The place where we found now the Upland Marsh was the center of the EWF. There was locatted the capital around a dragonewt city. The second greates human city of the EWF was near Dragon's Eye.
The year before the Dragon Kill War when the relations between humans and dragonewts were already very bad the empire started to accumulate its strengh to attack the dragonewts and conquerer their cities. The plan was to attack on the earth and fire seasons of 1100. Dragonewts seemed to unaware of the human's plans and acted like if nothing was going on.
So, on water season of 1100 the EWF had gatered almsot all its forces around Dragon's Eye and in the capital. That's when the dragons acted by anticipation: they stoke with all their forces. Thousands of dragonewts and tens of dream dragons attacked the forces of the EWF and within days left the human fields populated only by dead bodies.
When Delecti saw is doom coming, he buid a magic barrier stopping the flow of the River which was flowing at its greatest force (remember all happened in water season). Within days the plain turned into a marsh flooding the now dead human city and the dragonewt city as well.
Next Delecti was able to control the dragonewt egg's lair and as used it until now to settle a precarious peace with the dragon people.
Then he turned the dead human into his undead army.
Finally he opened a way allowing the river to flow to the sea since he didn't want to turn the river god into an enemy. Of course, he ensured that the exit would not be so large that it would drain the marsh.
Part of is deal with the river god was that he would not persecute or attack river creatures.
Notice that nothing like that happened upstream in the Dragon's Eye. There all humans died and the dragon folk retained their city.
Before the Dragon Kill War ducks lived in the hills near forest streams.
When DP became an open region ducks moved down to the plains and eventually
settled in the margins of the rivers and in the outskirts of Upland Marsh.
Delecti didn't hostilize them (as well as newtlings and other small
species) for three reasons:
- - his contract with the river god (it protects ducks with strong links to
the river);
- - they were 'small game' and he prefered to keep his forces for when bigger
and more dangerous enemies would came (the idea of undead ducks is nonsense
most of the time: why wast your magical strenghs with ducks when you'll
need them to create human, troll or other species undead?);
- - they could act as a small buffer or a distraction against heavier
enemies.
Ducks saw the dangers of undead the same way a RW perl's searcher or a fisher in the pacific or the indic oceans looks at sharks: they exist, they are dangerous but you must risk some lives or some members if you want to live there. Careful people never get caught.
Sergio Mascarenhas
End of The Glorantha Digest V5 #115
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