The Sargrass Plains

1. Straights of Gal'afree
2. River Hook
3. Former location of Hook City
4. Gray Tooth Mountains
5. White Winy Island
6. Forest of Faith
7. Crystal Mountains
8. The Twins
9. Druid's Folly
10. Dark Waste
11. Wall of Glorin
12. Jagnar-Vinus
13. Plactik Sea
14. Dragon's Teeth
15. Starlight Deep

Notes on the Plains

(Written by Willow: A Plainstrider)
[21 October 2002] [abridged Aug 2024 by Tishe' Weaver]

During the last Great Migration, Hook City flew into the sky and no one in the Sargrass knows where: there's just a big hole that soon filled with water from the River Hook. South of Lake Hook is one of the most deadly and beautiful places in the Southern Continent: The Sargrass Plains. Few indeed are those who can even enter this land, calling it the Cursed Plains, the Grass Waste, or the Living Sea. To me it is simply home. Beautiful and deadly, its named from the dominating grasslands. Imagine standing before a field of grain on a windy day. It looks solid and thick: almost as if you could walk on it. This is The Plains: looking like a sea of green, blue, purple, gold and silver; all grasses growing 10 to 30 feet tall and next to impossible to navigate at ground level. Nothing grows on The Plains except the grass. Nothing lives except the animals strong enough to kill and survive; adapting to the harsh environment. Then, of course, there are people, brave and strong, striving in their own culture to make a home: Traders, Striders, Foundlings, Tall Men, Climbers, Monks, Barons, Raiders, and of course the mysterious Manfri. All these cut a living from the cloth of the plains and add to its majestic tapestry. I love The Plains. It is my home, my life, and more.

The Grass:

There are at least 48 different cataloged types of grasses. Some are extremely rare, while others are as plentiful as air. Almost all grass types have their uses, and all of them share the same basic properties. Sargrasses are dry. They conduct static electricity. They repel the Wood of the Druid Tree, aka DruidWood.

Some useful 'Grasses people seek or cultivate are:

Purple Grass: A thick leafed species growing 4-12 feet high, and used to make dyes (brilliant reds, blues, and purples) for clothes or mixing with muds to create beautiful frescos.

Glass Grass: Thick and yellow when water is present, it becomes sharp and brittle when dry. It can shatter and cut like glass, but the dried roots are fermented into one of the finest liqueurs in the Wold: Glass Grass Wine.

Steel Grass: A thin bladed green grass easily woven into buildings and armor that provides flexible resiliency. The Manfri guard the secret that makes the Grass as rigid and strong as steel, and also provides electrical protections.

Wheat Grass: Also called 'Chorly' or 'Manna of the Grasslands', this is the stable of established communities. Resembling sunflowers, the seeds are ground and made into dense buttery bread, the roots substitute for yucca or potato, the stem is full of a sweetwater pulp like prickly pears, and the leaves substitute for tender lettuce or turnip greens. Beware any town or village that doesn't have 'Chorly', for there is only one other thing in the Sargrass that is readily edible: meat.

And then there is: Druid Tree Growing like a pole with a tuft of scraggly branches and even scragglier leaves, much of the Druid Tree is underground in its extensive shallow root system. In fact, every foot of height equals the radius of the roots. And wherever there are the roots of a living Druid Tree, there are no 'Grasses. And the unique fauna of the Sargrass tends to stay away as well.

The Animals:

Animal life isn't plentiful, and is stranger than other lands in the Wold. Other than the plentiful insects of astounding variety, here are some beasts that make their home in the Sargrass Plains.

Blind (or Prairie) Swallow: The only known bird of The Plains, it is sightless, and is very tasty if caught and roasted.

Prairie Pig: A slug that grows to Small size, communities herd these in flocks for steaks and dried sausages.

Baccke (Bounder): This animal looks like an insane cross between a frog and a bulldog. Medium sized, its most notable feature is a huge mouth full of razor-sharp teeth which always seems to be grinning... or eating.

Rapke: A Large animal, halfway a horse and carnivorous dinosaur. It has the teeth of a Baccke, and front claws too! The sinister Baron has learned to dominate these creatures, and his Raiders often ride them.

Great Ranthom: There is a wide variety of size of Great Ranthoms, anywhere between Huge and Colossal. Their enormous, open scoop of a mouth has no teeth, but the bottom edge is razor sharp. Huge forelegs endlessly propel it across the Plains, cutting a swath through the Grasses. Traders swear they never stopping from birth until it dies, but value Ranthom Ambergris more than diamonds. Raiders like to travel in the wake of these creatures, nearly the only means to traverse the Plains at ground level.

Sarg Moth: Seldom seen, maybe less than one sighting a year, it is even larger than Great Ranthom. Looking like a cross between a purple worm and bat-winged dragon, it is almost always only sighted over the deep plains near dusk.

The People:

Many are the strange cultures of the Sargrass; here are some of the more common:

Monks: Not a class nor a religion exactly, Monks protect good creatures and to fight against 'Grass, believed to be an evil blight upon the land. They protect Foundling Villages, travelers though the Crystal Range, and plant and nurture Druid Trees which repels all known Grasses to drive them away and purify the land. Planting and raising such trees is the life purpose of the Monks. They also practice the discipline of silent singing that is the only known way to pass safely through the crystal range that splits the plains in two.

Climbers: An xenophobic people, they keep to themselves, building underground habitats. Above ground, the habitats are roofed with huge beehive-like structures, always building them higher and larger, until finally they get so unwieldy that they collapse in upon themselves. The survivors of these disasters move to a new place and begin again. Some believe that they do this to get closer to the gods, others because they are building the ultimate temple. The climbers do not say, but both of these theories seem unlikely to me. They seem to have an agreement with the Monks, however, for the Climbers are the only ones who can build and repair domes for Foundling villages and Rattledam.

Foundlings: Scattered throughout the plains, are small villages made of exiles and found people, often brought to safety by Traders or Monks. In return, they raise Grasses and make trade goods to help support the Monks. They tend to only last a generation or two, people migrating to other locations. The only exception is the Foundling City of Rattledam. Never shown on any map, it is hidden and only a few Trade captains know where it is. Should a traveler find it, it appears like a low grass dome, like a small Climber beehive but much wider and flatter.

Traders: Out of the wood from the Druid Trees some have learned to fashion boats. These amazing vessels float upon the grass as if it were water. They carry goods and people over the plains. Traders are a strange and brave folk, swarming over masts and sails, but never having learned to swim. Instead, they practice the ability to not land on their head.

Plainswalkers: 'Striders' and 'Walkers', we are a loose semi-society that walk the plains in search of ... something. It is different for each of us. Some of us walk using stilts, while others sail on small pieces of druidwood. I search for truth and the center of things. Each of us is clearly marked as a Strider by the gray eyes and white hair that change over time due to some sort of connection we make to this place.

Raiders: The Raiders are random groups of people who scavenge a living out from the plains, through trade and theft. Most raider camps consist of men who wish to live without laws or according to bizarre laws of their own.

Barons: The Barons are held together by their loyalty and fear of a being known as The Shadow King. Immortal or god, they use raiders and other evil beings for their own selfish purposes, the most important is taking the secrets from all the other groups.

Tall Men: Somewhere within the Crystal Mountains, the Tall Men train and change. They are the ultimate assasins: absolutely silent, sure, unfaltering. The times they have failed a mission can be counted on one hand with most of the fingers unused. A Tall Man looks more like a thick blade of grass or pole, and its arms reach almost to the ground. Striders and Tall Men tend to fight on sight, and the Immortal Crones have prophesied our mutual conflict has no foreseeable end.

Manfri

The Crystal Range:

A strange and beautiful mountain range horizontally splits the Sargrass from the west to the east: and is made entirely of crystals. Citrine, Agate, Quartz, and Amethyst are common, but any type can be found. Plants and animals made of crystal live here too, and the mountains are the most deadly place within the Sargrass Plains. Sounds make the crystals violently erupt and explode, the shrapnel can flay a man in moments. There is no safety here except in the presence of the Monks. Their chanting seems to create a silent spell that allows freedom of movement and travel through the range.

Plains Travel:

The grasses control all water on The Plains, and unless you know which kind will not poison you during which month of the year, stealing water from the grass is a suicidal idea. Instead, you should take water and food with you. It is hot. Try not to sweat or spill water on the grasses. The life of The Plains is very sensitive to the presence of water, and spilled water has been the death of many travelers due to predators which arrive quickly and in amazing numbers. Stay out of the direct sun when you can. Better yet, unless the call of The Plains is so strong upon you that you cannot ignore it, stay home.