The Green

THE GREEN

"Beneath the roof of sleeping leaves the dreams of trees unfold."
-J.R.R Tolkien, The Two Towers-




Some say it was a garden planted by the gods when the world was young so they could shade themselves from the fiery sun and take rest from their prodigious pursuits. Others maintain that there is strong healthy magic pouring down with the waters that feed the land enhancing its flora and fauna with prodigious health and size. Still others speculate that it is a verdant hell where the spirits of the prideful and cursed are sent to spend out eternity in a place were they are only but insects, preyed upon by venomous predators. Perhaps, there is a little truth to each…..

Stretching from the Sky-shelf Mountains in the east to the shores of the Open Ocean in the west lies the forested lands of Efirvia, often simply called: The Green. The sky is dominated by monolithic cypress and oak-like trees that stretch hundreds of feet towards the heavens and cover the dark interior with their canopies. The mist shrouded land is veined with large slow moving rivers and most of the earth below the limbs is dark, shadowy and often wet an swampy.

The trees and swamps of the Green provide cover and sustenance to a broad array of life. Thousands of species: insects, snakes, lizards, mammals and birds as well as less wholesome things have found their homes under and in the leafy canopy of the verdant Eden. Many of these creatures, like the trees themselves, have grown to enormous size. With the dangers of Efirvia come a wide variety of benefits and resources not found in other parts of the world. The green is abundant with strange herbs, fruits and flowers that work as drugs and medicine and are in high demand. The wildlife itself provides a wide variety of trade goods : venoms, furs, ivory and even giant insect chitin find high prices in markets.

The Canopy
The canopy is divided into three sections: the forkings, the foragings, and the heights. The Forkings or lower canopy is where the limbs of the trees first begin to spread out. The limbs of the giant oaks are enormous and can be traversed quite easily by men. On the foundation of these Branches settlements, forts, villages, bridges and bough-roads have been built. Numerous vines hang down from the upper canopy making it easy to swing from one branch to the next at this level. The branches of many trees are so large at the Forks that vines, flowers, and other vegetation are know to grow in crevices and in the bark. Pathways have been built along the limbs called bough roads. In well maintained bough-roads, bridges connect one tree to the next so that travel may continue unbroken from one settlement to another without the necessity of going to ground or swinging from tree to tree.

Above the forkings lie the foragings . This is were the great quantity of life in the green make there homes. The great boughs of the forkings rise up to normal tree like foliage which can be climbed and traversed like the limbs of terrestrial trees. This level is were hunters and foragers must go to find the fruits and prey that are most nutritious and tasty. Unfortunately, the foragings are less stable, easier to fall from, and are home to many dangerous and poisonous creatures. Human hunters and foragers often wear body harnesses that can easily be roped to stable branches and act as a ballet line when they travel to this level.

Finally the foragings give way to the heights. The heights are emergent trees that rise from the forest canopy. It is dangerous for humans or any large creature to climb into the heights as the branches are often not strong enough to maintain their weight. Birds and smaller creatures make their nests in the relative safety of the heights. Many spectacular flowers and fruits grow in abundance at this level where they are close to the sunlight.

The Root World
Below the canopy is the dark, wet root world. Most of the land below the trees is a morass of swamps and waterways broken by the massive gnarled roots of the trees above. The root world is generally avoided by most intelligent creatures because it is so hard to traverse. Boats quickly find themselves bogged down and entangled by the maze of roots. Root-walking is discouraged by the need to cross water and bog to get from root to root. It is evident that in ages past channels existed between the roots leading between rivers and islands but often they are clogged with falling limbs and must be continually cleared. Some have grown over completely. The root world is also plagued by mud gnats, snakes, crocodiles and other dangerous and poisonous creatures. Tree peoples sometimes descend to the root world to fish or hunt but generally retreat to the canopy to sleep or to travel distances. There are others beings though, that are adapted to the swampy, broken terrain and live out their lives in the gloomy, wet cathedrals beneath the leaves.

The Sky-Shelf Mountains
As the Green rises into the Sky-shelf mountains, the swamps give way and rise up to more solid ground called the Shelf-Steps. Gradually the big trees become less dense as they rise into more rocky soil. The ground is still difficult to traverse because of the many ravines and gullies which lead out from the mountains and crease the land. Sometimes the ground slopes relatively gently out of the bogs, but more often great cliffs and escarpments divide the swamps from the higher plateaus. The floor of the steps has very different fauna than the swampy ground of the rest of the Green. Several kinds of goats and deer can be found and hunted, including a rare, giant variety of deer that is highly prized for its antlers.

The Sky-shelf mountains steeply rise up out from the steps into majestic heights often above the clouds themselves. In many places they rise in shear cliff banks. The mountain are cut with deep valleys, crevices and hollows where cascades of waters run out and spill to pools which run to the green below. The giant trees of the Green almost totally give way in the ravines to a jungle of smaller bushes and rock.

Many of the valleys are hemmed in by pairs of great rocks or mountains. As the point where the valley opens into the Green are called mouths, these mountains that flank them in are referred to as teeth. Three great valley’s lead into the western Green. The entrance to these valleys are known as the Demon’s Teeth, the Gate Teeth, and Thromak’s teeth. The area around the Demon’s teeth is particularly dangerous and many foul and venomous creatures live in this area. Many of these creatures are not natural and are said to proceed from the vale of the Demon’s teeth. The valley of the Gate Teeth is where, as legend has it, the Nifarites entered the Green. Later foul things came from the caverns of the gate and a great hero had to journey into the valley to purge it from evil and close the gate properly. The gates and the area around them are still considered dangerous though and only the truly brave will enter the valley or the caves that lie there.

The teeth of Thromak guard an immense valley that leads high up into the mountains. The earth people of Thromak live there and place vigilant guards at the entrance to their valley. They are often open to traders though, and will barter metal goods for some of the fineries of the Green. Carved into the face of the teeth is a curious rime that has some significance to the Thromakites.

“A God unborn sat on rocky throne,
Though flesh is gone he is yet bone;
His forever realm now heartless stone.

Far up between the Greying skies,
At dawn of age midst wise men’s sighs,
Where Thromak left him the Unking lies.”

There are several great rocky protrusions and islands that are scattered about the marshes of the Green. These may just be the tips of buried mountain or may have been due to past volcanic eruptions below the Green. Many hold that the giants or gods had a contest from the top of the Skyreach to see who could through rocks the furthest. No matter what their origin, the stability of the rocks and islands made them ideal places for people to settle, particularly when they are near the rivers.

Rivers
Three major rivers transverse the western Green: the Tundell, the Leanders and the Torrus. Many creeks and rivers follow rocky paths down from the Skyshelf in waterfalls and pools to form the meandering rivers. These rivers are very broad and slow moving as they stretch out over the Efirvian landscape. They finally spill forth in broad swampy deltas into the western oceans. The rivers are the primary highways of the Green as it is generally too hard to navigate through the rooty swamps. There are numerous channels and canals in the green. These have been cut through the rootworld and are in various states of repair. Some lead to settlements located on dry spots or islands, others connect rivers and waterways and still others seem to lead nowhere.


Weirding trees
"The green earth sends her incense up. From many a mountain shrine; From folded leaf and dewey cup She pours her sacred wine."
--John Greenleaf Whittier

Of all the prizes of the forest the most coveted is the secretions of the umma or weirding tree. The resins of the weirding can be made into an incense that has incredibly potent magical properties. This incense is often sparingly added to other incense of other trees to increase its effectiveness. The fallen branches of the weirding trees are used for magic wands and staffs. The rare fruit of the umma is said to be incredibly wholesome and can cure most diseases and poisons. The weirding trees are very rare in the Green though and the known ones are carefully watched and guarded. The resineers are known to pay highly for the location of previously unknown trees or stands.


TREELINGS: The following are the various peoples that make their homes in and amongst the boughs of the immense trees of the Green.

Nifara
Several hundred years ago the Nifarites came through the gates in the eastern mountains and settled in the Green. Initially they struggled to survive, but eventually, through great hardships, they found the tree roads and began to take up life in the treetops of Efirvia. These Newcomers befriended tree children living in the area and from them learned how to survive in the bough world. The Nifarites not only survived but learned to tame the dangerous environment and bend it to their pursuits. One of their great adventurers, B’doss, traveled far and wide through the Green, trading new plants, customs and ideas from the various people. The Nifarites capitalized on these different products and learned to cultivate them and form trading networks through the dense jungle. The Nifara brought their own brand of civilization to the green and have created a unique, thriving culture in their Emerald environment. They now have spread far and wide in the Green and have built many villages and cities in the canopies.

Nifarite settlements are often called groves or holds and led and governed by chieftains called Reeves. The holds lie on or within a few miles of the bough roads and vary in size but are usually similar in general structure. The canopy is cut back surrounding the hold to prevent dangerous insects and other creatures from migrating to their homes from other limbs or from above. The trees are then hollowed out at different levels and great platforms are built upon which the Nifarites can build their structures. Nifarites are unparalleled artisans and workers of wood. Their great treetop oaken halls are breathtaking to behold and covered in all manner of scrollwork and vines. Some are constructed to look like extensions of the trees and boughs that they rest on. The homes and halls rest at varying heights and are connected to one another with great bridge ways and stairs leading up and down the main trunks.

Above the structures of the Forkings lie the foragings and the heights. These are all carfully trimmed and tended to allow light through at different points throughout the settlement. A key factor to the Nifara’s success was their knowledge of splicing various types of vines and trees. They found that a wide variety of plants actually grew on the limbs of the great trees where they could reach the sunlight and it was possible to cultivate all manner of plants by splicing them into the great oaks. The foragings and heights of the Nifara cities now contain all manner of spliced, fruit bearing trees that literally grow out of and are fed by the great oaks. The two most prominent crops are grapes and olives which are indeed the symbols of the Nifara. Taking this further the Nifara cut gouges into the big limbs fill them with leaves, mud and dirt and grow tubers, and other vegetables in these troughs. They often grow a form of tobacco in these troughs, which, when smoked in pipes tends to keep flying insects away.
The trunks below the Forking and shelves are ringed and painted with a noxious substance that the prevents dangerous insects and snakes from climbing into the living areas. Wooden platforms and docks are usually built on the roots of the trees and often mud and dirt is piled up between the roots to make dry ground for mushroom patches. If the settlement is near a river the undergrowth is cleared and lagoons and channels are dug though the roots and mud to the river.
Scattered throughout the surrounding trees are usually tree-taps or spouts with clay buckets under them for catching sap and resins that are collected daily and sent to the boilers or sappers. Also around the settlements are usually a number of sloths, lemures and monkeys that the Nifara keep as pets. Particular types of tree sloth and lemure are considered prized pets because they eat scorpions, centipedes and other dangerous insects before they get to the settled trees. They also make a horrible ruckus if any snakes enter the area. Many settlements also keep several hives of bees close by for and easy source of honey
Several of the larger settlements have grown to the size of small towns and contain many comforts of civilization, including wine shops, general stores and inns or guesthouses. Most tree cities contain a great boiling circle or room. A pit is built into the floor and lined with large flat stones. The pit is then used to boil down the saps, resins and gums to make the products the Nifirite are famed for.

Common products are:

Syrup, which the Nifarite eat a fair deal of ; it is also used to as bait to trap various insects.

Different types of hard liquor, particularly Brandy.

Shellac, which is used to preserve and waterproof wood products.

Bone resin: This art of using bone resin was learned from the Trogod who often use weapons made of hardened bone. Actually it consists of two types of resin: The hardening resin and the coating resin. The basic shapes of weapon heads, daggers, long knives, spearheads, are carved out of bone or wood. The weapon is then boiled in the hardening agent which permeates the soft material making it harder and resistant to breakage. A separate shellac-like coating resin is then applies in various layers again and again over the weapon eventually giving it an amber, gem-like coating. This super hard jeweled coating can be sharpened to a razor fine edge. The Nifarite often carve incredible scrollwork into the bone and wood blades before they are coated, and once the jewelling process is complete the weapons have a beauty beyond compare. The jeweled blades of the Nifarite are sought far and wide for ceremonial use. In real combat they are slightly inferior to metal blades as they blunt easy and must constantly be re-sharpened.
A similar process is used to make various leather armors (the ornate leather-working abilities of the Nifara are as legendary as their woodworking skills). Their favorite armor is that made from the chitin of the spined worm which is initially somewhat flexible but can be worked into an almost steal like stiffness.

Cloth or Rope resin: This substance dries somewhat malleably and is applied to cloth, rope and even paper to waterproof it. This in quite important in the Green where the mists, rain and swamp water seem to be everywhere. People of the Green almost always carry cloaks and ponchos treated with this resin. Cloth and paper rots quickly without some form of preserving.

Gums and glues

Spider rope: The Nifara learned many rope-making secrets from the tree children. One of the primary ingredients in rope-making is spider webbing that they harvest from the heights. Almost daily, the Nifara clean the heights above their home with feathers attached to long poles. These feathers are then gleaned of the spider webbing and it is stored in bags for future use. The spider webbing is then mixed in with hemp and resins to create extremely strong flexible ropes and twines.
The ends of some of these ropes are attached to a heavy ball with downward tooth-like spikes. The upper three or four foot of the rope is woven around similar, but much smaller, thorny hooks. The ropes can then be thrown over or across boughs and limbs and pulled hooking the upper end of the rope into the bark.



Treeling (Tree child, Frelmick):
These are a race of pigmies that are indigenous to the Green. They are very agile and live among the treetops, rarely coming down to the ground. Treelings are generally shy and avoid contact with other races, but are generally curious and tend to watch anything interesting from the safety of the high branches.

Treelings generally distrust people who live on the ground and find them dirty. They call the land below the trees the big muddy and it is a place to observe and maybe get water in dry times, but otherwise should be avoided. When the Nifara first entered the Green one of the tribes of tree children, the Frelmick, uncharacteristically befriended them and taught them many secrets of surviving in the boughs. The two peoples quickly became friends and often live and work together. Many Frelmick still live in or nearby Nifara settlements. Other tribes of Treeling distrust the big men and shy away from them. Still others are decidedly hostile and have been known to attack any intruders in their parts of the Green. This is particularly true with Treeling who live near goblin settlements. Tree children dislike the Trogod and the two peoples often skirmish back and fourth in the upper reaches of the Green.

Treelings are particularly well suited to living in the boughs of the Green. They are natural climbers and have particularly dexterous feet. Their small size allows them to climb higher into the branches than most humans where they can hide or watch without being seen themselves. In combat they prefer to loose darts or arrows and flee when their enemies get to close. Often they will lead their foes to pre-planned traps or areas thin of branch where there style of combat works the best. Tree children are well known for their venom use and many of their weapons, darts and arrows are poisoned.

Char Roll Average   STR 2D6+2 9 Move: 10 CON 3D6 10-11 HPs: 9 SIZ 2D6+1 8 Dmg Bon: - INT 2D6+6 13 Armor: POW 2D6+6 13 Sft leather 1pt DEX 3D6+3 13-14 APP 3D6 10-11

Loc   AP HP 19-20 Head 1 16-18 R. Arm 1 13-15 L. Arm 1 12 Chest 1 09-11 Abdomen 1 05-08 R. Leg 1 01-04 L. Leg 1

Weapons SR A/P% Damage ENC AP Bow, Self   50 D6+1   Short Spear   40 D6+1   Short Spear Thrown   40 D6+1

Skills
Skills: Climb 60%, Dodge 45%, First Aid 30%,HHide 55%, Jump 55%, Knowledge(Tree lore) 45%,Language (Treespeak) 60%, (River tongue) 20%, Listen 45%, Sense 40%, Stealth 55%, Track 40%.

Magic
Powers:Treelings use a type of sorcery called waeldling magic. The waelder pulls this magic from the spirit and harmony of the trees.
Common spells are: Cloak of Night, Sorcerer’s Leap, Sorcerer’s Sureness, Sorcerer’s Speed, Sorcerer’s Armor, Sharp flame, Make Fast, Sorcerer’s Ear and Sorcerer’s Eye.

Char    Roll    Average        
STR    2D6+2    9    Move:    10
CON    3D6    10-11    HPs:    9
SIZ    2D6+1    8    Dmg Bon:    -
INT    2D6+6    13    Armor:    
POW    2D6+6    13    Sft leather    1pt
DEX    3D6+3    13-14        
APP    3D6    10-11        
 
Weapons        
Bow, Self    50    D6+1
Short Spear    40    D6+1
Short Spear Thrown    40    D6+1
 
 
Skills: Climb 60%, Dodge 45%, First Aid 30%, 
Hide 55%, Jump 55%, Knowledge(Tree lore) 45%,
Language (Treespeak) 60%, (River tongue) 20%, 
Listen 45%, Sense 40%, Stealth 55%, Track 40%.
 
Powers:
Treelings use a type of sorcery called waeldling magic. 
The waelder pulls this magic from the spirit and harmony
of the trees. 
Common spells are:
Cloak of Night, Sorcerer’s Leap, Sorcerer’s Sureness, Sorcerer’s Speed, 
Sorcerer’s Armor, Sharp flame, Make Fast, Sorcerer’s Ear and Sorcerer’s Eye.
 
Creating a Tree Child Character:

Profession: 
Wealth: tribal level existence, Destitute to Poor.
Tree children can be expected to start with spear, bow, 
 and leather armor and or scant clothing. 


Skills: Bow, Climb, Dodge, Hide, Jump, Listen, Sense, 
Stealth, Spot, Spear, and three other skills from the
 following list as a specialty: Craft (wood, leather), 
First Aid, Knowledge(Plant, Animal, Poisons), 
Language (other), Track, Throw.

Tree children automatically receive a +10 racial bonus to Sense, 
Jump, and Climb.

Tree children may also begin with four points
 of Wealdling magic if their Pow allows.
 

The Rivermen
"Wherever there is a channel for water, there is a road for the canoe."
-Henry David Thoreau-

'Listen what the poplar-tree
And murmuring waters counselled me."
-Henry David Thoreau-

The greatest concentration of humans in the Green are along the great river arteries that lazily flow from the Skyreach mountains to the seas. No one is sure how the rivermen originally came to the Green but it is assumed they were originally explorers and traders who came Efirvia from the ocean and learned to live off the life bearing rivers.

Most rivermen live a nomadic existence traveling up and down the tributaries in large boat caravans or flotillas. These nomadic rivermen generally live on large home-boats that they maneuver up and down the flood. On the home-boat rafts they carry smaller more manageable coracles and canoes that they use for getting into tighter areas to fish and forage. In certain areas where the hunting and fishing is good rivermen often tie up for a time in inlets and river bays. Many will even build docks and stilted shelters in their favorite spots where they tie down their large home-boats and make temporary raft cities. At other times the colonies separate their great river rafts to spread out and search for more favorable foraging, hunting, or trapping.

Rivermen vary in their methods of making a living. Some simply fish, staying to the relatively safe rivers. Others have taken to trapping along the banks and into the borders of the rootworld where the game is bigger and more dangerous. Still others travel deep into the flooded rootworld or back into the ravines of the rivers source in search of valuable plants, resins, or trade goods. Many have taken to trading up and down the rivers and taking the valuable resources of the inner Green to the river mouths where they meet trading ships from the outer world who in turn give them coin or manufactured good from more civilized lands.

Although most docking points are seasonal there are several permanent settlements up and down the Green where the rivermen have developed large docking ports and small cities. Many of these are on islands that can be kept reasonably safe from the dangerous fauna of the Green or at points were the bough roads cross the rivers and the rivermen can trade with the Nifara. Most of these cities and permanent residences are governed by a petty king or sorts known as a riverlord. Riverlords vary from settlement to settlement and from river to river. Some are quite powerful establishing rule over entire river systems, particularly in the lower Green, but in other places they are simply petty mayors or trade organizers.

Among the Rivermen are conclaves of very educated individuals called the resineers. The resineers are particularly learned alchemists and apothecaries that work with tree and plant secretions as well as animal products and venoms. Where many tree products can be created with ease in the stewing pots of the wise-woman and resin-boilers of the Nifara, other items must be painstakingly prepared, distilled and mixed before they are ready for consumption; others need magical attention. The resineers hold many of the secrets of production close, and different conclaves and individuals have become suspicious of one another. Some conclaves have set up settlements of their own, away from the scrutiny of scrying eyes and others have set up residences among the Nifara where they can more easily attain their raw materials. Almost all permanent rivermen settlements have conclaves of Resineers working for the riverlord.

Products of the Resineers:
Healing Balms, Magical potions, Godwood incense, other incense and perfumes, Gum bombs, Mist bombs, poisons.

Cloth or Rope resin: This substance dries somewhat malleably and is applied to cloth, rope and even paper to waterproof it. This in quite important in the Green where the mists, rain and swamp water seem to be everywhere. People of the Green almost always carry cloaks and ponchos treated with this resin. Cloth and paper rots quickly without some form of preserving.

Bladecoat: This is an oily substance that is applied to metal to keep it from corrosion.

Boat resin or shellac: This product is used by the river peoples and corsairs to seal and waterproof their ships.




The Soolie (mudmen):

The Soolie are a dour, moody people that live along the mud banks of the rivers and among the coastal swamps and tide-waters of the Green. They build their dwellings, docks and walkways on stilts that keep them above the level of the mud and water (thank you Soltakss). They often cover themselves with mud that keeps the marsh flies, gnats and mosquitoes away. This mud is often mixed with the essence of an indigo die to give it a bright blue tint.

The the Soolie have domesticated the hippo-like humpbacks or swamp-ox that they herd and sometimes ride. The humpbacks are used to mash down bushes and foliage and make trails and clearings for Soolie settlements. The Soolie often use these beasts to clear areas of marsh where they plant a form of wild rice in the trampled mud pools. The humpbacks have valuable ivory tusks that the Soolie use for weapon making and all kinds of other tools and implements.

The Soolie sometimes trade with other men of the Green. They offer rice, and the blue indigo die, as well as the swamp-ox ivory. Often the hump-back riders are hired to accompany merchant boats up and down the river. Sometimes they even harness humpbacks to boats to drag them up against the current. Their relations with other peoples are often somewhat strained though. Soolie only kill the humpbacks under certain conditions and within the confines of certain rights. For anyone else to kill a swamp-ox is sacrilege. For this reason the Soolie hate the Trogod and often the two peoples will kill one another on sight. Trogod love to hunt the swamp-ox (what they call the riverpigs). They find the meat tasty and use the horn for their weapons. Other humans who hunt the humpback for their ivory soon find that they have made a horrible enemy of the Soolie.





Lexicon:

Bough roads: Great limbs connected by bridges that stretch distances through the Green. The primary form of travel when waterways are not practical. It is strange how many of these limbs are in alignment and grow so close together in just the right places. Legend had it that some past race of tree shaper was able to control or prune the growing of these limbs to better make the bough roads. Some bough roads are in disrepair or lead nowhere others are constantly patrolled and maintained. Many human settlements are located along the bough roads or at bough road crossings.

Chirpers: Chirpers are small grasshopper like insect that make a loud chirping sound when they feel threatened. They have an acute sense of smell and are very aware of movements Chirpers are widely used as alarm systems by people of the Green. Generally five chirpers are necessary to set up a successful perimeter: one below, one above and one in each of the four cardinal directions. Once placed chirpers rarely move in the nighttime hours and then only several feet. Travelers generally carry chirpers in a protected pouch or bag filled with rotting leaves. At night they are placed around the trunk and branches to warn sleepers of danger. In the morning they can be collected and placed back into their pouch.

Foragings: Middle level of the canopy where most of the critters dwell. Boughs are much the size of terrestrial trees.

Forkings: Lower level of the canopy were the boughs are huge and easy to walk on.

Frelmick: A tribe of Tree Children that befriended and often live amongst the Nifara.


Sloughs: Great knot holes and indentations in trees. Also places where several trunks grow together forming a trough. Moisture and dead leaves gather in these places making them excellent hiding places and nesting grounds for worms, Giant Centipedes, scorpions, snakes and other creatures. Sloughs run from anywhere from a foot to fifteen feet across. Although, dangerous sloughs often contain insects that are useful or considered delicacies. Sloughs also allow other plants to take root on the limbs of the giant trees, closer to the sunlight. Many sky villages create and cultivate these sloughs along the branches so they can plant vines or other fruit bearing plants.

Spined Worms: Centepede like creatures that live both in the root swamp and on the trees. They commonly range anywhere from 3 to 20 feet in length and have poisonous singers and powerful mandibles. Although very dangerous, spined worms are hunted for their carapaces which are light, tough and yet can be drilled, bent, worked and covered with resin to produce effective armor.

Humpback, swamp-ox: These are large mammals that resemble hippos. They have long powerful tails that propel them through the swamps and rivers of the Green. Their short legs are used to drag them over the roots and through the mud and they are at home both in the river and swampy ground. Small herds of these humpback roam the rivers and areas where the big trees give out to the low, thick marsh brush of the coast. Swamp ox are prize game. Their thick hide, and particularly their ivory tusks are valued commodities.
Swamp ox tend to form trails where they leave the waterway and plow their way through the marsh Areas where the swamp Humpbacks leave the waterway become crushed down and form trails.

Several tribes of river-men called the Soolie have domesticated the hump backs, but the beasts are very hard to train and often testy. The Soolie use them as great plows to trample and clear the lands around the river where they dwell.
Certain Soolie ride the humpbacks by harnessing them and placing hooks in their nostrils. The humpbacks will not dive if they cannot close their nostrils so thy are forced to remain on the service of the river. When they are surfaced their backs remain above the waterline and may be fitted with saddles and controlled with ankusha (hooked sticks or prods). River ox have recently been used to pull boats and barges up and down the rivers. This is done by attaching them to the front of boat or barge with a long pole. Usually a Soolie handler must then ride one of the hump backs to keep them in line while they struggle to pull the boat against the current. This works best in shallow areas or canals where the humpbacks can get some leverage in the mud.

Treeling: the tribes of pigmies that live in the canopy.

Treeling: a term for the various peoples that make their homes in the vast canopies of the Green