collage used for the Froggy Bottom Bog adventure in my Stalliongrad campaign

In previous blogs, I have made mention of Froggy Bottom Bog, and I promised a future blog dedicated to this area. The blog below is primarily designed as a source of inspiration and ideas for GMs and players of Fallout: Equestria tabletop roleplaying games (such as the one I helped design here.)

And now, for the second half of my setting write-up for Froggy Bottom Bog.

(If people are interested, I could dedicate a future blog to some quest/mission ideas for this setting.)

Froggy Bottom Bog

art by Zubias

The Folk of the Swamp

Part I: Noteworthy Individuals

The first pony anyone should know in Froggy Bottom Bog is Tubar, the earth pony with the potato Cutie Mark who is the owner and operator of The Princess Gambit. In his youth, Tubar made a small fortune studying the alchemy of zebras and the plant life unique to the swamp, formulating a recipe for homemade Mint-Als. He used his bottlecaps to resurrect The Princess Gambit, a steam-powered paddleboat that he now uses to travel the northern branch of the Ponytomic. As only of the only individuals who can navigate the river in the dark fumes of the swamp, Tubar is the lifeline for a lot of ponies who might want to wander into Froggy Bottom Bog.

One of the few friendly faces you will meet in Froggy Bottom Bog is that of Rusty Turnip Truck. Rusty is the proprietor of Rusty(‘s) Nails & Planks, a ramshackle store on a small island just outside of Moon-walk where you can buy or barter just about anything. Rusty is the last of a family that has lived in the swamp for at least ten generations, and he knows more about it than just about anyone else you can converse with. His family stayed in relatively low-toxic areas and largely married river traders, making Rusty one of the only “normal” ponies left in Froggy Bottom Bog. The more violent and degenerate locals leave him alone because they consider him a native. Rusty has all the supplies you need, as well as an equipped workshop that he’s willing to rent out. Rusty Turnip Truck also makes some of the best moonshine in the swamp.

If you are in desperate need of caps, the griffin Drak currently controls Bleak Manor. A grizzled ex-Talon mercenary, Drak is one of the most skilled warriors in the swamp. He is loathe to leave Bleak Manor relatively undefended, so he always has errands that he would prefer to hire out to others. This does require visiting Bleak Manor, and possibly entering a war zone. But Drak pays well. And if you impress him, he may just teach you some of his techniques.

Granny Gator is the matriarch of the Gator Clan, and the most magically powerful unicorn in Froggy Bottom Bog. She is extremely old and barely able to get around without assistance, but she surprisingly alert and shrewd. She is the only clan leader who has any acceptance of outsiders, and only in extremely rare and special cases. She specializes in transformation spells, and the Gator Clan’s territory is marked by fetishes – hanging stuffed pony dolls, each of which was once a pony before he or she drew Granny Gator’s ire.

You will never meet Engineer General Whitecrest, as she has been dead for well over a century. But if you spend much time in Froggy Bottom Bog and are the curious sort, you will likely come to know her. Engineer General Whitecrest was the leader of a platoon of the Lunar Engineer Corps from Baltimare’s Stable 16. She came into Froggy Bottom Bog on a mission, and let quite a hoofprint. Her platoon is responsible for the construction of numerous post-apocalyptic structures, including the Lookout Plateau Lighthouse. Records and private journals from Whitecrest are scattered all about the swamp.

art by Dontaskforcookie

Part II: Factions

Froggy Bottom Bog is home to two warring tribes of zebra necromancers, both descended from the prisoners of S.R.A.C. #3. The Nyotagiza and the Lunatics have been engaged in a prolonged conflict for control of several locations within the wetlands.

The Nyotagiza believe they are the chosen of the stars, and that they have been given a sacred mission to finish what the apocalypse started – the extinction of life. They believe that Froggy Bottom Bog is a holy land, given to them by their unknowable patrons, from which they will derive the strength and means to spread plague and death to all other lands. Fortunately, the Nyotagiza are limited in number and have been thwarted from gaining any real control within the swamp by their rivals, and from spreading beyond it by the fog.

The Nyotagiza’s rivals are the Lunatics, a tribe that grew out of an expelled zebra cult, practitioners of bizarre Luna worship. These cultists made a pact with a death spirit, the Reaper who harvests those who die in their sleep. Unlike the Nyotagiza, whose necromancy derives from malevolent alien entities, the Lunatics act in service of the cold but arguably benevolent will of this Reaper. This and their devotion to Luna (at least, as their religion conceives of Her) make the Lunatics surprisingly approachable and even hospitable. Tubar is known to maintain friendly relations with the Lunatics.

The greatest threat to outsiders are the swamp folk of Froggy Bottom Bog. The product of untold generations of inbreeding and mutation from the swamp’s toxins, the swamp folk are as much monsters as ponies. The are excessively aggressive and territorial, and powerful enough to threaten even an experienced wasteland warrior.

Swamp folk divide themselves into three clans: the Roots, the Gators and the Wisps. These clans are earth ponies, unicorns and pegasi respectively; each mates only within their own clan. Severe mutations breed true within each clan, augmenting them physically and mentally beyond normal ponies, abnormalities very much akin to persistently being on a mixture of dangerous pharmaceuticals. The Roots possess raw power, strength and the ability to deal and take damage akin to a pony dosed with Buck and Stampede. The Gators possess both physical endurance and magical potency reminiscent of a unicorn hopped up on Buck and Mint-Als. And the Wisps are blindingly fast and agile, as if each one of them were permanently infused with the hyper-Dash-like zebra concoction Flash.

Swamp folk never interbreed between clans. In fact, doing so it forbidden by clan law, and for obvious reasons. The results of such intercourse are tragic. Most miscarry or are mercifully stillborn. Those who survive carry all the genetic defects and crippling mutations of both its parent clans, subjecting the newborn to a short and agonizing life. Parents of such offspring are shunned for life, and the newborn is ritually left in the swamp, alone in a baby carriage rigged with proximity explosives.

Finally, the wetlands are haunted by the Dead Legion, the ghosts of zebra prisoners of war who died at S.R.A.C. #3. They are mostly harmless, normally barely aware of and unable to affect the living world. But in a region so rife with necromantic practices, it is not unheard of for these damned souls to become pawns and even weapons in the necromancers’ war. And on rare occasion, one or more manifest powers that can affect the living world and those within it – possession being of particular concern.

art by Icekatze

Wildlife of the Wetlands

Froggy Bottom Bog is teeming with strange and often dangerous life. Plants, animals, insects and monsters all present an outsider with hazards and opportunities.

Froggy Bottom Bog is host to a variety of herbs and flowering plants imported from the distant zebra lands. These plant offer unique opportunities for medicinal and alchemical brews, as well as provide exotic ingredients for numerous combat drugs. Of special note amongst the local fauna is punga, a fruit-bearing plant unique to the wetlands. Punga originally spread to the area from Gaia Valley, but the local breed has significantly mutated from its parent plant. Punga is pulpy, edible and nourishing enough to offset its oily texture and rancid aftertaste. Most remarkable, the plant’s juices neutralize radiation when metabolized, making it a natural substitute for RadAway. The locals have dozens of recipes that make excellent use of punga, which is delicious when cooked properly.

Just be cautious when harvesting the plants, for there is a breed of scorpions native to the Fire Geyser Swamp that have adapted to laying their eggs in punga fruit. Punga scorpions tend to have softer outer shells than their cousins, but their sting causes agonizing paralysis and death and is resistant to anti-toxin treatments.

wild punga plants growing outside the Church of Luna

Most creatures in the swamp are mutated by the same toxins that have affected the swamp’s pony population. The most iconic of these creatures is the swamp gator, an evolution of the cragodile which shares many of the augmented characteristics of the Root Clan ponies. If you hunt swamp gators, bring magical energy weapons, as their hides are resistant to most calibers of small weapons fire. Swamp gators tend to prefer the fetid waters throughout the bayou, and present a serious hazard to fan boat travel (although not as much swamp folk hunting parties).

a swamp gator attacks our fan boat

The will o’ wisp is Froggy Bottom Bogs special breed of parasprite. These large, bloated insects are aggravatingly fast and nimble. They are legendary for luring travelers off of safe paths with the bioluminescent glow from their toxin-sacs and then darting in and out of the mist, firing penetrating needles filled with debilitating poison. They will only devour a victim once that victim can no longer move.

Bog ghouls are almost identical to the zombie ponies found elsewhere in the Equestrian Wasteland, save that their wet, fleshy bodies are nearly translucent, giving them natural camouflage in the fog. They seem somewhat resistant to arcane energies, but are, if anything, even squishier than normal ghouls. Experienced wastelanders will need to be wary of bog ghouls largely because they stalk prey in packs.

a chimera just before it ate my camerapony

Other creatures, such as the chimera of the Fire Geyser Swamp region (not to be confused with the creature with the same name from Stable 24, which was named after this monster), are almost entirely unchanged by centuries in the apocalypse-altered wasteland.

The most archetypical monster of Froggy Bottom Bog, the hydra, is largely identical to its pre-apocalyptic predecessor. (Pictures from the past indicate that the hydras of the past only had four heads, but indicate no other differences. However, there are insufficient records to be certain whether or not pre-war hydra could also breathe blasts of poisonous swamp gas.) The hydra is the center of a great deal of myth and legend. According to some sources, the blood of a living hydra is the critical component in creating the regenerative medicine of the same name. Other rumors persist that the clan leader of the Roots had tamed such a beast. For better or worse, most ponies who travel into the wetlands and back out again never lay eyes on a hydra. Hydra are exceptionally rare even within Froggy Bottom Bog and may be on the edge of extinction.

a baby dragon flees in terror from a pre-war hydra

Places of Interest

Moon-walk remains the only suggestion of a town within Froggy Bottom Bog, although it is now almost entirely uninhabited. The few who live there represent the last relatively normal folk in the entire region. For those who can book passage on the Princess Gambit, Moon-walk is still the best place to go for hooch. At one end of the boardwalk, Rooster custom builds and sells fan-powered boats for travel through the bayou (ammo for the boat-mounted weapons must be supplied by the purchaser). Be sure to hop a boat to visit Rusty(‘s) Nails & Planks.

Bleak Manor sits at the end Ironshod Road from Moon-walk, just a mile beyond the crater where the Ironshod mine factory used to stand. The manor was the home of Lord Ironshod and his adopted griffin daughter, Ezalia Bleak. Bleak Manor is a dark and cursed place best avoided. Control of the dark, crumbling house has been sought by both necromancer tribes in the area. The griffin warrior Drak currently claims ownership of the property, and has rigged the area with Ironshod turrets salvaged from factory ruins.

Jutting up from over the Ponytomic from the highest cliff of Lookout Plateau is the Whitecrest Lighthouse. This structure has proven neigh indestructible, crafted with the same earth pony magic that has allowed coffee cups, clipboards and the SPP towers to withstand every ravaging the wasteland has thrown at them. The Lighthouse’s light uses glass blown by a dragon and supposedly infused with the draconic purpose – the building’s only reason for existing is to provide a light that cuts through the dark fumes of the swamp and allows travelers to find their way home. A little ways down the plateau from the Lighthouse is a collection of military tents that is all that remains of the Engineer Corps Encampment.

If you can find it, atop one of the taller hills in the swamp sits the Church of Luna. The original purpose of this gothic temple is unknown. Now, the Lunatics congregate within the dark stone structure. According to some travelers, the Lunatics will offer sanctuary within the grounds to outsiders fleeing the swamp folk or Nyotagiza, neither of whom are willing to set hoof on these (sacred?) grounds.

Conversely, somewhere in the darkest part of the swamp (where it is rumored that, even before the war, the light of the sun and moon never touched) is part of the bog considered sacred by the Nyotagiza. This place, Bwawa Waovu, belongs only to their tribe, and should be avoided at all costs. If the fog should take you there, flee immediately and don’t look back.

The Heart is the local ponies’ name for an island somewhere between Moonshine Bayou and Fire Geyser Swamp which once held a large complex of greenhouses, laboratories and containment structures. Whichever company or companies owned the facilities on The Heart, they deliberately left no physical or paperwork trace of ownership. In the centuries after the war, the facilities began to sink and break apart, spilling an estimated 300,000 barrels worth of drugs and drug-manufacturing by-products into the surrounding swampland. Outsiders have blamed a lot of Froggy Bottom Bog’s aberrations to these contaminants. The Heart is marked by twisted, bioluminescent plant growth and a soft orange glow reminiscent of RadAway.

Similarly, scattered throughout Froggy Bottom Bog are several dumpsites for radioactive waste produced by New Futures’ development of the alternate energy reactors that would become the primary power source used in the creation of Stables. New Futures Disposal Site #1-4 may still hold other treasures for anyone with sufficient protection and enough ammo to deal with the bog ghouls.

In the later years of the war, the bodies of the dead grew more numerous than Equestria’s ability to properly dispose of them. The Good Pony company took on the grisly burden of disposing of the bodies of the dead. The company built two large incinerators, one of which was build on one of the few geographically stable parts of Fire Geyser Swamp. The Good Pony Incinerator served as a mass crematorium for soldiers, civilians and enemies killed in battle. The incinerator was in full operation when the end struck. Shiploads of corpses and coffins that never made it to the incinerator await discovery throughout the wetlands.

The dark fumes of Froggy Bottom Bog are said to be at their worst in this area, making finding the Good Pony Incinerator a particularly difficult task. The only nearby landmark is the ruins of the Wonderglue Factory. Taking advantage of the stable ground, Good Pony built the factory only a short distance from the G.P.I.

Finally, this guide could not be complete without a few words about Social Re-Adjustment Camp #3. The Social Re-Adjustment Camps were heralded as re-education facilities to help socialize zebras taken alive during the war so that they could be filtered safely into Equestrian society. In reality, only S.R.A.C. #1 in the Crystal Empire truly fulfilled this dream, thanks in large part to personal participation by Princess Cadance. S.R.A.C. #3 was never any more than a prison located in an isolated backwater where the benevolent oversight of Princess Luna and Princess Celestia was non-existent. A large number of the zebra prisoners in S.R.A.C. #3 came from the battle to re-take Stalliongrad – the battle that saw the first use of a megaspell.

The guards at Social Re-Adjustment Camp #3 turned the prison into a plantation for exotic plants native to the zebra lands. The prison became a breeding ground for necromancy as a few forbidden and unholy texts that were “saved” from the Ministry of Image’s purge by a historical scholar found their way into the prisoner’s hooves. Before the end, the zebras rose up, slaughtered the guards and escaped in the swamp, the camp’s robotic security and defenses killing many. Today, those mechanical defenses and the minefield surrounding the S.R.A.C. still make the area hazardous to approach.