Within a year of Mark Harlow's ascension to power in the petty kingdom of Swamp Castle, his promises of securing the wild borders were brought to reality. The day after his coronation he lead his men along the borders of the country, visiting every tribe nearby and forcing them either to swear fealty to him or respect their borders. Many accepted these terms, Most grumbled, and a few of the more warlike tribes had to be subjugated violently in order to protect the Swampish people.

Most of the trouble came from the tribes to the west. Since the land here was far sparser than the decently fertile wetlands the people here grew a hunter-gatherer lifestyle, not yet developing into an agrarian civilisation. Mark initially beat the first few into submission, but realising the momentous task ahead of him he allowed them to live. It would have been a bloody fight for barren land, and one he wished to leave for another day.

Because now rumours of more developed tribes were spreading through the palisades of the capital. Lands to the north were reported, one lead by an eight-year old girl known as Red, and she ruled over a vast snowy kingdom known as 'Azhor' or something. The language spoken by a few travellers they met was far harsher and guttural than how the Swampish spoke, so they could only pick out smaller details (Therefore, 'Asor' to the Swampish sounds like 'Azhor')

Another land, this time to the Far East. Not knowing their name, the Swampish have come to call them 'Ultrapalus', meaning 'Beyond the swamp'. From what they could tell they were largely peaceful, although the fact that they appear expansionist by nature worried many of the Swampish nobility. If they set foot into the swamps that are, by right and by name, de jure part of the Swampish nation, Mark could only shudder at the thought off what that might lead to.

Either way, it became apparent that Mark couldn't just subjugate the populace of the tribes anymore. If he were to be respected by these people, he would have to be strong. He set several of the strongest tribesmen who pledged loyalty to the state the mission to establish contact with these people, in the hopes that knowledge would help protect them.