Skuggiskogr Forest

Despite their southerly location, the Skuggiskogr Forests never become brighter than at half-dusk. The shadows within the vast canopy blot out even the summer sun. Though the Valikan clans do take resources from the edges of Skuggiskogr, using the pine wood for their longboats, they rarely traverse deep within the shade of the enormous trees. Even the mightiest warriors among the clans have a tendency toward superstition, and the shadows of the woods give good reason for wariness.

Strange Ecology

The Skuggiskogr are home to many natural animals, but they are also home to fey creatures of all sorts. One of the fiercest of these is an old epachrach, whom Mithrans living on the borders of the woods call the Guardian of the Forest. With twisting tusks like the branches of an oak and moss-like hair growing on its head, the mammoth creature travels through the trees with an impossible grace for its size. Travelers who must enter beneath the canopy encounter strange and dangerous things in the shadows. Grief eaters are known to prey on the unprepared, and wild insics watch for musicians to travel into the woods, hoping for instruments to inhabit. A parliament of ravens of ill omen is known to roost within the branches of Skuggiskogr, and pucks roam freely, playing their malicious tricks to the pain, or death, of travelers. Will-o’-wisps try to draw wanderers deeper into the woods, where bogs pose hidden dangers, especially in the winter, when falling into even the smallest frozen pond could cause hypothermia and death.

Ancient Threats.

But more dangerous than any of these creatures is the presence of Runa Banasár, a one-time leader of a forgotten Valikan clan, now a memori lich. Though much of her undeath has been spent traveling the world, she has recently returned to the north, her motives unknown. Villagers and farmers from Clan Mithra’s jarldom of Eikenbu have started to disappear. While Jarl Hendersson initially suspected Thrull of raiding, the silence of the attacks—if they are attacks—has left her mystified. There are no signs of violence, a sure indication that Thrull is not behind the isappearances. And yet, people are missing, all their belongings left behind but their weapons. The thought that a force might be building an army so close to Eikenbu is a growing concern for Jarl Hendersson and Queen Andrea both.

Despite the dangers, Skuggiskogr also holds a small enclave of the Redclaws, a circle of druids whose primary enclave is deep within the Njukca Mountains. In the southern woods, the Redclaws seek to preserve the forest from those who would overharvest her trees; in fact, the Redclaws may well lead travelers to fey creatures that would pray on strangers to keep the woods from harm.

Type

Forest