Editing Acrozatarim/Gazetteer (section)

==The Indigo Marches==

The contested lands between Naseria and Carthagia are known as the Indigo Marches, a patchwork of fiefs and shifting boundaries, wilds and unclaimed territory over which the great powers bicker.  The Indigo Marches bear their name from the heath-plants and trees that grow here, known for their purple-hued blooms and leaves during early autumn; it's a major source of dyes of such colours.  There are also veins of indigo-coloured rock that stretch through the earth here, sometimes breaching the surface to form entire hills and promontaries of colourful stone.  Legend has it that Dharummut, the Great Wolf, stole a large portion of the spectrum of light in his mouth during the Dawn War so that the Elders could not see the stealthy approach of blue-skinned Naskha, and the Wolf hid in the shadow of the Carthagian mountains with his prize; where he drooled, his blue and purple saliva discoloured the stone and the plants.

The Indigo Marches have been the subject of sporadic wars between Naseria and Carthagia for centuries now.  This appears to date back to the origins of both nations, wherein they first settled themselves and did not encroach on one another at that time - but both began to move into the Marches during the same period about two hundred years or so after the Dawn War.  Since then, an unmappable tangle of grudges, casus belli, claims and accusations have formed an ongoing clash between the two nations that mostly restrains itself to political posturing and the occasional outbreak of hostilities in the Marches, but from time to time one side or the other raises a more significant force and tries to force the issue; most recently, during the Fang Wars about a decade ago, Carthagian armies attacked northern Naseria with the support of a new breed of draconic beasts called 'fang dragons' that had been bred in the Manipulator biothaumaturgy laboratories - and a significant cadre of Flame Guild mercenaries hired on for the assault.  This assault reached as far as Corvus itself, besieging the city and breaking its defences, but supply issues, the turning of the seasons and the manoeuvering of other Naserian forces made the Carthagians retreat before they could properly sack the province capital.  Since that time, Carthagian interests have dominated the Indigo Marches.

Due to the divine stories associated with the region, there are several religious enclaves devoted to the Great Wolf in the Marches; commonly wearing indigo garments, these adherents and priests are less focused on the wild savagery often associated with Dharummut and more on appropriate veneration of the Younger God for its role in the Dawn War.  Generally, these communities remain aloof from the regional squabbles, but since the Wolf Rising of over a century ago, the border lords of Carthagia have agreed to cease deploying fleshtwisted canine breeds in battle through the Marches.