The Witchlight Marshes were a vast and foreboding expanse. Although the central marshes were bisected by the Salt Road: a trade route which passed through the area to the more settled areas north and south of the marsh, the Salt Road was not always a reliable means of transportation. The Witchlight Marshes were host to numerous forms of dangerous flora and fauna Some scholars believed that the Painted Skulls and other tribes had once possessed an advanced, sophisticated society organised into a series of small but highly-centralised kingdoms. Several tribes demonstrated concepts of property ownership, a trait that was considered quite unusual in hunter-gatherer societies. According to these scholastic theories, the lands now known as the Witchlight Marsh had been good lands fed by a series of rivers and waterways that enabled the formation of several small kingdoms with wealthy trade. Some sparse records of past centuries appeared to corroborate this belief: there was mention of trade or warfare with ill-defined "reptilian kingdoms" that fielded professional armies of spearmen and chariots driven by large domesticated reptiles. But at some point in centuries past, a terrible event remembered only as "The Inundation" caused the waters to rise and flood the land, turning rich fields into marshland. The kingdoms had collapsed and many of their inhabitants had fled elsewhere, establishing far-flung settlements throughout the world. Those who remained united their shattered land under various tribes and clans.

The Painted Skull tribe dwelled in the borders of the marsh, having been displaced from their more traditional lands deeper into the marsh by an alliance of their foes in the past. For much of their recent past, the Painted Skulls had been a weak tribe. Their lands were marginal and did not possess the rich fisheries and abundance of game that could be found deeper in the marshes. While the most powerful of the inland tribes were able to obtain forged iron weapons from raiding, the Painted Skulls often had to make do with the tools and weapons they could make themselves. Despite their relatively poor resources, the Painted Skulls were not exclusively hunter-gatherers. Their villages practised small-scale agriculture: cultivating the wild onions and other edible plants that grew freely in the marshes along with edible mushrooms (along with poisonous ones which were often used to poison arrows and spears used for hunting).

However, there were signs that this was beginning to change. Proximity to the neighbouring kingdoms of the south, often referred to as "The Dry Lands" by those who lived in the Witchlight Marshes, had allowed the Painted Skulls to trade with outsiders to a degree previously unheard of among the Lizardfolk tribes. Despite being a fairly poor tribe, the Painted Skulls could gather many items which were highly sought-after in the south. Slaughterfish who swam in the marsh waters were prized for their rich, flavourful meat and their eggs were a delicacy in affluent households. The many unique plants and fungi in the marshes were widely-popular for medicinal use. There was even a grove of trees deep in the marshes whose bark was said to possess magical, if not miraculous healing powers. And though extremely valuable, any quest to obtain the bark was extremely dangerous. The bark was closely guarded by the hostile Storm Chasers tribe, in whose territory the grove resided.

Because of their location, the Painted Skulls were uniquely poised to exploit regional patterns of trade, especially as many inland tribes were hostile to outsiders and isolated from contact. The Painted Skulls, named for the white warpaint they wore into combat, meanwhile, were one of the few tribes to openly welcome outsiders. Passing traders and others could stop to sell or buy goods in their villages, and those seeking to go deeper into the marshes could hire local guides, provided they were not seeking certain valuable items. However, those who came to the lands of the Painted Skulls in this fashion were closely scrutinised and confined to a certain part of the village. What was rarest of all was for an outsider to be granted hospitality by the Painted Skulls. A select few visitors, those who were deemed trustworthy and usually those who had performed a great service to the tribe.

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It is this situation that an outlander found himself in after assisting a Painted Skull who was being attacked by four members of a rival tribe, the Burned Ones (so named for the ash they marked themselves with, giving them the fearsome appearance of charred flesh). Although still outnumbered, the stranger's presence and combat prowess allowed the two to turn the tide and drive the Burned Ones into retreat: having slain one of their number and wounded a second. The stranger was invited to return to the village and offered sacred hospitality. A cup, fashioned from the skull of a long-dead enemy of the tribe, was filled with a drink (traditionally it was the homebrewed ale that was commonly consumed by the Lizardfolk, but any drink was acceptable). Once the stranger drank of the cup, and his host did the same, he was considered to be an honoured guest. His hosts were obliged to defend him for however long he resided with them and provide food and drink for their guest.

The stranger had the shape of one of the warmbloods, and yet he was clearly something different. His skin was reddened, as if his skin had been bathed in the red sap of one of the ancient hearth trees. This resemblance was to the outlander's benefit, as such stories were often told of a great hero among the Lizardfolk named Sleyvas: who had vanquished a powerful toad demon by bathing in the sap of a hearth tree and gaining the strength of the marsh to defeat its despoilers. He wore attire unlike that of the other drylanders, and his weapons were similarly unknown. Consequently, the formidable outlander was an object of considerable curiosity in the village, but once it was known that he had fought on behalf of one of the tribe to whom he owed nothing, his reputation was cemented as honoured among the outlanders. That his intervention had not only saved a member of the tribe but also allowed it to fell a warrior from one of their most hated enemies was only further evidence of the drylander's virtue. Another red nail had been added to the pillar, for the Painted Skulls kept a very exact count of the enemies they or their allies had felled.

After a stay of a few days, the drylander left with a local warrior to serve as his guide. The guide, Tarvash, had been the one saved by the drylander, and felt it his obligation to guide the drylander safely through the marsh.

As to the adventures that followed, that is a story to be told another time.

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Really amazing commission done by  beepbeepster of Tarvash as a Lizardfolk offering his tribe's hospitality to Muri, a handsome Oni visitor who's bloody good in a fight.