspect. The skull of Ajash-Khorsk in Chagred functions as enough of an airship dock, but can only hold very few at a time and poses some difficulties especially for loading and unloading heavy cargo. Thirdly, while the Lake Road is kept quite safe by patrols, there are near to no settlements along it. It also happens to be one of three roads in the marsh, the others being a small route that leads to Tegoll and a road that runs along the Onyx Arm river. This makes travelling the Marsh by road rather impractical and slow, if generally safe.   In general, those travelling Riask's Marsh tend to prioritise travel over water, as this is most reliable and flexible. Cross-country trekking is only done by those incredibly familiar with the surroundings and by monster hunters, who have their particular ways of navigating the treacherous landscape. Many overly confident explorers have gone missing after attempting to take shortcuts over land rather than travelling over water.  

Resources and Contribution

Being both isolated and sparsely populated, Riask's Marsh almost acts as an exception to the Syollan rule of reciprocal trade, being largely self-sufficient. Southern settlements such as the capital Bleakstone or Entorliken are able to grow and hunt enough food to sustain themselves, and trade is lively enough at the southern border and the coast to make most necessities available to Riaskans.   The most common export from Riask's Marsh is hunted goods, used more often than not as spell or potion components or for other purposes that require specific monster parts. Due to the Magical Creatures Protection Act trade is heavily monitored and the hunting of species classified as magical is very restricted. These limitations make the few goods exported out of the marsh very valuable, and in turn other Syollans tend to be generous towards the aspect. As an unspoken rule, excess produce from other aspects is brought to Riask's Marsh as a donation or as a bribe, depending on who one might ask.