Talk me through the Mushfens

[Fletch]

The Mushfens in Varisia are a geographical concept I'm unfamiliar with. Now, I've seen marshlands at the *end* of rivers where the water slowly seeps out of the river rather than just emptying into a sea. Here, however, it seems like the marshlands exist along one side of the river for its entire length.

How does that work? Is the north bank of the river solid ground while the south bank is marshy? If the river seeps into the mushfens for its entire length, how does the water continue to flow west to the coast?

Does the Mushfen's water source from somewhere else and actually flow *out* of the fens and into the river and coast?

Is there a real world geographical event this is based on?

[Studpuffin]

I'm not sure of the size, but its typical of lowland coastal flood plains to stretch across a wide area. Take for instance the area and environs of Florida, such as the Everglades and Okeechobee.

I must say, however, that on the map the stark river border does seem a little odd. I'd probably say that the river helps drain part of the swamp, but I'd also say that the mushfens probably has a mingled salt-fresh water environment. This would make it much like Everglades once again.

[Fletch]

I like your suggestion of the Everglades. If nothing else that really helps me visualize what the Mushfens look like once you're inside them.

Still, I can't fathom how a river can flow out of a lowland area. Wouldn't the river have to be even lower than the lowlands to let the water flow?

Is there some Thasillonian legend I'm missing that describes how this fantastic piece of geography exists?

[James Jacobs]

It's not on the map, alas, but the Mushfens themselves are very much like the Everglades; they're an immense saltmarsh to a certain extent, a very gradual transition from ocean to land. Before the end of Thassilon, the southern coastline of Varisia extended much farther south, and this whole region tilted and sank when the ancient empire collapsed, resulting in the large wetlands known today as the Mushfens. The ocean depth beyond the Mushfens to the south remains relatively shallow quite far out to sea as well.

As for how the Yondabakari works, think of it as the northernmost border of the wetlands. The north bank of the Yondabakari is relatively stable, but the south branches off in a gradual transformation into the wetlands. Before the sinking of the southern region (once a nation known as Eurythnia) the Yondabakari was a pretty solid river winding through a plain, but as Eurythnia slanted down into the sea, that plain turned into what's essentially a massive delta.

There should be dozens of smaller rivers draining into the Mushfens and eventually out to sea, and in places the Yondabakari's southern bank is a gradual sloppy giant mess, is what I'm saying, but we didn't put those little rivers in because I figured that making the land swamp would convey that.

[Studpuffin]

It is quite possibly the worlds first fantasy giant bayou! ;)

[Luca Eugenio Barlassina]

Is Mushfens peatland?
Is any peat extraction industry related to the the swamp based in Magnimar?

[Mudfoot]

The OP title made me expect a Frank Sinatra pastiche...