Lacq Forest I

Lacq Forest

(The Lakewood)

GENERAL The Lacq Forest is named for the Lacq Elven people that live there. They in turn are named for the Lake Region on which, and next to which, the forest stands. The Lacq Elves are generally more rural people, but there are several large Elven cities in the wood, all of them situated on one of the region’s many lakes. There are dozens of lakes, of various sizes, throughout the forest, fed by streams that run down out of the high, snowy mountains to the west. Some of the Elven communities have adapted to the lakes,and these water-forms are as important to these Elves as the forest itself. The Lacq Forest is sought out by those with business among the Fey. The Elves here are charged with mediating passage in and out, although the portals are located in extreme wild places in the Forest. There are three of them (PORTALS TO THE FEYWILDS in the LACQ FOREST, below). Lacq Forest: Planar Doors and Passageways to the Feywilds 

SAMPLE OF GREETING AT FOREST’S EDGE (along a main road), THIS FROM THE FEYROAD, ENTERING TERRES
You come to a Low wall of blue stones, in which is set Cedarwood gates, shod with cerulean silver Two elves in leather and helms stand guard before the gates, standing straight but eyeing you suspiciously. They have an air of strong discipline about them, spears at their sides. There are archeres atop the low wall, standing the same way but holding elven longbows. There is no gatehouse; rather the “gatehouse” is a modest Tower of blue stone attached to a small manor Soon an elven woman in a blue gown comes through the door at the bottom of the tower. She has a slight smile on her face, although her true attitude is inscrutable. She looks over your party: dirty, ragged, scarred, clothing and armor torn, standing before her, and her smile gets wider. She speaks: “Welcome. I am Lady Bendalla of the Blue Gate. You seek to enter the forest through the Town of Yorenna’falla “The Blue City”?” What is the reason for your visit to the Lacqwood? Strangers are not welcome here without meaningful purpose.” [Conversation from there. She will be very skeptical unless given reason otherwise. If the heroes are turned away, they will be escorted a mile back down the road.]
Once through the gate:
The cedarwood gates open, and you pass through the stone arch above them into the Elven Forest, the archers’ eyes on your every move.
As you enter, the forest greets you with the sounds and energy of living things. Birdsong fills the air, and motes of life–midges, dragonflies, tiny moths and butterfiels–float and fly through the sunlight. The forest is fragrant with the smell of cedar, growing all around with their fibrous bark and leathery needles. The forest floor is covered in layers of them, now turned a rich orange-brown. Some of these trees must be hundreds of years old, judging by their girth. They rise high, dominating the forest, over maple and oak. None of the species are yet touched with fall’s colors, and their brilliant green catches the sun here and there through the cedar canopy.
Purple and blue flowers, blooming in wide stars to reveal a bright yellow, dot the sparse forest floor, poking up amidst the cedar leaves. There are brambles of wild rose here and there, the flowers of a striking scarlet. From the latter wafts some sweet smell you’ve never experienced before.
Where you are, the sunlight can shine through the clearing made by the smooth, well-kept roadway. The warmth and light brings a surprising contentment, as if you have temporarily forgotten your weariness and concerns.
It is indeed a pleasant feeling you get as you enter the Lacqwood Forest, old home of the High Elves.


GEOLOGY
The region was the point of a glacial terminus thousands of years ago. The glacier deposited a moraine at what is now the border of the Neverlands, creating a line of hills along the border there. It also left enormous chunks of ice on the landscape, depressing it and leaving lakes of various sizes throughout the area. These glaciers are still retreating slowly up into the mountains to the west. The bedrock here is mostly basalt, from vents hundreds of thousands of years ago, although there are places where granite intrudes. The mountains are made of a tough reddish igneous rock.
The lakes that give the Lacq its name are crystal clear; you can see all the way to the bottom up to 20 feet even. There are plenty of brook trout in the lakes, and the Elves (Wood elves especially, out in the back country) have these fish as a staple in their diet. Often small connective streams will link one lake to another, forming small systems in some places. Sometimes there will be fey living in these lakes, and in the Feywilds they can be absolutely teeming with aquatic life forms.

WEATHER
The Lacq is dry, as it lies in a rain shelter from the prevailing precipitation from the west. The late fall and early spring bring some drizzle and chill. The winter is just grey and dry, with periodic cold weather and a little snow. Summers get hot and dry.

Along the Southern Slopes of the Greatwater, in the North-Southwest Lacq Forest
The southern slopes of the Greatwater mountains are benign and beautiful with their dry forests and pronounced seasons. These are lands of the wood elves, dwelling as far up the slopes as the forest allows. They are always sending scouts up into the heights, watching for danger. These scouts know the mountains well, but the Wood Elves make their small villages among the trees lower down, in the Lacq Forest proper.
The forest is quite wild, except for a few High Elf villages along its edge. It is indeed a place where High and Wood Elf cultures have come together and mingled peacefully (and fruitfully). The High Elf village of Tallen is a perfect example: A place for exchanges, if not a place for Wood Elf residence. Here can be found a rich trade in Elven goods; on any given day there are as many traders in the village as there are residents, or so it seems.
There are a few rough and narrow “roads” leading north south, and a little more pronounced along and through the lands just south of the mountains. As the latter road reaches the southernmost forest, there are a few lakes, palaces, and even one great southern High Elf ity called Terres’falla (or just “Terres”) “The Blue City.” A smaller city is Bellthora (“the spires”). These are High Elf strongholds.
Most often, these cities are built of a golden sandstone, smoothed like glass with a green sheen, with Elven magic.

Strange Planar Portals in the Forest
Lacq Forest: Planar Doors and Passageways to the Feywilds