Mairse Reeds - Dangerous flora along the Moa Thola River

Mairse Reeds are a type of tall thin plan that grow thickly on both sides of the Moa Thola  and Erando rivers - far, far to the south, almost to the Holabrian Mountains.  The area where these reeds grow is located in both the far eastern part of the Nightside region (on the western banks of the Moa Thola, and along both sides of the Erando), and also in the far western part of the Shale March region.  In both cases, along the banks of the Moa Thola, and along the banks of the Erando, the Mairse Reeds grow in the low lands, and also up in to the Shale Hills and the lower slopes of the Holabrian Mountains.

The vast areas where the Reeds grow is curious in that no other vegetation grows there, and although

it is near to both rivers, the ground remains hard enough for there to be vast mounds and tunnel complexes dug out of it.  In that environment live large colonies of Thri-Kreen.  This race of insect warriors are particularly dangerous because of their mastery of their own weapons - the double bladed gythka polearm and the three bladed throwing chatkhca.  In both cases, the Thri-Kreen are keen to employ a particular type of venom that they make combining their own caustic mandible saliva with a type of think sap or resin that they collect from the Mairse Reeds.  This is then deposited in the tunnels of their underground complexes, and allowed to harden and crystalize into a tough form that allows it to be sharpened into blades, and worked into all sorts of weaponry.

Braving the haunts of the Thri-Kreen in the Mairse Reed jungles are various tribes of Sun King warriors.  They go there to collect Mairse Reeds to make weapons out of, and also to harvest large bundles of the reeds to use in making their strange Mairse Boats.  Collecting a few of the reeds for the use of constructing spears is simple enough, and is seen as a rite-of-passage into adulthood by many clans of the tribes, but harvesting enough reeds to make a boat is an operation that will require all the members of several clans to work together.  First is the harvesting and bundling, then the transport of the reeds.  All the time, the group is subject to attack by Thri-Kreen warriors, as well as rival groups of Sun King barbarians.  A typical harvesting operation will take somewhere between 10 and 14 days to complete.  After the first few, attacks by the Thri-Kreen can be expected almost at any time of day or night (the Thri-Kreen do not sleep).

The Moa Thola is thick with Mairse Reed boats manned by crews of Sun King barbarians.  This is the reason why many of the trading and fishing vessels along the Moa Thola have on board armed contingents, and sometimes even rangers from the Sunguard, there to protect against the hungry cannibal crews of the Mairse Reed boats.

Double-prow Mairse Boat, in the edge of the Shale Hills

The Nine Rivers

Within the Valley, which is some 3200 miles long from east to west, the most common way to distinguish regions is to consider the segments that are roughly split up by the Nine rivers that flow into the Great River.  These divide the Valley up into eleven different regions. 

The northern regions, west to east, are

• The Shattered Plains
• The Enchanted Forests
• The Darkearth Plains
• The Sildur Reaches
• The Suuviz Region

The southern regions, from west to east are:

• The region of Gateway
• The region of Bartaloo
• The Rising Land
• The Wychwood region
• The Nightside region
• The Shale March

Four of these rivers flow from the Destriel mountains in the north, and each of them passes underneath the King's Highway.  Five of the rivers flow from the Holabria mountains in the south.  All nine empty their contents into the Great River, which continues to flow from the east to the west.

Listing the rivers, in order, from west to east we see that we have:

1. Durwash River - which flows out of the Destriel Mountains, near the famous Groben Cave sites, down past one of the Altars of the Old Ones (the great stone amphitheater, near the King's Highway), flowing south into the Great River.  While the Durwash southwest from the Groben sites, there is a tributary that joins it from the north west, called the Stormwash. The region to the west of the Durwash is the Shattered Plains, and the region to the east is the Enchanted Forests.
2. Pellet Water Run - This swift flowing body of water begins in the Holabria Mountains, with the glacial lake Sunshield as its point of origin.  It flows down, through the Burning hills, and finally north between the Falcon Woods and the Deeper Forest. The region to the west of the Pellet Water Run is the Gateway region, and to the east is the Bartaloo Region.
3. The Two-Moon river is an amazing body of water.  First there is the magical property that the third moon of the world never reflects on the water, only the first and second moons (which is where the name comes from).  Second, the headwaters of the Two-Moon are high in the Holabria Mountains, and they are in fact a waterfall descending from a cloudy realm high over the Fircarran Peaks.  The waterfall splashes down and forms a lake called the Skybowl, and then begins the long journey down out of the mountains, north towards the Jazzan and into the Great River.  The Two-Moon river is joined also by the Tandalorn River, which originates to the east of the Skybowl, as a series of  springs.  The site of the Tandalorn Springs is where the Parn Tandalorn Monastary is located.  To the west of the Two-Moon river is the Bartaloo Region, and to the right is the Rising Land.
4. The Lost Mare River is the next of the Nine.  It flows, at first mad and fast, south out of the Destriel Mountains towards Sorrad Forest, and then turning east, begins to lose a lot of its speed and anger, making its way lazily towards the King's Highway, and then on to the Great River.  Once it turns east away from the Sorrad Forest, one of the reasons for the great slowdown of the Lost Mare is because a lot of the river is diverted underground, feeding the mighty Underdark Sea, which is home to the Dark Elves and their so-called  "buccaneer kingdoms".  The Lost Mare is also joined by the Night Wash, a mountain stream fed tributary river.  The Lost Mare river divides the Enchanted Forests region to the west from the Darkearth Plains region to the east.
5. The Fernrush River is next.  It empties out of Ancalhenn Lake, which is fed itself by four mountain rivers coming out of the Holabrian Mountains.  Several ruined Old One sites are along the Fernrush River, which for some forgotten reason was a focal point of Old One trade activity.  The Fernrush River divides the Rising Land to the west from the region of Wychwood to the east.
6. The Greywater flows south out of the Destriel Mountains, joined by the Terrapin River.  There is a lot of river traffic along the Greywater from the many different Storm King tribes in the northern Shadow Woods.  Many different Storm King Jarls have holdings along the Greywater river.  The Greywater serves to divide the Darkearth Plains to the west from the Sildur Reaches to the east.
7. The Tiazarr River is next.  Its source is in the south, in the Caves of Night.   The Tiazarr is joined by the Ceduria River, flowing out of Ceduria Lake, which is also home to Panakus River, one of the four feeding Ancalhenn Lake.  The Tiazarr River divides the Wychwood region to the west, from the Nightside region to the east.
8. The Fa'Ars River flows past the great city of Narn, as it makes its way south from the Destriel mountains to feed the Great River.  The Fa'Ars has its source high in the Destriels, at a series of connected lakes known as the Tears of Heaven.  The region is widely avoided, as Giant country.  The Fa'Ars River divides the Sildur Reaches to the west of the river, from the Suuviz region to the east of the river.
9. The Moa Thola is the last of the Nine.  It is a river that comes out of the Shale hills.  It is home to a large amount of Sun King tribal traffic.  The river itself is joined by the Errando River originating not too far from the Caves of Night.  Perhaps there is a connection to the Tiazarr River.  The Moa Thola river divides the Nightside region, to the west, from the Shale March region to the east.

Valley of the Old Ones - updated with Nine Rivers information - click for more detail