The Blood Marshes

The Marshlands

These Marshes are what make up almost all of the Khellan lands. It is a harsh place, with its name being derived from the monochrome plantlife that can be found here.

Geography

Near the mountains, the lands are less waterlogged, but this is where most of the rain falls, and there are a lot of small streams and the beginnings of big rivers.

Further from the red mountain foothills, the land becomes very flat and low in elevation. Here there are countless lakes, and rivers become so wide they can often be mistaken for lakes themselves.

Flora 

Mash vegetation is painted red due to a certain mineral in the soil, wich is washed down from the mountains. While this is not suitable for most plants, there was once a single varient of red grass, which has since divesified to fill the niches of many different plant types, all marked by stalks, and thick outer membranes.

There is the regular red grass, which grows to almost two meters tall,and has thich sturdy leaves, edible only by creatures with very rubust digestion systems.

There are also the red mangroves. These almost look like trees, with thick central stalks, and many wide leaves sprouting from it. This tree is most comonly used by natives to make houses, as well as boats. Its stem can be processed into wood-like planks, and its leaves are common roof materials, due to their sturdy, and thinknature. They also dry very well, and once dry, they become very efficient aquatic insulators, and they last for a long time.

There is also the short grass, which still grows to about a meter tall. This variety is much softer, and it grows closer to the mountains.

There are also the river reeds, they are thin, but they grow faster and taller than regular red grass. They grow a single pollen pouch, which releases seeds via wind and water.

These are many more varieties, but these are the most common.

Rice

From one of these types of red grass, the Khellans cultivated the first variation of rice. It has since spread to nearby regions, and varients for dryer climates have been cultivated, but the water-dwelling khellan variety remains the most popular one.

Fauna

The rivers and lakes are inhabited by many different fish species that feed on the water weeds, and even the red grass. where it grows in shallow waters.
These fish are hunted by bigger fish, as well as the caiman that live here. These caiman have to make do with hunting only fish, and the occasional bird, of which there are also here. Most of these birds make their nests in the tall mangroves or islands offshore, making sure their eggs aren't eaten by anything. This fish-rich marshland is a very attractive feeding ground for them, despite the risk of being eaten by caiman.

The largest creature that calls this their home, is the hippo, they feed off the red grass too, as well as the water weeds, and they have even been known to snap at any fish that enters their territory, but this is mostly to ensure their food supply isn't eaten by someone else.