The Voundain Swamplands

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An excerpt from Aldan Larrays scientific study of the Khishque
‘…Khishque are born in great spawning pools found at the centre of the Voundain Swamplands near the great trees, when born they are a gentle shade of green and posses the same intellect as a rat. These Lesser Khishque swarm together in groups of up to a hundred and devour most anything they find. In this phase in their development they resemble vast four legged horseflies with vicious teeth instead of mandibles and a wingspan of almost eight feet. They are light weight but when swarming have been known to devour whole towns. After a time (which is assumed to be five years) the Khishque return to the spawning pools to lay another generation of eggs and to create cocoons in the eaves of the great tree’s of Voundain. When they emerge for this second time they are bipedal and a vicious red colour, their front arms develop a basic opposable thumb and they develop a basic intellect (the level of this is argued, but the level is said to be at the level of a three year old human)…
…The second stage of Khishque development is known as the mature phase as most Khishque do not live through this. The Mature phase lasts for about ten years and the Mature Khishque split into smaller groups than the lesser swarms, these are known as tribes and can e up to fifty Khishque’s large. Tribes have separate territories and rudimentary villages which they defend fiercely using both their wicked claws and basic weapons. A Mature Khishque stands at seven feet tall and has a wingspan of the same size, they cannot fly for long but rather use their wings to ‘hop’ large distances…
…The third stage of Khishque development is known as the Elder phase and transforms the partially aerial Khishque in to a totally land bound creature. Stand at about eight feet tall when erect and six in their usual posture an Elder Khishque is a remarkably intelligent being. No-one is exactly sure how the Elders come to be but each tribe has an elder and when the old Elder dies a new one rises up almost immediately. Some think that the elders use an odd form of mental focus to transfer the intellect, memories and personalities of all the past elders to the new one, but this is a guess. An Elder Khishque is vastly strong and extremely fast, their chitin has become as close to the strength of steel armour as is possible. Many years ago I watch an Elder dismember a man with its bare hands, pulling each limb away as if it were dough and all the while laughing…
… Thankfully the warlike Khishque hate war with each other constantly and it is very rare to see any outside of the Voundain Swamplands, in fact there is only one recorded occurrence in Ghelts long history and this was at the beckoning of the Duke…’ 

An extract from ‘The Flora and Fauna of Ghelt’ by Sharram L’Troix
‘…There are really only three tree’s in the Voundain Swamplands, these are known as the Great Tree’s as they can be seen from the highest towers in Elleek, three solitary obelisks hundreds of miles away. The three great trees give the illusion of thousands of trees because their great roots emerge from the swamps and then disappear again at intervals; these sections of exposed roots are vast and take the appearance of separate trees…’

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