Completed Ytarria Hex map with terrain added

[darebear]

I made a few updates to the map last week. Small details (rivers, lakes, ect). The hills of northern al-Haz were increased in size, towards the Caithness border. I felt this made sense and better depicted the area. Cardiel also has two new small wooded areas in out-of the way places, one infested with a magical rotting disease and the other a forest of giant mushrooms and other fungi.

One thing that I totally missed from the map was the Acid Swamps of Solfor, in the Southeastern Orclands.

The only reference to this location is on page 220. It is curiously absent from the geography information in the Orclands section, which is obviously an oversight.

The watercolor map of Ytarria does show this area, un-labeled, in a murky green color, sitting just west of the Great Desert. I always thought this was grassland or plains (the darker color being artistic expression of some sort); it never occurred to me that it was actually a wetland area. My assumption (after reading the entry) was that the Solfor swamps were to be placed wherever the GM needed them. At no point does the text indicate the size of this area; the only reference we have as to the geography is the original watercolor map done for the book.

Anyway, my map is updated, but the swamp area is actually a little smaller than the canon map (another mistake which I will fix today). It should cover all the heavily forested areas and extend northward more. This makes the wetlands roughly 100,000 square miles in size, equivalent to Pripet Marshes in Belarus.

Problem
This swamp was never mentioned prior to the Banestorm 4E book and it complicates, IMO, the backstory of Castle Defiant and the Orclands. A hazardous swamp of this size makes large-scale travel between the Orclands and Caithness, well, quite impossible, in either direction. There might be paths and routes which are safe to travel for small groups of course. But the idea of a 100,000 square mile area of acidic swamp strains credulity. My guess is that the artist who drew the main map (through no fault of her own) had no idea that this area was supposed to be a toxic zone, knew the backstory of the Orclands or had a clue as to the square miles of the area being depicted. What is more likely is that they were simply told the area was a "wetland", and painted it accordingly.

So, I am looking for opinions. My gut tells me that this area should be a lot smaller than what is depicted. The area would likely run along the rivers south of the unnamed lake which is to the east of Castle Defiant, with a southern border along the Great Desert, and a northern border just south of the small unnamed forest along River Kashik. This would still be a large area, but not an impassable barrier for travel between Caithness and the Orclands.

However, unless the area has a reason for explorers to visit it will simply be ignored and avoided 99.9% of the time by travelers.

It would be possible to travel to the Defiant area by boat, starting from the mountains of Zarak. You could also skirt the Great Desert and go around to the south or take one of the tributaries to the lake and then along the River Kashik to Castle Defiant. Castle Defiant had a trade route through Zarak so perhaps water travel was the primary mode of transportation between this area and the East. Another travel route would be through the larger northern forest bordering Zarak. Since the lore does not specify how folks travel to and from the Orclands, we are left to speculate as best we can.

Thoughts? How should this area be depicted and how big should it be? Perhaps the acidic aspect of the area be toned down (limited to a specific area on the map) or eliminated? If it was just a large wetland area with a small localized zone of toxicity then it would be more amenable to travel and possible sites of adventure (ruins, lairs, ect). Right now, having a 100,000 square mile Death-Zone serves no purpose and throws a monkey wrench into travel from Caithness to the Orclands (IMO anyway).