The
Jungle Anarea Lastra IX 2504
The Road less Travelled By…
The
Jungle Dark human shapes could be made out in the distance, flitting indistinctly against the gloomy border of the forest, and near the river two bronze figures, leaning on tall spears, stood in the sunlight under the fantastic head-dresses of spotted skins, warlike and still in statuesque repose. The brown current ran swiftly out of the heart of darkness, bearing us down towards the sea with twice the speed of our upward progress. The dusk was repeating in a persisting whisper all around us, in a whisper that seemed to swell menacingly like the first whisper of a rising wind: “The horror! The horror!”
- Joseph Conrad, Heart of Darkness.
The dark reputation of the Jungle owes much to ignorance, and to the tendency among people to fear the unknown. It is no doubt true that the wild forest region east of The Great Ocean has dark secrets within its bounds, and that tropical abundance and diversity is a fertile source of abundant and diverse beliefs and rumours. The ideas that follow are part of the corpus of basic knowledge about the world often termed “general knowledge”, but none of them is necessarily true.
“To the East of the Great Ocean, beyond the Sea of Serpents, lies the Jungle, stretching from Dwarf Bay in the North to the Bay of CASPIS in the South. In the midst of the Jungle lies the Mabula Basin: a dense, steamy rain forest. The Basin is ringed by jungle-covered uplands, beyond which huge and virtually impassable mountain ranges reach up into the clouds. The foothills of the mountains are covered with evergreen forest.
“Through the Basin runs the great River Mabula. At the mouth of the river the mangrove swamps, which lie all along the coast of the Sea of Serpents, extend inland in a huge delta, and then line the river all through the Basin. In the very heart of the Jungle the Mabula splits in two, at the confluence of tributaries flowing in from North and South. Here lies Mabul’Adib, the great (and, indeed, only) city of the Jungle. As its name ("Built-on-Mabula") suggests, the city stands on stilts in the middle of the wide confluence of the rivers, and so is easy to defend.
“To the South are three lesser rivers, which debouch into the Bay of CASPIS: the Daruo, Habawi and Kambo. All four rivers are navigable, but only by canoe, due to the many cataracts. At the mouths of the three southern rivers, three trading ports have been established by the Kuntacians: Ports Daruo, Habawi and Kambo respectively.”
– For more elaboration, see The people of the Jungle.
“Hot, humid, and intolerable” was the understated opinion of an early Valdrean explorer, speaking of Mabul’Adib. The heat and humidity pose significant problems for those unaccustomed to the area. For instance thirst and overheating were common problems for heavily encumbered explorers. Corrosion, rot, and insect infestation are nearly insurmountable problems for adventurers bringing conventional weapons and armour. There are significant modifications to the Combat and Encumbrance Systems, and the Thief Systems, resulting from this basic problem (Jungle environment: System adjustments). Locally, there is limited metalworking, and most leatherworking uses hides from locally-adapted species of mammals and reptiles (the local cattle being a kind of water buffalo, and many species of reptile exist which are virtually unheard of abroad). Advanced metal armour is not available, and any which is captured from foreigners is invariably melted down for more important uses.
Rainfall is highly seasonal, and can be sustained for several weeks in the rainy season. Lightning storms are a fairly common occurrence, even in the absence of heavy rainfall. Mangrove swamps, and mountainsides inland, are known for their misty conditions. The mangrove swamps are havens for insect life. Any still fresh or brackish water is a magnet for mosquitoes and other biting insects, as well as leeches. Groups or herds of animals also attract biting insects.
Apart from very limited forging of iron, the most important metals are lead, silver, copper and its zinc alloy brass, gold, a little platinum, and the hugely rare mithril, which is practically unobtainable. Silver is especially useful for its merit in combating invulnerable monsters and lycanthropes, though it is also used for cheap jewellery. However, its tendency to tarnish and corrode in the tropical environment is its main drawback. The main uses for scarce metals are their pigmented derivatives, such as bright yellows, rich oranges, deep purples, and vibrant greens, which are used for glazing fired earthenware (which is well-developed, though usually erroneously judged by visitors as primitive), other artwork, and of course war-paint and body colouring.
Life revolves around hunting and gathering the natural products of the jungle, such as wood, leather, sisal and jute, bone & horn, bamboo, fired earth, hemp ropes, and a non-exploitative fishing industry. In the higher ground, an advanced Neolithic culture coexists with the technological advantages of metal artifice.
Farming is limited to water buffalo (milk, meat, leather, bone implements, hoof and horn), and the more usual species such as goat (milk, meat, fine leather, hoof and horn), monitor lizard (meat, eggs, delicate reptilian leather), duck, chicken, jungle fowl (meat, feathers, eggs, claws & beaks). Often these animals are simply family possessions rather than farmed in the more organised way.
Farming in the agricultural sense is virtually non-existent. However, the coexistence of noxious plants with their antidotes is commonly noted, which seems more than just coincidence. Perhaps it may have something to do with the countless years of Druids’ presence in the Jungle, attuned to local balance and tribal needs in their areas of influence? In addition, it is rumoured that there are paths through the jungle lined with wild fruits and nutritious roots for those who know of such things, as if placed there for those who would require them. Amenable Jungle guides are usually careful to restrict picking and harvesting of such bounty to ensure there is something left for the return journey.
The main export material is rare wood, a low volume high risk commodity, insufficient to make an important difference to local wealth. Wood trading is tolerated rather than encouraged, and may be closely scrutinised by local Druidic Shamen with their often baffling interpretations of what is acceptable and what is taboo. Exotic spices and dyes are also traded. Recently there has been an interest in primitive-styled art and artefacts originating from the Jungle cultures. Particularly sought are the Cult Artefacts, especially magical, which fetch increasingly large sums on the Northern and Northwestern art and artefact markets, and have always been of interest in the Southern Cities. However, looting Sacred Sites or robbing Cultists is a dangerous occupation, and the long consequences of angering the local Higher Powers and their Cults may be rather too costly for the average adventurer to contemplate.
The Mabula are typical of humans, exhibiting naïve interest in strangers, but reticent to share the secrets of their Jungle Way. The average inhabitants of Mabul’Adib, and increasingly Daruo, Habawi, and Kambo, are mostly “city”-oriented, having left the Way of the Jungle many generations ago. In the bush, however, it is a different story. Small settlements or nomadic groups, with their tribal cultures and Shamen protectors, are dotted about the Jungle. Further inland it is rumoured there are Pygmies, much feared with esoteric habits, cult secrecy, deadly skills, and mystical reputation.
Magical specialties are well-represented, even Demon Summoning is rumoured to exist. Druidic Cults abound, especially Tree Cults and Beastmaster Cults revering various Reptiles including Snakes, exotic large Lizards (some of which are reputedly highly predatory) and various land or amphibious Raptors, Bats (including blood-sucking ones), Birds, Aquatic creatures, Rats, Big Cats, Spiders, and the arboreal mammals such as monkeys, apes etc. Various forms of Shamanic Voodoo cults also exist, which may depend on Chaosmastery and Dreaming to achieve their effects. These operate also within the alignments represented by all the usual Gods in their Jungle Aspects. Tribal loyalties are therefore notoriously fickle, and they are often thought to be disunited, though this may be an oversimplification.
The human settlements are said to be in continuing conflict with the amphibious Lizardmen, who inhabit the swampier areas. Stable ground within swampier terrain may support pyramidal structures typical of the Lizardmen temples (it is interesting to note that deep in the Jungle, Mabula cultures or their ancestors have at times adopted similar building styles suited to the terrain and resources available). Zones of conflict certainly exist, but on the whole the two cultures do not clash very often. When conflict occurs, it often requires the local Shamen to identify the cause of conflict, which may be as simple as someone’s fishing interfering with some Lizardmen activity, or may be due to some inadvertent carelessness in driving predators into lizardmen territory, or accidentally injuring a young or female Lizardman in a trap or net. The general rule of an eye for an eye tends to prevent escalation, though from time to time the extermination of a small human settlement requires a mini-pogrom to teach the Lizardmen the importance of treating humans with respect. The visitor travelling into the bush would therefore be foolish if they did not recruit local knowledge in order to avoid upsetting local sensitivities.
From the Mabula delta, or from the trading ports of Daruo, Habawi, and Kambo, upstream usually one hires local guides and canoes, of varying sizes from 2-person to 6-person outfits. The commonest is the 3-man canoe with 2 guides per canoe. Some of these canoes, especially larger ones, have primitive rigging and sails.
Finding disembarkation points and the camouflaging of cached canoes is usually the responsibility of the guides, who will not usually permit clients leeway in such matters. The locals are highly superstitious and have been known to abandon their client if they break taboo or behave in an inappropriate manner in the Jungle.
To go downstream to tidal waters by canoe requires a seaworthy outrigger canoe and a minimum of 4 guides and 6 in the party. Smaller parties are highly risky. Alternatively, local fishing boats with sails can be hired.
Travelling lightly-encumbered into the Jungle by magical means is also possible, though costly. Be sure to protect your means of return! Druidic assistance with ground travel is often valuable when off the beaten trail.
“Many trails are made through the jungle by man and beast, but without a local guide it is easy to become lost. Only the nomads or the foolhardy travel far. The former take a long time, the latter rarely return.
“A wide variety of all forms of Natural life is to be found in the jungle, and all kinds of monsters. There are no clear-cut boundaries between the natural and the monstrous, the monstrous and the mythic. Giant tarantulas, flying carnivorous plants and underground dragons are all reputed to exist. The truth is often stranger than fiction, and it is virtually impossible to predict what may be encountered. The traveller must just stay alert. In the South, goblins are an additional menace.”
– From The people of the Jungle.
The depths of the forest are dark and gloomy, where light is avidly absorbed by the towering levels of foliage forming an almost impenetrable canopy above the ground, which may be covered with several feet of fallen debris and litter. Light intensity varies from LI 3 in small clearings, or where tributary streams divide the trees which form the canopy, to LI 0 in the forest depths. It is rumoured that there are parts of the Jungle where old and evil predators exist, in the heart of darkness, thriving in darkness which is blacker than black, where the mind can become unhinged, and from which escape would seem implausible by conventional means. Some Cultists like to refer to The Heart of Darkness by its oldest name, J’Ungol, though perhaps this is just a device to discourage trespassers into their Cultist Domain.
Specific dangers include predators, poison (including darts and arrows), and disease. Creatures of VIXEW, Deity of Reptiles, are especially well-represented amongst the predators. There are certainly flying reptiles, smaller than nazgûl. There exist biped skink and saurian variants, perhaps animal counterparts to the Lizardmen in the same way that monkeys and apes are animal cousins to humans. Some of these tropical reptiles, though not tool-makers, are reputedly wily with cunning reminiscent of Lizardmen and dragons.
Water-borne predators include piranhas, crocodiles, and small parasites that can cause significant debility unless expelled.
Giant insects often behave with a hive-mind close to their nest. Spiders can be lethal whatever their size, scorpions likewise.
Diseases can be non-contagious, or contagious. Some plagues, characterised by respiratory symptoms, can be airborne. Fungal spores can infect wounds unless specific cleansing steps are taken. Local herbal lore is advanced, and may offer some protection, not usually required by those Paladins under the protection of the SARAN Cult.
Poison antidotes are available, not usually required by those Paladins under the protection of the SHELDA Cult.
Trance of the Trees is a danger to those who are not Tree-Cultists, but only really a significant danger in those remote areas with higher Circs Mods approaching 2.0 or more.
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