Re: Why the Iron is in the Bog (an idea)

From: Joerg Baumgartner <joe_at_...>
Date: Fri, 4 Mar 2005 11:14:40 +0100 (CET)


Oliver D. Bernuetz
>
>
> 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.

> 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.

I like the basic idea, but here's my twist:

An army of Palangio's dwarf allies got killed outside Whitewall. Arkat's Uz allies animated the bog using a hag (nymph of dark, soggy places - both dark and plant) and covered the inedible remains, neatly eliminating the iron and hurting the bog.

> 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.

Local "humans" - the former Kitori owners of Whitewall lands?

> 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.

So removing the bog zombies might reanimate the wandering bog? Cutting peat deeply enough may yield the iron (approved by the bog)? Magic goes all weirdly off on the bog?

I like this story element, even though it's unrelated to the Whitewall siege. Perhaps even because of that - this is a hook to pick up a few years after the siege.

Note that while this was inspired by real world's bog iron _ore_, it has nothing to do with that...

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