Hellswamp

The Infernal Hellswamp
Ruler	Swamplord Vag'kroag (unknown–MS 5102)

The Infernal Hellswamp, commonly referred to as the Hellswamp or The Hellswamp, is a swamp in Northern Magnamund. It is, as its name implies, an extremely hostile, dangerous place, populated by numerous predators and evil creatures.

History

There is no real history about the Hellswamp. It has always been the murkiest, deepest mire on Magnamund, and the source of more natural diseases than any other place. Rumours suggest that the Cender Druids created the Great Plague using a vial of water from the Hellswamp. It has acted as a natural boundary against the forces of good, and has contributed towards the relative security faced by the Drakkarim on the western side of Northern Magnamund.

The depths of the Hellswamp hold the secret to undeath, which Agarash used to raise the first undead servants and army. It is for this reason that evil necromancers prowl the region today, seeking its resources and secrets.

In MS 5062, during the events of The Dungeons of Torgar, a ritual took place on the Isle of Ghosts to summon Demonlord Tagazin from the Pit of Eternal Pain. Depending on the actions of the player, Lone Wolf may have disrupted this ritual, sending the spirit of Tagazin back into the Pit.

In MS 5076, during the events of The Darke Crusade, Lone Wolf entered the Hellswamp from Lencia, in order to infiltrate Warlord Magnaarn's fortress in Shugkona, to destroy the Doomstone of Darke before it could be used against the Freelands. Lone Wolf travelled by boat through Dakushna's Channel into the River Gourneni, and disembarked into the Tozoz Forest.

In MS 5102, the forces of Darkness began to muster again, and the Hellswamp was no exception. Swamplord Vag'kroag mustered a horde of Agarashi to attack Northern Lencia, formerly known as Nyras. As the Lencians mustered at Lozonzee, Vag'kroag vanished, captured by agents of fellow Child of Agarash Shoongath, and the Agarashi disbanded. Vag'kroag's capture was to facilitate the reconstruction of his master, Agarash the Damned, once he was released from the Pit of Eternal Pain.

Geography

The Hellswamp is located towards the west of Northern Magnamund. To the south lies the Tentarias, which joins with the Hellswamp in the Blackwater Shallows. Its northern and western borders are demarcated by a river known as Dakushna's Channel. The waters of the Tentarias flow through the Hellswamp, into the rivers Helnen, Ghat and Torg. Its northern and western neighbours are the Drakkarim nations of Nyras and Nyvoz, and the Rivers Ghat and Torg eventually flow into Ghatan. To the east lies the renegade Drakkarim nation of Hammerlands, separated by the Moggador Forest.

Around the edge of the Hawkridge Mountain, the River Kloss and River Brol fork and rejoin, creating a tripoint between the Hellswamp, the Hammerlands, and Eru. The rivers then rejoin on the eastern border of the Hellswamp, creating an isle known as the Isle of Ghosts. The Eruan cities of Pirsi, Luomi and Cetza guard the other side of the border from the Hellswamp.

The Hellswamp is full of dangerous flora and fauna, which ensnare any creature that is unwise enough to enter the Hellswamp. The safest part of the Hellswamp is the eastern border with the Hammerlands and Eru.

List of known flora and fauna

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• Ciquali
• Bhakish
• Gorodon
• Akataz
• Lapillibore
• Krorn
• Taintor Wolf

Politics

The Hellswamp was the domain of Swamplord Vag'kroag until his death in MS 5102.

In the gamebooks

The Dungeons of Torgar

The Hellswamp may be first visited in The Dungeons of Torgar. There are three ways:

• The player chooses to go via Pirsi, meets Sebb Jarel, and wins his trust. Sebb Jarel will then guide the player through the Hellswamp.
  • See: The Dungeons of Torgar: walkthrough: Pirsi
• The player chooses to go via Pirsi, does not win Sebb Jarel's trust, and stumbles upon the Isle of Ghosts while fleeing Jarel's men; or the player chooses to go via Cetza, then after the Battle of Cetza, falls into a river, and washes up on the Isle of Ghosts.
  • See: How to Meet Roark and Tagazin in The Dungeons of Torgar

In The Curse of Naar, the player may meet the spirits of Lord Paido, Lord Adamas, and Sebb Jarel, trapped by Naar on the Plane of Darkness. This suggests that, in canon, the player went via the Pirsi route, met Sebb Jarel, won his trust, and went through the Hellswamp to Torgar. If so, this suggests that Roark's ritual (in the Isle of Ghosts route) was not disrupted. In The Deathlord of Ixia, Lone Wolf encounters Tagazin again, and is revealed to be serving Deathlord Ixiataaga; if the player did disrupt this ritual, Tagazin still appears, although it is not mentioned how.

The player later encounters Roark, as a spirit, in Dawn of the Dragons. It is not stated how Roark died, whether as part of this ritual or not.

The Darke Crusade

In The Darke Crusade, the first arc of the story involves the player journeying through Dakushna's Channel, a stream that marks the northern border of the Hellswamp, to reach the River Gourneni, and eventually Warlord Magnaarn's fortress at Shugkona. King Sarnac of Lencia will send Captain Prarg to guide the player there; if the player went via the Cetza route in The Dungeons of Torgar, this may be a reunion. The two may encounter Gorodons, Akataz, and a Drakkarim encampment.