The Northern Reaches

"No one remembers what the Reach was like before the touch of the Prince. Though winter's kiss only lingers at its heart, its effects reverberate all throughout the wood. One will never hear birdsong among the trees, or see any forest creature dart between their trunks. The air is heavy with the uneasy silence of a long winter's night and unseen eyes are always watching.

The shrine marks the place where the pact was made, and at the time we did not realize what that would truly mean for our people and our empire. As the biting cold and desolation made its way throughout the wood, and the terrifying enslaved creature Fenrir was set to guard this place even from us, I have to wonder if the king felt any shred of regret at what he had done."
Author Unknown, the title of this book has faded beyond legibility

Geography

The Northern Reaches is a 398 mile stretch of forest that crests the north western tip of the Northern Wilds. It is mostly a coniferous forest with no elevation changes throughout, and runs on an angle from a north eastern point to a south western one. The undergrowth is not particularly thick or tangled but it is also not kind to the unwary traveler, and as a result most do not venture far in at all. At its center lies a shrine to the Prince of Frost, an elaborate enclave made of ice-like stone with a statue of the Prince at its center, and a table meant for offerings. All about the area of the Shrine lies a permanent blanket of snow, a perpetual winter fitting the Shrine that's built there. Rivers and streams are known to run throughout the Reaches and there is rumour of a small lake somewhere in the forest, but none who have made it out of the Reaches have ever managed to find it.

Fauna & Flora

Very little lives and grows in the Reaches, and what does thrive there few are willing to make use of. The forest is predominantly tall pines with the sparse presence of trees such as spruce, larch and fir. Undergrowth is wild and sparse, almost none of it is edible and some have been known to harm the foolhardy traveler who dares to pass through. There is one plant known to grow near the center of the woods, the Nightmare Tansy, said to be a plant directly from the gardens of the Court of Frost themselves. What few sources speak about it describe it as a poison, and is likely used by the Eladrin who guard the shrine.

None of the typical forest animals are known to live in the woods. Those who have dared to enter its eaves describe hearing no birdsong or any evidence of something living aside from the trees. It is a hauntingly empty forest, but whether creatures were driven away or never existed here remains a mystery. The only creatures known to live in the Reaches is Fenrir, Guardian of the Reaches and his pack of frost wolves.

Alternative Name(s)

Norður Nær

Type

Forest, Boreal (Coniferous)

Location under

The Northern Reaches

Included Locations

• The Northern Reaches