Plastiform Briarwoods of Tigerpaw Baidu

Forbidding warren of bacteria-formed polymer briars

Within the great Mazta range of the Rift Mountains, reckless curiosity has unleashed an ecological catastrophe. An errant colony of plastic spores has been released in the mountain forests of the Tigerpaw Baidu. Unlike other plastic spore colonies, the bacteria unleashed upon Tigerpaw have achieved a state of optimal biostasis and have begun to breed and multiply unabated. This unchecked metabolic process has created a forest of razor sharp organic filaments and shards that has made the approaches to Mount Mazta nearly impassable.

As the plastirform briarwood continues to expand, the spreading mass of organic plastic becomes an ever greater threat to locale wildlife and human settlement. Aside from the choking blob of polymer waste creeping across the countryside, there are reports of hulking forms slouching through the briar. Rumor has it that these aberrations lust for blood and seek living flesh upon which to feed their inscrutable hunger.

Geography

Tigerpaw Baidu is a tropical forest that rises from the foothills of Tigerpaw Valley up the foothills and slopes of Mount Mazta and its neighboring peaks. Its elevation and generally less swampy landscape makes the jungles of the Baidu much easier to traverse than the lowland wilderness of the Pachuco Jungle or the Outramar Expanse.

But the growth of the Plastiform Briarwood has rendered the Baidu a hostile environment, forbidding to all but the most hardy and determined explorers. Some sections of briar are thickly formed and relatively easy to negotiate but many others are made of brittle razor thin filaments that can shatter and collapse without warning causing unwary travelers to tumble through tangles of slashing plastic shards. Some sections have become domed in a canopy of obstructing plastic that has created darkened tunnels that baffle navigation and leave explorers prey to whatever unseen terrors lurk in the shadows.

Fauna & Flora

Though the plastiform briarwood is organic and resembles conventional organic flora, it is not actually composed of living matter. As for the rumours of beasts in the dark, none have lived to report a close encounter with these mysterious threats and little is known about them.

There have been reports of a choking poisonous clouds that proliferate in some areas of the Baidu. These clouds are of an orange colour and living creatures that are exposed to their vapours are said to become overwhelmed by plastiform spores that begin to spontaneously sprout around the mouth and nostrils. These obstructing blooms spread down the victim's airways constructing breathing and causing lethal suffocation.

Natural Resources

Drawn by legends of miraculous Precursor synthetics, some enterprising folk have begun actively trying to harvest pieces of organic plastic from the briar. Little is known about what this material may actually be used for but its simple lightweight durability has already made it a valuable commodity in the manufacture of simple handicrafts. Whether this value is worth braving the dangers of the Tigerpaw Baidu remains to be seen.

Type

Forest, Jungle (Tropical)