Why the Iron is in the Bog (an idea)

From: Oliver D. Bernuetz <bernuetz_at_...>
Date: Thu, 03 Mar 2005 17:20:45 -0000

Hi there,

A thought that occurred to me is that the iron may be in the bog, not because it naturally formed there, but rather because someone put it there. It could be that in one of the old battles during the Gbaji wars a unit of humans armed with iron was wiped out nearby. The victors were in turn slain by the local Aldryami in an ambush. The victorious Aldryami couldn't bear the thought of all that poison lying around so they slowly moved it to the bog (at the cost of many runners fatally poisoned by the metal). The iron sank to the bottom to lie undisturbed. (The poisoned runners were also dumped in the bog). That's where the elves would like it to stay.

Now there's a couple of ways you could use this.

1. The elves resist anyone cutting peat for fear that they'll find the iron. Frankly I can't see them wanting anyone taking it so it'd have to be by force or stealth.
2. The weirder variant is that the bog itself is animate. (A bog dryad?) Being related to the elves in nature it's in constant pain because of the iron. That's why someone (the elves? or local humans?) send sacrifices to the bog to keep it settled down based on the misery loves company idea. The sacrifices keep the bog in its place otherwise it tends to wander around. Removing the iron would be doing the bog a favour but unfortunately you have to cut it to do so which it doesn't care for. The bog could be an opponent or if you like it can have an army of bogmen to do its dirty work. Or both.

Oliver