aquellia [Lore] Soggalong Swamp

[RarityDash]

Soggalong Swamp - An Unforgiving, Hostile Morass

 

The infamous Soggalong Swamp is a great expanse of treacherous wetland which extends all across the southeast corner of the continent. With its many dangers and abundance of unexplored wilderness, it has been dubbed by many as Aquellia's answer to the Everfree Forest--though there are some who argue that with its precarious, shifting terrain it is the more hazardous locale. It is at the very least a place that only the boldest of ponies and griffons alike would choose to venture.

 

The swamp begins in the shadows of the Talonclaw Mountains, one of the ranges that forms Raptorclaw Canyon. It extends to the southwest, ending with the more friendly and fertile Neighples Delta. The bend of the Raptorclaw River forms the east boundary of the region while it it is cut by hills to the west before transitioning into a dense wood as it continues to the northwest along the Clopton Shores. Most of the region, which is intensely almost always extremely hot and muggy, is composed entirely of unstable swamplands. Few have have risked attempts to map or navigate the heart of the region--which is both dangerous and prone to change regularly due to the vegetation and wildlife-- but it is known that there are at least four major streams running through the swamps.

 

Soggalong Swamp is a region absolutely teeming with life. A great variety of plants grow in the region, including sawgrass, mangroves and thick patches of bamboo. Much of the plant life on the swamp is thick and overgrown and the waters of the various ponds and peat bogs are often teeming with swamp algae and aquatic plants. Some stretches of the untamed swamp are quite murky and fetid. Animals of many kinds also call the region home including harmless frogs and fish, less harmless creatures like alligators and of course more fearsome beasts. Like the similarly swampy but significantly smaller Froggy Bottom Bog in Equestria, hydras are known to dwell in the swamplands, and sea serpents have also been reported as being spotted. Little research into the region's fauna has thus far been conducted, but it is strongly believed the murky waters and thick growths of plant life conceal numerous and fearsome creatures still waiting to be discovered.

 

Despite the inhospitable conditions, a small number of rugged individuals live their lives on the swamps. These are largely griffons with roots in the area who favour the hunting and fishing it offers. Most here chose to live rather isolated lives. There are no known settlements of any significant size in the region, though on occasion small, tightly-knit community groups will band together for ease of survival. Small clusters of raised bamboo structures have been spotted in some of the clearer areas of the swamp.

~Canterlot Research Journal