The Black Marsh is a notorious and daunting region to the east of Harbour City, marked by its treacherous, stinky, and slimy environment. Here are some key details about this unique and challenging locale.
Environment
Geography: The Black Marsh is a vast wetland, filled with thick mud, stagnant pools, and slow-moving rivers darkened by the dense vegetation overhead. The air is thick with humidity and the stench of decay, coming from rotting plant matter and the sulfurous gases that bubble up from beneath the murky waters.
Flora and Fauna: The plant life in the Black Marsh is as resilient as it is strange. Towering reeds and dense mangroves dominate, interspersed with carnivorous plants and fungi that thrive in the low light and moist conditions. The fauna is equally adapted to this harsh environment, including venomous insects, large amphibians, and predatory birds that glide silently above the water. The most remarkable inhabitants are the massive serpent-like creatures that lurk in the deeper waters, feared by all who know of them.
Inhabitants of the Black Marsh
The most common inhabitants of the Black Marsh are:
The Lizardfolk
The Bullywugs.
The most powerful resident is an ancient Sable Hydra named Gloomfang!
Lizardfolk
See the entry for Lizardfolk in the Basic Rules (p. 143), or on D&D Beyond.
The primary inhabitants of the Black Marsh are the lizardfolk, a race of reptilian humanoids perfectly adapted to this challenging environment. They build their homes on raised platforms or in natural cavities in the trees, nominally safe from the dangers of the swamp below. Lizardfolk society is deeply connected to the marsh; they are excellent swimmers, hunters, and gatherers of the marsh’s unique resources, such as medicinal herbs and potent poisons.
Culture and Society: Lizardfolk culture is mysterious to outsiders, characterized by complex rituals and a deep reverence for the natural world, particularly the spirits they believe dwell within the marsh. They are skilled in crafting from reeds and hides, and their shamans wield powerful natural magic. While they are typically insular, they might trade with outsiders who respect their customs and the sanctity of their home.
Bullywug
See the entry for Bullywug in the Monster Manual (p. 35), or on D&D Beyond.
There are several tribes of Bullywug in the eastern reaches of the Black Marsh.
Physical Appearance and Abilities
Amphibious Humanoids: Bullywugs are frog-like, amphibious humanoids with slimy, mottled skin that helps them blend into the swampy surroundings. They typically have wide, bulging eyes and powerful legs suited for jumping great distances and swimming.
Natural Swimmers: Their amphibious nature makes them excellent swimmers, capable of navigating the murky waters of the Black Marsh with ease. This ability gives them a tactical advantage in their wetland home, especially in skirmishes and ambushes.
Culture and Society
Tribal Structure: Bullywug society is tribal and highly territorial. Each tribe is usually led by the strongest bullywug, who maintains his position through brute strength and cunning. Leadership contests are common, often brutal, and can result in sudden shifts in power within the community.
Religion and Beliefs: Bullywugs might worship primitive deities or spirits of the marsh, focusing on elements like rain, mud, and the predatory prowess of amphibians. Their religious practices are likely steeped in superstition and involve offerings taken from their raids or sacrifices to appease or empower their gods.
Raiders and Scavengers: They are known to be aggressive raiders, often attacking travelers or nearby settlements to steal resources or capture slaves. Their survival in the harsh marsh conditions has honed their skills in guerilla warfare, making them feared adversaries.
Conflict with Lizardfolk
Territorial Disputes: The primary source of conflict between bullywugs and lizardfolk stems from territorial disputes. Both races are adapted to similar environments, leading to inevitable clashes over the control of fertile hunting grounds and safe breeding sites within the Black Marsh.
Cultural Differences: Whereas lizardfolk might have a more organized and culturally rich society, bullywugs tend to be seen as less civilized and more brutish. These cultural differences exacerbate their disdain for each other, with each race viewing the other as either a threat to their way of life or simply inferior.
Resource Competition: Both races compete for the same resources, such as food, shelter, and space. This competition often leads to violent encounters, with bullywugs perhaps initiating most of the aggression due to their natural hostility and less structured society.
Bullywug Role
Antagonists: Bullywugs can serve as compelling antagonists, providing physical and strategic challenges to players navigating the Black Marsh. They could be involved in quests where players must deal with bullywug raids, negotiate peace between the two races, or exploit the conflict for other gains.
Complex Characters: While commonly antagonists, bullywugs can also be portrayed in a more nuanced light, perhaps as a race struggling for survival in a harsh world, which could lead to opportunities for alliances or understanding under the right circumstances.
Environmental Impact: Their aggressive behavior and territorial nature could also impact the broader ecosystem of the Black Marsh, affecting other creatures and the environmental balance, which could be a concern for druidic or nature-aligned characters.
In the deepest, most shadowed part of the Black Marsh, there resides a monstrous reptilian horror known as Gloomfang! She is a massive, ancient Sable Hydra with a huge crocodilian body covered in thick, blackened scales, seven heads on long, serpentine necks, and eyes that glimmer with a malevolent intelligence. Gloomfang! has adapted over centuries to the Black Marsh’s oppressive environment, and her many heads allow her to be aware of every movement within her domain.
Gloomfang! usually spends her days submerged in the deepest parts of the Black Marsh, her seven heads sunk up to her eyes in the bog. At least one of her heads will be awake and alert, vigilantly watching for prey that comes too close before savagely lunging to snatch and tear apart her prey in a frenzy of feeding.
All the other denizens of the Black Marsh know to pay obeisance to Gloomfang! if they want to live. This usually takes the form of food, which she prefers to be a live sacrifice, and the bigger the better. Both the Lizardfolk and the Bullywugs pay a tribute to Gloomfang! regularly.
Flora of the Black Marsh
Flora of the Black Marsh
The Black Marsh is an ecosystem teeming with life, much of it unique, often dangerous, and even magical in nature. The flora of the Black Marsh is as diverse as it is extraordinary, consisting of plants that have adapted to, and even thrived in, the harsh conditions. Each of these plants offers both potential benefits and risks, making them valuable resources for those brave enough to harvest them.
Noctilucent Reeds
Description: These tall, thin reeds emit a soft, bioluminescent glow at night, creating a serene and calming effect.
Effects: The light from Noctilucent Reeds has soothing properties that can calm those who gaze upon it, providing a +1 bonus to Wisdom saving throws against fear and anxiety effects while in their vicinity.
Uses: Potions brewed with these reeds can ease anxiety and promote restful sleep. A potion made from Noctilucent Reeds grants the drinker advantage on saving throws against fear and the ability to take a long rest in half the normal time. It can also be used to remove the headache often caused by Bog Bean Elixir.
Weepwillows
Description: These willow-like trees appear to 'weep' as their heavy branches dip into the waters, producing a sap coveted by alchemists.
Effects: The sap is a potent magical ingredient used in potions of healing and restoration. Collecting it, however, is dangerous due to the creatures that dwell near the trees.
Uses: A potion made from Weepwillow sap restores 4d4 + 4 hit points and cures the poisoned condition. Harvesting the sap requires a DC 15 Dexterity (Sleight of Hand) check to avoid attracting hostile creatures.
Sorrowmoss
Description: A thick carpet of dark moss that releases spores when disturbed, causing hallucinations.
Effects: Exposure to Sorrowmoss spores can cause hallucinations, requiring a DC 13 Constitution saving throw. Failure results in being affected by the Confusion spell for 1d4 hours.
Uses: In small amounts, Sorrowmoss can be used in vision quests, granting advantage on Wisdom (Insight) checks for 1 hour. Overexposure can lead to madness, causing short-term madness (DMG p. 259).
Venomferns
Description: These ferns have brightly colored fronds coated with a neurotoxic substance.
Effects: Touching or consuming Venomferns requires a DC 15 Constitution saving throw. Failure results in paralysis for 1 hour.
Uses: Alchemists can refine the toxin into powerful paralytic agents. A refined dose can be used to create a paralytic poison, which when applied to a weapon, causes paralysis for 1 minute on a hit (DC 15 Constitution saving throw to resist).
Mireblooms
Description: Rare flowers that bloom only under the light of the full moon, with petals that shimmer with an ethereal light.
Effects: Mireblooms are highly sought after for their ability to enhance magical abilities. Holding a Mirebloom grants a +1 bonus to spell attack rolls and spell save DCs.
Uses: Elixirs made from Mireblooms can unlock hidden magical abilities or enhance one's connection to the arcane. An elixir grants the drinker the ability to cast one 1st-level spell of their choice, once, without expending a spell slot. The spell selected must be a spell that the caster already knows, if not, or by choice, treat the casting as if the caster experiences a Wild Magic Surge (as the sorcerer origin, Wild Magic). Note: If the character that drinks the Mirebloom elixir does not already have magical abilities, then treat the Wild Magic Surge as if the character rolled a 01 on the Wild Magic Surge table (Roll on this table at the start of each of your turns for the next minute, ignoring this result on subsequent rolls).
Whisper Reeds
Description: Unique plants capable of capturing sounds and releasing them when the wind blows.
Effects: Whisper Reeds can play back recorded sounds, which can be a source of information or disinformation.
Uses: These reeds can be used to create traps or diversions, playing back specific sounds when triggered. They can also be used in interrogation or espionage to reveal hidden truths or secrets.
Bog Beans
Description: Floating plants that produce beans, a basic food source for many creatures in the marsh.
Effects: Consuming Bog Beans provides nourishment and temporary resistance to the marsh's harmful effects, granting advantage on saving throws against disease and poison for 24 hours.
Uses: When fermented, Bog Beans create a potent brew that grants temporary resistance to poison and disease. Drinking the brew provides the drinker with advantage on Constitution saving throws for 1 hour. In addition, at the start of each of their turns for the first 1 minute after drinking the Bog Bean Elixir, the drinker can attempt to roll a saving throw (DC 12) that will remove one poison or disease effect. Following an unsuccessful save, the drinker suffers a splitting headache for 1 hour that causes any spell or ability that requires concentration to fail. The headache can be removed with a Short Rest or by imbibing the potion made from Noctilucent Reeds (see above).
Ghoulshade
Description: A rare fungus that grows on decaying matter, used in necromantic practices.
Effects: Ghoulshade can be used to create powerful necromantic reagents. Handling it requires a DC 14 Constitution saving throw; failure results in necrotic damage (2d6) and the poisoned condition for 1 hour.
Uses: Forbidden by many, Ghoulshade can enhance necromantic spells. A necromancer using Ghoulshade in a spell's components can increase the spell's save DC by 2. Its use is considered a dark art and is punishable by law in most civilized societies.
These flora add both opportunities and dangers to adventurers exploring the Black Marsh, offering unique benefits for those willing to take the risks involved in harvesting them.
Challenges and Adventures in the Black Marsh
Navigation Hazards: The Black Marsh is notoriously difficult to navigate due to its deceptive terrain, where solid ground can suddenly give way to deep mud pits or hidden water channels. The ever-present fog and mists can disorient even the most experienced traveler.
Diseases and Poisons: The marsh is rife with diseases and natural toxins. Adventurers must prepare with antidotes and protective gear if they wish to explore or pass through safely.
Quest Opportunities: For those brave or foolish enough to enter, the Black Marsh offers numerous adventures. Quests could involve seeking out ancient relics believed to be lost in the depths of the marsh, negotiating with the lizardfolk for passage or alliance, or combating a threat that endangers both the marsh and neighboring regions.
The Black Marsh serves as a natural barrier to the east of Harbour City, and its eerie, unwelcoming presence adds a layer of natural defense against invasion from that direction. However, its resources and the potential alliances with the lizardfolk could also be of strategic importance to the city, offering adventurous players significant challenges and rewards.
Adventure Hooks with the Flora of the Black Marsh
A Light in the Darkness: The players must gather Noctilucent Reeds to create a guiding light for a village plagued by darkness.
The Weepwillow's Tears: A healer requires the sap of a Weepwillow to complete a cure for a mysterious illness afflicting the town.
Harvest of Madness: Sorrowmoss spores have contaminated a water supply, and the players must find the source before the entire town succumbs to visions and insanity.
The Venomfern Gambit: The players are tasked with safely collecting Venomfern fronds for an alchemist working on a new defense for the city guard.
Bloom of the Mire: A rare Mirebloom is said to hold the key to a long-lost spell, and the players must find it under the gaze of the full moon.
Echoes of the Marsh: Whisper Reeds hold clues to an ancient crime or secret, and the players must navigate the treacherous marsh to find the right reeds.
The Bog Bean Brew: A festival requires a large quantity of the fermented Bog Bean brew, but recent shipments have gone missing in the marsh.
Fungus Among Us: A dark cult seeks the Ghoulshade for a forbidden ritual, and the players must stop them before they unleash something unnatural.
The Black Marsh, with its special flora, offers a treasure trove of peculiar and dangerous plants that can serve as both plot points and valuable resources for those brave enough to venture into its depths.
