Vanguard officers stationed in the Great Glades may find it prudent to familiarize themselves with the varied denizens of that thick bog. This will be a cursory exploration of the many factions in the Great Glades however more detailed texts can be acquired with cursory clearance at your Annals should you make further inquiries.

As Vanguard, the faction you will be associating with the most aside from your fellow officers will be the unsponsored vessel that also frequents the Gray Haven route. This prosperous vessel is the Ohm-Kalee, the Floral Pelican. The Minister of the vessel has eluded conscription by the Odalla Border Trading Company since the governing branch's inception and will likely continue to elude joining our ranks due to the profitability of the vessel’s forge function.

Although not as profitable as a forge from which to create tradable goods, the Ohm-Kalee’s storage forge serves as a powerful tool for their self-determination as a free trading colony, often harboring adventurers and brigands alike so long as there’s coin to be traded.

They avoid dependency on the Vanguard by employing and maintaining a standing army in its walls so we advise you to avoid creating an antagonistic relationship between your unit and their militia.

They have friendly relations with Ileah, the Rusted Nomad and San Belle, the Bog Walker as well as any unsupported vessels we are not privy to that exist within the dense mangroves. They can be depended on for safe harbor and intelligence if the Vanguard HQ you’re stationed in has the funds necessary to employ their services.

The remaining factions must be treated with utmost caution as interacting with these groups may be hazardous and lead to injury or death. These factions are rare to interact with Vanguard and it is more likely that officers will encounter these factions by inadvertently encroaching on their space during scout patrols and nest clears so it is important to remain diplomatic to the best of your abilities and to retreat if diplomacy is not an option.

The first faction are the Untano or the Swamp Folk. Defer to your stationed Whisperer if their dialect proves to be indecipherable. These Swamp Folk make their homes by carving into the trunks of the many mangroves that live in the Glades, connecting sections of their treetop village with lichen and fashioning primitive boats off the driftwood and carved wood.

These folk are superstitious of magical items and it is highly suggested that officers avoid making use of their magical items or risk agitating the folk into frenzy.

A treetop village is managed by a Coven of Hags. It must be stressed to avoid interactions with Hags of any status at all costs or risk potential enslavement, irreversible damage to the soul, death, or worse. It is extremely rare to interact with a Hag and they will not make themselves known to you. Defer to your stationed Whisperer for wards and talismans that can help deter the swamp magics of the Hags should you be unfortunate enough to interact with one of them.

The Swamp Folk can be called upon for local information on nearby nests and should be tapped for intelligence on those matters if talked to during their fishing ventures. Otherwise, avoid contact with their barges and they will avoid all interaction with nearby Vanguard officers.

The second faction are the Assimalists and this group should be avoided at all costs. Unlike the Untano, the Assimalists believe in Assimalism, a set of religious principles that asserts the soul is a predatory entity akin to the Infected and that to consume and stitch the souls of other creatures unto oneself is to slowly ascend the ladder towards becoming a predatory god.

Assume these individuals are hostile at all times. Because a Splicer and an Assimalist have contorted souls through soul sight, assume they are all Assimalists and avoid confrontation when possible. Depending on how old the individual is, their abilities can rival the strength of a full Vanguard unit. Encountering an Assimalist or Splicer that has subsumed or grafted an Infected soul into their bodies is a Scourge level threat so long as their hunting grounds are disturbed.

It is a blessing that encounters with this faction are exceedingly rare as their groups number in the low hundreds and their dwellings are often outside of the traditional routes taken by our vessels but should they leave their dwellings and cross your route, excessive force is required and requested to eliminate the threat and maintain the integrity of the path.