Thifcha Moss Swamp

Place

Place Name:

Thifcha Moss Swamp

Biome:

Bocori Tribal Zu'aan

Size:

Unknown

Continent:

Unknown

Subcontinent

Unknown

Geography

The Thifcha Moss Swamp territory is located in the central eastern region of Taerel. The Swamp has an extremely low nutrient soil level, due to the fact that rain is extremely common in the region and often washes away any upper-level floating nutrients. Anything that has settled to the lower levels manages to barely stay in the region, though they become clustered in pockets of higher nutrient areas while the rest is extremely low to near non-existent. These pockets tend to be around the bases of the largest trees of the region and the few rocky formations below the water’s surface. Flooding in the region is also common, though it is usually contained to two seasons.

The fall monsoon type season and the early spring/summer temperature increase. While central, they border the main river cutting across Taerel, so when the river raises with the ice in the north melting, that causes an over flow into the swamp and kickstarts the flooding for the season. The flooding levels are extremely unpredictable, ranging from only a few inches to disaster level 20+ feet deep. Because of this the zu’aan of the region don’t have any permanent home or gathering structures built at ground level. In the strongest trees, there’s ladders and platforms over 50 feet above ground that act as temporary shelters during the flooding season. The largest of the platforms support small individual room buildings where larger families will share.

The smaller platforms are too small for such buildings, so a canopy would be built over the larger flat platforms for individuals to sleep as a large group. When it’s not the flooding season, there’s a decently large amount of ‘dry’ ground where the zu’aan can set up huts and tents. Dry is relative, as due to the large amount of water in the region, the area is extremely humid and damp compared to other central territories, even on the driest days. This causes the platforms to be more susceptible to rot damage and have to be at least partially replaced usually every 5-10 years to prevent the entire thing from falling apart. The huts and tents would mostly be built out of large branches from the trees in the region.

They would shift between woven leaf covers and animal skins depending on the season. In the heat of the early spring they would use woven leaf covers as they allowed for more airflow while still protecting from the sun, heat and gathering moisture. In the winter they would swap to animal skin covers to keep the heat in at night when the temperatures would drop. During the flooding season, small boats and docks would be common in the region, allowing for quicker transportation than walking the bridges that connect the platforms. When the flooding season was over, the boats would be ‘docked’ at the nearest watershore to the group’s homes. These docks mainly consisted of a simple rope tied to a tree or plant, though some of the more stable areas also consisted of carved and piled stones to create steps for the varying levels of flooding.

Plants

The majority of the plants in the Thicha Moss Swamp are of the carnivorous or parasitic variety. The carnivorous variety often live in the areas that have their nutrients wash away during rain or flood. To supplement this, they catch various insects or feed off the pieces of remains from animals in the region. The most common in the region appears similar to a mix of lotus and waterlily water pad and a venus flytrap. The waterpad acts as a draw for the various insects as a safe landing place during floods. When it is not flooding, the plant’s roots are sunk into the soil attempting to collect what little nutrients it offers. Their roots are more of a secondary collection method, so when the water starts to rise- especially if its quickly, like overnight, the plant will break away from its roots.

The plant will rely on its cluster of pads to keep it afloat, the stem floating mostly useless beneath it. If there’s a higher amount of nutrients below the water the plant will grow new roots attempting to latch on to the source. This is often the fallen carcass of a mostly consumed creature in the region. Not all of the water pad of the plant are a ‘mouth’ for it, so insects will continue to risk landing of the chance that it’s one of the safe ‘dormant’ pads. Its near impossible to visually distinguish the difference between a mouth and non-mouth pad except for the fact that the rim on the mouth is fractionally larger and minutely more ridged than the others. These ridges seal together trapping the insects or smaller creatures completely.

The plant’s pads can range from small newer plants about the size of coin, to established plants that are wider in diameter than an adult zu’aan. They don’t have enough of digestive enzymes though to consume anything larger than about the size of a house cat, so they’re not a threat to the zu’aan or their children. The various parasitic plants of the region often latch on to the trees of the region, as they are the only steady source of food and nutrients, even during the floods. These plants mainly took the form of vines and moss like fungus and lichen structures. They’re extremely common in the region, giving it the ‘moss’ in its name. The trees of the region, despite the in optimal soil, manage to grow to extremely large heights. The main tree of the region is the Yiyare.

Its similar in appearance to a Redwood with a root system similar to a Banyan tree. When the old roots weaken or the water raises for a period longer than normal, the tree’s branches will develop new roots so that the old roots will have more support from the new network. These would sometimes interfere with the previously built structures from the Bocori zu’aan, so they were built in the highest limbs where it was the least likely to start growing new roots. These roots of course would create more of an underwater dam area for nutrients to collect around, further supporting its future growth. Like other tree groves, the Yiyare would connect roots with other trees until they were large enough to support themselves either from injury or youth.

Animals

Thifcha Moss Swamp has a myriad of life within its borders. Although only three creatures are listed, these three are the rarest, most unique, or most abundant that can be found. The rarest creature in the swamp is amphibian-like. It can reach lengths of up to five feet; has six legs with four strong, clawed toes on each; and a long, strong, and agile tail. This creature has rough, bumpy skin that is typically dark brown or black with bright yellow spots. Herbivorous in nature, this creature has many predators in the swamp. Although it’s a non-discriminatory eater and will eat anything it can fit in its mouth, including bird eggs, it’s long tongue is primarily used to get the small bugs out of holes.

This creature breeds every three months with one partner a year and lays its eggs in nests to let the birds incubate them. Extremely docile, these creatures appear quite aggressive during breeding season as their tail wraps around their partner’s neck and slams them into the ground before allowing mating, ensuring only the strongest breed. The most unique creature in the swamp is reptilian-like. Reaching six feet in length with no arms or legs, it has only a long, muscular tail. This creature comes in a wide array of dark colors ranging from green to blue to black. Its back is covered with boney plates that few are able to break through, although its belly is quite soft and cool to the touch, making it vulnerable in this area.

This creature also has two large eyes that appear to take up most of its head, but only see body heat. In addition, this creature smells with its tongue to track down potential prey, crushing its catch with its boney back. Extremely territorial, these creatures become slightly more docile during breeding season which lasts for up to a week every four months. Males can have up to 25 live young each breeding season. The swamp’s most abundant creature is amphibian-like. It can grow up to twelve inches wide and long, has six powerful legs, and a weak, useful tail. Its color ranges from dark green to dark blue, and is covered in small, spikey scales. Carnivorous and cannibalistic, these creatures eat anything unlucky enough to cross their path, including full grown unique creatures.

One full grown unique creature can satiate this carnivore’s appetite for four weeks. It has two eyes on top of its head that give it 360 degree vision, but has poor eyesight. Instead, it hunts by wiggling its tail to attract prey before turning and jumping onto its prey, crushing it with its weight. Breeding season is the only time this creature becomes vulnerable. Males give loud squeals to attract females and breed with every female that comes near for two days every year. Females lay to up to 100 eggs in deep holes. The eggs incubate for up to 10 days before they hatch, and the young go off on their own.

Historical Timeline of Ages

Age Name	Dates	Controller
Stone Age	Before 1E 0	Unknown
Copper Age	1E 1–1E 2200	Unknown
Bronze Age	1E 2200–1E 4400	Unknown
Iron Age	2E 0–2E 700	Unknown
Ancient Age	2E 700–2E 2200	Unknown
Middle Age	3E 0–3E 2050	Unknown
Early Modern Age	3E 2050–3E 2600	Unknown
Industrial Age	3E 2600–3E 2700	Unknown
Machine Age	3E 2700–3E 2800	Unknown
Atomic Age	3E 2800–3E 2850	Unknown
Space Age	3E 2850–3E 2875	Unknown
Information Age	3E 2875–3E 2900	Unknown
Genetic Age	3E 2950–3E 3000	Unknown
Awakening Age	3E 3000–3E 3415	Unknown
Twilight Age	4E 0–4E 500

Place

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Thifcha Moss Swamp

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This article is written by Crystal Iris. Copyright 2026 Crystal Iris. All rights reserved.