Bayukmen Marsh Kingdom

North of the Bog Witch live the **Bayukmen**, a reclusive people that dwell in the swamp there. The Bayukmen have a habit of living in small villages formed of reeds and thatch that sit atop floating islands in the mire, called crannogs.

Bayukmen are talented hunters and warriors. Despite their short stature and somewhat primitive lifestyle, they have proven a notoriously difficult people to conquer. The Bog Witch and her minions are their sworn enemy.

Although the Bog Witch isn't one to typically invade other lands other than her own bog, the Bayukmen have long resisted against her advancing armies, turning it into a grudge.

They use guerrilla tactics and have a mastery of their difficult terrain. According to those who have fought them, their houses, even their castles, move. People from the land of the Windmills refer to them as "bog devils" and avoid their lands.

They use poisoned arrows and darts extracted from the toxin of various frogs, often smearing them with feces and other nasty stuff to infect their enemies. Not only that, but they are masters of traps and camouflage. Once, a legion of pale ogres was advancing near their main hold, Moat Crag, and the Bayukmen managed to lead them to a pit of large crocodilians that devoured them.

The Bayukmen are ruled by a **Marsh king**, and they are a poor people who seldom leave their lands, subsisting on fishing and frogging, as well as hunting crocodilians and salamanders.

## History

The Bayukmen have been around as far back as anyone cares to remember. It is one of easternmost branches of “true” Westerling culture, though Westerling descended peoples can be found further east in Florinth and Tarot.

The Bayukmen are mostly famous for their millennia long resistance to the servants of the Bog-Witch and various other swamp based unseelie fey, however, other events of note have happened here as well, such as the use of the coastal areas by Northmen as a stepping stone to reach lands further west, or brutal fighting with the Ogre Kingdoms. The Bayukmen have also gotten involved in the civil wars that occur in the Land of Windmills from time to time, mostly to fight against rulers seen as too friendly to the Bog-Witch.

## Government

The Bayukmen are in theory a feudal society, though in practice it is more tribal than anything. The Marsh King rules over a number of regional lords, who in turn rule over the heads of a number of villages.

## Economy

The Bayukmen are hunter-gatherers, where able bodied folk spend most of their time fishing, frogging, collecting berries or roots, and hunting crocodilians or salamanders. Some villages will have small vegetable gardens, or a few pigs or other livestock.

Bayukmen are fairly skilled at working with wood to make boats and bows and such, and even possess a few small iron mines, but they tend to rely on trade with the Land of Windmills for many types of crafted goods, not that the typical Bayukman has many.

## Foreign Relations

### **Dominion of the Bog Witch**

The Bayukmen have resisted the forces of the bog-witch for ages, in particular, the forces of Norn.

### **Glutton Island**

In theory, this large island of semi-dormant volcanoes, barren hills, sulfur lakes, and chilly salt marsh is of no value to anyone, but according to the legends, it is sometimes possible to enter a realm of the Gluttony God from the island. Like most folk, the Bayukmen avoid it.

### **Platanus Bog, Zorya, Zyla Gora, and the Fairy Woods**

The Bayukmen see these regions as ruled by vassals and allies of the Bog-Witch and therefore hate them. In particular, they deeply hate the human vassals of the Bog-Witch.

### **Land of Windmills**

The closest cousins to the Bayukmen, the two get along by Bayukman standards (unfriendly but not always hostile). The Bayukmen sometimes back certain factions in the many wars of the Windmill Region, and even sometimes send patrols into the chronically lawless eastern province to suppress worship of the Lady of the Woods. Most people in the Land of Windmills find the Bayukmen nearly as fearsome as the swamp creatures, but a few will sell them weapons, armor, and other goods for the right price.

## Geography

The Bayukmen lands are fairly inhospitable. Much of it is either at sea-level, or poorly drained, creating a maze of salt marshes, freshwater marshes, bogs, swamps, and small lakes. Due to volcanic activity, there is also some jagged hills, sulfur pools, hot springs and geysers. Some areas are unseasonably warm due to said volcanic activity, while others are unpleasantly cold and damp except during the summer.

The Bayukmen are said to have floating castles and villages, but this seems to be mostly a myth based on certain tribes living on large log rafts or floating islands made of reeds, combined with the tendency for outsiders to get disoriented in the fog and maze-like networks of water channels.

Different Bayukmen subcultures have different housing designs, but generally they are primitive structures of wood and thatch, designed for defensibly and sometimes mobility.

Some ruined castles and other stone fortifications can be found scattered around, the legacy of both foreign invaders and the occasional non-traditionalist marsh king. Despite the Bayukman disdain for such structures, many end up forming the linchpin of defensive campaigns against swamp creatures and other foreign invaders.

## Demographics

### **Humans**

Make up most of the region’s population. Most are technically Westerlings, but some coastal tribes also have significant Northman ancestry.

### **Swamp Creatures**

The followers of Norn, a daughter of the Bog-Witch, frequently raid the Bayukmen.

### **Miscellaneous Fey**

A few swamp oriented fey not associated with the Bog-Witch live in the Bayukmen lands, including uncorrupted versions of swamp gnomes and kikimora. They keep a low profile though as nearly any fey found in Bayukmen lands will likely be considered a spy of Norn and attacked.

## Religion

The Bayukmen worship the Ancestor Trees. Believed by many scholars to be a different interpretation of the elven creator god, worship of the Ancestor Trees mostly consists of individual rituals and prayers held at well hidden groves where faces have been carved into old trees.

Some aspects of the Northmen Pantheon can also be found among the beliefs of the tribes with Northman ancestry.

The Lady of the Woods has some followers in the area, mostly folk from the Land of Windmills living in the lands bordering Bayukmen territory. It is unclear whether she is a faerie lord or something darker, and even more unclear if she associated with the Bog-Witch. Generally the Bayukmen attack her followers though, seeing them as likely vassals of the Bog-Witch.

The Bog-Witch and Norn are worshipped by their followers who intrude into Bayukmen lands. A few Bayukmen traitors have also been known to ally with them.

A few non-humans in the region follow minor faerie lords or stranger beings.

## Military

Bayukmen tend to be small and poorly equipped, and also have a distrust of magic. Despite these disadvantages, they have driven off countless raids and invasions with ruthlessly underhand warfare. Common tactics include constructing traps, springing ambushes, using poisoned weapons, and luring enemies into local wildlife (which are nearly as dangerous as those in the Bog-Witch's lands).