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

Xenith hesitated, but relented as the silence stretched out. “I learned the brewing of potions and remedies both mundane and magical from my grandparents. In their youth, they had been adventurers of sorts, prying into all the forbidden places -- even delving into the Everfree Forest in search of the Hut of Zecora and braving Lookout Plateau that rises above the dark fumes of Froggy Bottom Bog along the vilest stretch of the Ponytomic -- searching out old recipes and lore of zebra-kind that had been over a century lost. It is from them that I learned the ways and tales of the zebra people… or as much as I know of them.”

Equestrian Wasteland expanded headcanon time.

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.) Froggy Bottom Bog is open for anyone who wants to use it for adventures or campaigns, character backstory, or even a story setting. Enjoy!

Because of the length of this, I'm splitting Froggy Bottom Bog into two posts. The first is a general look at the area. The second will talk about the people, places and monsters of Froggy Bottom Bog. Enjoy!

art by Teschke

From The Wasteland Survival Guide (Revised and Expanded Edition):

When asked about the most dangerous parts of the Equestrian Wasteland, most ponies would speak of the massively irradiated and taint-filled Splendid Valley, or the radiation hot-zone of Whitetail Woods. Others would recall the nightmare that the Everfree Forest had been before the fires or pink-shrouded, pre-fall Canterlot. But no list of the wasteland’s places-best-avoided would be complete without at least a mention of Froggy Bottom Bog.

Froggy Bottom Bog

pre-war image of southwestern Froggy Bottom Bog

Geography

Froggy Bottom Bog is the collective name for a massive wetland stretching from one corner of the Everfree Forest up to the northern branch of the Ponytomic. The wetland can be divided into five regions. Moonshine Bayou forms the northern region where the northern Ponytomic flows. To the southeast is the volcanically active Fire Geyser Swamp. The southwestern region is Froggy Bottom, a massive bog fed by the wild storms the roll out from the Everfree Forest. These distinct regions are interconnected by sprawling swamplands. Rising up in the center of the wetlands is Lookout Plateau.

pre-war image of ponies seeking refuge from a hydra on the cliffs of Lookout Plateau

History

Froggy Bottom Bog has always been treacherous, its few inhabitants isolated from the rest of Equestria. The region only boasted a single town with a noticeable population. Most who lived within the area did so in insular clusters of homes or family estates. For many generations even before the war, the more secluded pockets of population were attributed with aggressive segregation and inbreeding.

One town, situated in the bayou along the bank of the Ponytomic, engaged in sporadic trade with paddleboats traveling the northern arm of the river between Baltimare and Stalliongrad, as well as infrequent merchants who dared the journey from the villages beyond Froggy Bottom Bog’s southern border. In the prosperous years before and during the war, the town expanded, building a large boardwalk to accommodate visiting river travelers. Pre-war records indicate the boardwalk was named Moon Crescent Boardwalk, but was more commonly called Moonshine Boardwalk thanks to the town’s thriving business in homebrew liquors. While the original name of the town has been lost, the ponies who currently live in the area have named it Moon-walk, a name taken from largely-faded lettering on a riverside storefront.

pre-war ponies of delivering goods to the town now known as Moon-walk

During the war, Froggy Bottom Bog became a haven for corporations who wanted to avoid public examination or governmental oversight. Industry within Froggy Bottom Bog was effectively unregulated. In addition, the lack of population made it appealing as a testing ground for potentially dangerous R&D, and a dumping ground for industrial waste. Companies which built facilities in the area include Ironshod, which located its mine-manufacturing factory within the bayou, and New Futures, which used the area for testing alternative energy reactors. Additionally, we now know that after the Equestrian government began to outlaw drugs imported from the zebra lands, several chemical companies built facilities within the swamp that were being used to cultivate and manufacture these drugs.

In the latter third of the war, Froggy Bottom Bog became home to one of three Social Re-Adjustment Camps, detainment facilities for zebra prisoners-of-war.

Due to the lack of population and what was deemed unsuitable terrain, no Stables were built within the wetlands. If there were evacuation plans for the population, they have been lost to history. However, no evacuation ever occurred. During the apocalypse, Froggy Bottom Bog avoided direct attack, but still suffered from the continent-wide fallout.

a chimera stalks my camerapony in Fire Geyser Swamp

The Dark Fumes

The predominant feature of the wasteland swamp is the unnatural fog that envelops the wetlands like a thick mist. Little is understood about the exact nature of the fog, but its effects are clearly supernatural. Some believe that the fog comes from the vents in Fire Geyser Swamp, or that they first formed from the smoke that came from the Good Pony incinerator chimneys. Or that maybe it is the swamp’s immune system manifested in response to the radiation storms that followed in the wake of the apocalypse. No one is certain. Fortunately, the fog is neither poisonous nor necromantic.

However, it not only truncates normal visibility, but muffles and distorts sound (and according to one hellhound, accentuates smell). Magical senses become unreliable at distances beyond normal sight, and both E.F.S. and S.A.T.S. cannot be relied on, often failing to track actual targets and even giving phantom information.

More alarming is that the fog seems to distort travel and prevent proper navigation. Maps of the swamp are useless under most conditions because paths cannot be counted on to lead to predictable locations. Teleportation within the fog is entirely random. And once inside the fog, any attempt to leave is thwarted. Travelers will find themselves unable to leave the fog-shrouded wetlands, even those who attempt to follow the Ponytomic or fly directly upwards.

art by Calamityb31

Getting In and Getting Out

Entering Froggy Bottom Bog is easy. There are several land routes, as well as travel along the northern Ponytomic. There are only two reliable ways out of Froggy Bottom Bog.

If someone knows how to read the fog-affected currents of the Ponytomic, it is possible to navigate in and out of the swamplands by boat. Individuals who can manage this are exceptionally rare, but one such individual – and earth pony named Tubar who owns a salvaged paddleboat – offers folks passage on his ship for a reasonable price.

Where the Ponytomic carves around the north-western edge of Lookout Plateau, a large lighthouse has been constructed above the river. This lighthouse was built by a platoon of the Lunar Engineer Corps from Stable 16 in Baltimare. The lighthouse uses a bulb crafted by a dragon and infused with draconic magic. When lit, the light from the lighthouse provides a navigational anchor in defiance of the fog, making travel within the swamp (and even out of it) predictable. Unfortunately, some of the more unsavory locals have a habit of sabotaging the lighthouse.