Estuary of the Forked Tongue

The people of the Forked Tongue include every race common to Athas. Human villagers and merchants, dwarf miners and artisans, elf nomads, and goliath tribesfolk live along its shores. Along the northern edge of the Endless Sand Dunes roam the Tamwar, fractious tribes of nomadic human and genasi herders. Given the trade that passes up and down the estuary, characters native to this area are likely to take on employment with various merchant houses and could end up anywhere in the Tyr Region.

Merchant/Trader: You are (or were) employed by a Forked Tongue trading post, perhaps as a local guide, as muscle for a major merchant house, or as an independent trader. Maybe you became involved in a feud between rival merchant houses, or perhaps your post was plundered by raiders. Were you a clerk, a mercenary, or a laborer? Do you still have contacts with the house that employed you?

Ruin Gleaner: Countless small ruins litter the lands around the estuary. You search out the places of the ancients and pick through the dust and debris in search of something worth selling. Do you know of sites that no one else has ever found? Did you find something too valuable—something that powerful people took away from you?

Village Speaker: You come from a remote estuary village where the moods of the elemental spirits are a matter of life and death. You might have been apprenticed as a child to the village elder or spirittalker, or perhaps the spirits chose you later in life because of a traumatic event. Do you treasure your gifts, or are you haunted by them? What led you to leave your native tribe or home village? Are you driven by powers beyond your control, or are you a humble healer?

Many giants inhabit the isles of the estuary. Some are friendly, but most giants regard smaller folk as easy pickings and waylay travelers at every chance. Hill giants, stone giants, and beast giants are the most common of their kind found along the Forked Tongue. The different kinds get along well enough if a strong leader is present, but they fall to bickering and feuding otherwise.

Giant holds might be cave complexes, ruined towns, or clusters of large, crude mud huts, and they are usually surrounded by thorny brush walls that form palisades. A typical hold is home to three to twelve giants; monstrous vassals such as brohgs, goliaths, minotaurs, or ogres; beasts kept as pets; and a handful of miserable thralls (usually dwarves, elves, or humans). Chiefs of giant holds take titles such as “king” or “lord” and levy tribute from nearby tribes or settlements of lesser races.

Throughout most of the estuary, a belt of shallows lies beneath the silt, hugging the shoreline. Usually, the shallows are a few hundred yards wide, but in some spots they extend for miles out from the shore, providing hidden paths across narrows or to distant islands. These shallows are too deep for human-sized travelers to wade, but silt skimmers and giants can manage them easily enough. Most skimmer captains take on paying passengers, but they rarely stop anywhere except well-known villages and trading posts. After all, a skimmer is a rich prize, and the best defense is to keep moving and remain in silt that is too deep for most raiders to cross.

At Balic, the estuary splits into two great arms—the North Fork and the South Fork. The North Fork is larger and more heavily populated, its shores dotted with tiny villages and outposts.