Brinestump Marsh

Brinestump Marsh is a small wetlands region in southwestern Varisia just south of the town of Sandpoint.

Inhabitants

Brinestump Marsh is home to a well-known goblin tribe known as the Licktoads, and also to a notorious goblin cannibal named Vorka. Old Megus, the Swamp Witch, also lived within the swamp, and her presence kept locals truly at bay. However, Megus has since died, leaving her ratling familiar Skitterfoot behind. The marsh is also home to a creature known as the "Soggy River Monster", in truth a sinspawn escaped from the catacombs beneath Sandpoint. A tribe of faceless stalkers also inhabit the marsh, but largely died out due to inbreeding and malnutrition, leaving only a few undersized survivors behind. Brinestump Marsh has recently also become home to the halfling Walthus Proudstump, an escaped slave from Cheliax seeking isolation and anonymity.

Other creatures that make the marsh their home include giant geckos, goblin snakes, constrictor snakes, and giant leeches.

Geography

Brinestump Marsh is located in the Soggy River delta, just west of the Lost Coast Road, and is just over two miles in length and less than a mile wide. It is covered in thick, tangled vegetation, consisting chiefly of cypress, eucalyptus, oak, and willow over an undergrowth of reeds, nettles, and other swamp plants. The trees grow high and thickly together, and obscure most structures within the marsh. A high cliff surrounds the swamp, which curls around Sog's Bay in the Varisian Gulf. A cave system known as the Brinestump Caverns extends beneath the wetland.

Two pathways cut through the marsh, the New Fish Trail and the Old Fish Trail, established to give Sandpoint fishermen access to the swamp's fishing holes. The Old Fish Trail has since fallen into disuse due to the Licktoad goblins establishing their villages at its end. The wrecks of the Kaijitsu's Blossom and the Kaijitsu Star also lie within the marsh.