Getae is a land of marsh and swamp during the winter months. It has three noticeable seasons: Inundation, Bloom and Wilt. During the winter month of Inundation, much of Getae appears as these vast flooded swampy plains, full of sickly water and covered with fine silts and mosses. The seasons then change to Bloom, when the water recedes a little and the silts and mosses allow a wide variety of plant life and wild life to blossom into activity. Great flowers, birds, fish, amphibian, reptile and insect spring into life as the land is filled with abundant growth - bright colours flashing through the trees mixed with the secretive and the hidden. The last season is the Wilt, a season when all the water dries and plates begins to coil and die in the intense heat. During this time, much of Getae can become like a desert - where even the smallest of creatures must hunt to find a source of water.
The peoples of the Getae live between such climes all year round - from explosive growth to terrible thirst. If any of the Human people can claim to be in more dire straits than the Maesians, the Entumen of the Getae can certainly make it.
Even during Inundation and Bloom (referred to by the Entumen as ‘the Wet’) Getae is a harsh place to live. The Entu know all too well that an abundance of life can be as devastating as its loss - and this is reflected in She Who Watches All Things Grow. This harsh goddess is thought to be the one that controls the flows of the waters - She Who Watches All Things Grow is a harsh mistress. For during times of the Wet many creatures and beasts of Getae roam free, for the abundance of water draws them out of whatever hibernation they lived in, to wander across the flooded Getae plains without worry about thirst. The Entu thus are more likely to encounter crocodiles and massive hippopotami during this time. Do not be fooled into thinking that only the large creatures are dangerous though. The Inundation is one of the few times that Getae gets to see rain - but when in rained in the Wet the rains can last for months without cease. During the Bloom, when the Wet begins to dry and the air grows very hot with the heat from the sun, the insects and parasites arrive. Fuelled by the intense heat, they swell to massive sizes - where worms can burrow into the skin and live off of human blood, or where spike-flies can poison the skin into terrible itching that can kill in a handful of weeks. During Wilt (the whole period called ‘the Dry’ by the Entu) flowers crumple, wither and die. The trees go into a deeper sleep than further north, where their skin turns black and it crackles and peels like the skin of a snake. The swamp lands dry up, and many staple foods do not take well to the now dry soil. During the Dry, the Getae swamps and marshes become veritable plains of the desert - arid, hot and near-uninhabitable.
Near uninhabitable, for the Entu have indeed made a stable living here. It is Human-kind’s greatest asset that they are the most adaptable race. Whilst Trolls or the Ogre-kin can adapt to their surroundings or the Dwarrrow races to the task in hand, it is Humans that have prospered most throughout the world. The Trolls and Ogres are limited by their imagination and intelligence, the Dwarrow races by their social structures. Humans, on the other hand, are unafraid of the challenge of deep deserts or harsh winter - and ingenious enough to create out of the restrictions of their habitats. The Entu are perhaps the most ingenious of all the Human cultures, developing simple technologies to overcome their trials. Wood is a common resource, as is bone, skin and mud - and commonly many weapons and jewellery are made out of such substances. Dwellings are most commonly mud-huts which have been built up over a wooden frame, raised on stilts so that during the Dry the dangerous reptiles can be kept away and during the Wet the water can simply flood underneath. Boats are typically built just before each Wet, and tribes generally build new ones with each new Wet.
Living in amongst such dangerous grounds has lead the Entumen to read a comparatively peaceful life. Of all the Human races, the Entu are the most placid and the most agreeable - they certainly have been involved in the least wars and skirmishes between tribes are so rare that there are stories about each and every one. The Entumen have in the past had to rely upon each other, in their skills and their knowledge and many defer to each other in these areas. Whilst tribes consist of many families at a time, the children of the tribe are typically raised by those women capable of doing so as a whole group - reinforcing the dependency on others of the tribe. Those that are willing to fight train together and nearly all warriors are trained in spear, club, blow-dart and bow - it is unusual to find Entumen warriors that cannot use at least three of those four. Hunters of a tribe drive game and hunt together - the old-folk cook together and what crafters they have will craft together. It is not uncommon to find that tribes specialise in particular skills, but even then, these tribes will typically inter-mix with other tribes of their area, and come together with barter so that the tribes work together as a communal whole.
Each tribe of the Entu is lead by their tribal leaders and by their shaman. The leaders are usually the most-wealthy of the tribe and can consist of any number, depending on the size of the tribe. Such tribal councils are there to ensure the sharing of wealth within the tribe, and are wealthy purely for gaining recompense to tribal member through services rendered - and then spend the coming year sharing food and goods with those less-well-off within the tribe. In this way, leaders can change from year to year, guiding the tribe. The shamans are different. Shamans are the wise-men of the Entu and are part of a given tribe they grew up in. Quite often they display the kinds of faith that is employed by priests, whilst a few others might actually have the powers of a true mage. Most commonly they are skilled herbalists and healers, treating the tribes ills - most common because of their harsh environments. When the tribes are met by outsiders it is to the shaman that they go, for many Entu do not concern themselves with outside Getae - for despite their hardiness they prefer the seclusions of the swampland over the bickering politics that lead to wars in the other lands.
