Lindalf

Lindalf(S. "Fen Tundra") encompasses the northern portion of the Lakeland, constantly deluged by the watersheds of the Bleak Mountains to the west. Rain and snow-melt off the mountains wash into this shallow, bowl-like plain. The majority of the water eventually finds its way north and east into the Forsaken Sea, leaving in its wake a morass of tangled marsh, cold swamp and deep bog. The fens shift and wander as the whim of winter storms or spring rains dictates. As the Lumimiehet who hunt along its fringes say, "Last month's hunting trail may be this month's swamp." Lindalf receives a sinister reputation from some of its more malevolent residents. Marsh-drakes lair near the Bleak Mountains, while further south and east mysterious lights as of candles or lanterns lure wanderers to a nameless doom. Summer brings a great greening to the Fen Tundra, with cattails and marsh grasses growing in profusion. Marsh birds migrating from the South transform the wetland into one huge rookery. Blue otters, black mink and giant martens all come out in search of birds and eggs. Lumimies hunters come too, often willing to trouble the waters deep into the tundra in search of freshly laid eggs and succulent squab. The Trolls and Orcs from the Bleak Mountains are a danger only in summer when they too come to hunt and fish the pools and mires. In winter, the birds migrate south and the predators either hibernate or settle for lesser prey hidden under the snow. The cold of winter freezes the marshland, making it safer to traverse, but by no means safe. In the late autumn and early spring, the frozen pools are not easy to judge, and what looks like a solid path may break beneath laden travelers, plunging them into a cold, thick mud.