Mandrake Swamp

The Mandrake Swamp is a location on Planet Meridian in the Special Zone. It is the only known source of Mandrake Roots, and it is the home of the villainous Root.

Characteristics
The Mandrake Swamp is a vast area of thickly-wooded, stagnant wetland far to the south of New Tek City. It is foul-smelling (although Charmy Bee claimed to find the aroma pleasant).

The Mandrake Swamp is home to a number of special plant species, including the Mandrake Roots (which can transform Society Max into a dinosaur), the Mind Roots (which can override a person's nervous system, removing all free will), spores with the ability to put people to sleep, and the creature known as Root. Root lives at an ancient, overgrown castle at the centre of the swamp, and uses his magic powers to conjure mud monsters and enslave people that enter the swamp.

Perhaps because of Root's activities, several legends about the swamp have arisen. These include tales of strange sounds heard late at night and of people entering the swamp and never returning.

History
Years ago, an explorer named Morton visited the Mandrake Swamp and discovered Root (then only a small plant like a Mind Root). Root attached itself to Morton's neck, taking over the explorer's body and gradually growing all around him, encasing him inside a new body. Root then used his powers to summon an army of mud monsters, and developed a plan to turn the whole of Planet Meridian into an extension of the Mandrake Swamp.

When Blockhead Bill and Society Max visited the swamp to find Mandrake Roots (of the type Bill uses to change Max into a dinosaur), they were captured by Root's mud monsters. Root then brainwashed them by using Mind Roots. Root ordered Blockhead Bill to a drop a chemical vial into New Tek City's water supply, but the senile Bill was sidetracked by attacking Sonic the Hedgehog and failed, leading Root to reveal his presence by summoning Bill and Max back to the swamp. Sonic and the Chaotix Crew headed to the swamp to rescue them (Bill being Mighty's father), but were also captured. The Chaotix members were all enslaved by Mind Roots, but Sonic managed to escape, and subsequently managed to defeat Root, freeing Morton and all those affected by the Mind Roots.