Louisiana swamps

The swamps of Louisiana are, with Canada, some of the most Leto infected area of the wastes. The entire state has been declared unable for any living creature to live in.

Unfortunatly, many living creatures decided to stay and the place was the heart of two major geopolitical events of no-return.

ROLE IN THE FIRST CIVIL WAR

Under the reign of Jeremiah the red, there has been an insurrection financed by mob bosses who wished the king to stop bothering their markets. The royal army was quickly overnumbered and the castle was under attack, with a few men to defend it. Some help was needed and not any faction was near enough to call it for help, especially considering that Jeremiah the red considered the idea as "offering them the crown".

Valentine went to the Louisiana swamps alone and came back alive. But it wasn't everything : he came back with an army of lizardmen recruited on place. Covered in crap, captain shitload-lion saved the day, and the king.

The lizardmen never received any reward, except being allowed to go back home alive. Valentine often goes see them, just to express his feelings (he says they're the only ones who truly listen when he speaks, drunk, for several hours) and trying to make them understand that everybody in the kingdom isn't like their king.

ROLE IN THE WAR FOR THE PITT

At the very premices of the rise of United, the king was missing, until he got spotted in the swamps, hurt and blocked. The Selfmads tried to take this discovery at their advantage by kidnapping him, wanting him to litteraly drop his ideas about United and their insurrection. But four special commandos from the kingdom arrived at the same moment... and nobody knew exactly where the king was.

In the Selfmad camp, there were about all the actual members of the Phoenix unit. In the kingdom camp, there were famous people, including Ish, Doren Kayle, Lucy Valentine and the archiduchess Vivianna from Chicago.

This day marks the first historical exchanges of fireshots between the kingdom and the Selfmads. Jeremiah took it as a direct war declaration against the crown... but you'll know if he had time to do something about it by watching the TV series ! Just so you know, the fights lasted four days and nights. Between the creatures, swamp horrors, fog and locals were commando groups hunting each others in one of the most violent and intense confrontation the wastes ever knew.



-There are many cities isolated in the swamps. There are mainly populated by Beastials, who refuse to embrace any faction. They aren't really agressive and may accept travellers, as long as they don't come with the flags of their faction.

-There is a Svauk permanent camp. The guards shoot on sight and there are many groups of rangers from this faction who patrol in the surroundings, capturing everybody who seems to be too curious. There is something really strange about this old factory, surrounding by landmines.

-The number of carnivourous plants in the swamps in rather amazing. Of course, Leto has made them grow big enough to swallow human beings. They seem to have develloped some superior predatory instincts, making them hide, elaborate attack strategies and emetting smells so attractive they can almost hypnotize a human.

-There are many boiling basins in the swamps. During the day, the reflection makes the water undersnow getting so hot it litteraly boils. There is absolutly no way to predict when the ice is going to break, plunging you into boiling water. There are rumors of real geysers around the swamps and they are extremely dangerous.

-There are a large number of Leto-mutated moths and mosquitos. Theirs bites can be extremely deep, hard to cicatrize and make you loose more blood than they already sucked. Good news : their giant size will allow you to hear them coming for you.

-Strangely enough, some people have decided to never leave their swamp areas. For many of them, the complete isolation mixed with the Leto and the harsh life in this area have considerably reduced their population, until the final point when incest became common. The result is simple : the locals are agressive, degenerate rednecks, willing to "d'fend th'land mothefucka'" even if you come in peace. BUT, if you have something to offer, like a watch or something, you may be welcomed.

Other have decided that the surface was a little bit too harsh. They found sewers and draining conduits they now live in ; if you decide to cross through the underground to avoid creatures and vegetals, you may meet them. The absence of sun and the low level of the conduits have transformed them to pale, almost blind and quite agressive creatures.

-Of course, there is the Leto, quite everywhere in small amounts... In real little jungles at other places. It is hard no notice where it is, other than with the cold growing.

-There are rumors of some Wendigo apparitions in the swamps, god knows why here. But if you hear some Astralanguage floating around a mist, don't run away, you may encounter much worse by accident. Just hide and pray.

-You may encounter Lady Death's minions. They are people who have been transformed into kind of zombies, due to vaudou magic and preparations based on Leto and traditional materials. Depending on their mistress will, they might bring you to her or make sure you runaway to never come back.

-Of course, let's not forget these nasty Leto-mutated crocodiles...

-The swamps are populated by Saurian people. They live in tribal ways, which are harsh, connected to nature, spiritual and chaotic. They aren't as freely agressive as the other people of the swamps, but they won't hesitate to stab anyone who would dare lack respect to their way of life. They are immune to cold and know the swamps better than anyone else. They travel in really fast, jumping from a top of a tree to another, avoiding the traps and creatures. Speaking about traps, they litteraly take huge amounts of shits on spikes they later bury in holes, recovered by mud. If you walk in, first, you get impaled, secondly, it will infect really fast.