Fanigawi and Maristriumarka

West of Daleth, on the southern coast of the World Sea, are the lands of Fanigawi and Maristriumarka. It is unclear if these are two separate lands, or that the names belong in fact the same land. Maybe one is part of the other... there are no diplomats in Daleth who can tell.

Fanigawi swampscape

The coasts of Fanigawi (“Shire of Mud”) and Maristriumarka (“The Region of the Water Trees”) is well known by the pirates of Roverseiland and other seafaring countries. The lands were better known as the Naglani sailed from Elfane over the vast waters of the western sea. The Dalethian names date from those legendary times.

The coast is low and easy to access with flat boats. The shore is sandy and large beaches can be found all along the shore. A large river has its mouth in the lands, and a lot of river arms form islands and swamps. The islands are overgrown with trees, that partly stand in the water. The river mouth is changing with the tide, that sweeps the sea over the land thrice a week.

The plants are almost all semi-marine. The large swamps and the river mouth have a changing state of wetness, sometimes dry, sometimes flooded. The animals living in Fanigawi and Maristriumarka are also fit for life in water and life on land, but they are not all amphibious.
Some people say the humans in Fanigawi are half human, half fish. Some of these creatures have been spotted, but it is not true that these are the dwellers of the swamps.

Typical Fanigawi
Woodway

The People

In fact, the people of Fanigawi and Maristriumarka are a rather developed people, living from the sea (fishing, in earlier times trade with the Naglani) and small scaled agricultural activities. They know towns and invented many ways to live with the water. The wooden roads are the best example of this. The main power source is that of water mills, which can be found in every town.
They have their own language, that is very different from the Dalethian languages. Many words are directly connected to the life with the water and the sea. They got at least twenty words for the verb “to fish”. The vocabulary of swamp- and mud related words seems unending.

Because there are no diplomatic contacts with Daleth, the situation in the lands is unknown. It is expected Fanigawi and Maristriumarka are in a state of war very now and then, or maybe there is a civil war. War bands and pirates raid the towns, the anarchic order in the lands is not on a level to give state protection. The seafaring cities avoid spending longer times in Fanigawi or Maristriumarka.