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With 3 million square miles, Marrishland is a large place. To see how this setting's landscape affects events, read the book.
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Geography Main Page
While most people consider the entire subcontinent to be Marrishland, this is wildly inaccurate. The Mar only control about a third of the total land mass, and their control over several of those areas is quite spotty. In their defense, the subcontinent encompasses about 3 million square miles — more than any other country in the world.
While Marrishland is widely regarded as a nation dominated by swamps and other wetlands environments, this view is exaggerated. It certainly has more swamps, bogs, fens, and marshes than any other region, but it has some dry areas, especially north of the Fens of Reur. Unfortunately, the Drakes control almost all these dry lands, so perhaps the common perception is not so misguided after all.
Posted by Eric on 2/6/2006: For a time in my youth, I was obsessed with the idea of a civilization that sprung up in a swamp, and Marrishland was born out of this obsession. I like the way this wilderness nation gives Marrishland the feel of a frontier civilization crossed with every monster story ever written. Swamp things? We've got those. Poisonous things that slither and creep? Yeah, we've got those, too. Petty tyrants who abuse their power? Yup. Brave adventurers and settlers who struggle daily to tame the land that seems to hate them? In spades.
Coupled with the naming conventions we have adopted, it feels a bit like the world of Beowulf to me. There is no high civilization anywhere. Even when I think of the academies and cities, I see a tiny island of dry land amid a wilderness of Drake-infested swamps. It's not actually like that, mind you, but no matter what happens in Marrishland, somehow the swamp always comes into play.
I fear this has somewhat limited the possiblities of a geography section. There are two cities worthy of the name, and one of them is a bit of a dump. The other two "cities" are little more than large, walled towns. Matt sometimes wishes Marrishland was a bit more urban. There is only so much you can do with a wilderness, he argues. He is mostly right, I suppose. When all your stories are set in a hostile wilderness, most of your stories are going to have to be adventures.
Maybe that's why Mar are so fond of epics.
Posted by Matt on 2/7/2006: There IS only so much you can do with a wilderness. Especially in the short stories, where in most cases I don't even have Drakes to deal with. But I admit, I will always love the idea of a region where absolutely anything can kill you. It's kinda like our reality, only it's tougher to die by mud. You can do it, but it's tough.
