144 Chapter XXIX: The Mistress of House Bloodfallen [3]

The murky waters of Swampstead was as bleak as the visages of its poverty-stricken denizens. Dwellings in this area were huts made of thatch and woven reeds, sometimes smeared with animal fat due to some traditional and unknown practical beliefs. With the few villages in its scope ravaged by famine all year long, the people within these settlements had not the privilege to plough the land and harvest crops like plain dwellers, instead subsisting on fishing and hunting all sorts of wildlife. The swampsters' diet included frogs and bugs, as no sane man would trade with so destitute a place without the risk of being swindled or robbed.