Darkenfold
The Darkenfold was part of what was once the ETHVOLD, a forest which spanned across the entire southern reaches of Ethrum from the RHODOPE MOUNTAINS in the west to the ARDEEN RIVER in the east. From the north, it covered the SHELVES OF THE MIST, and much of Southern Kayomar to lap up against the feet of the BERGRUCKEN in the northeast. Those days were long ago, when dragons were young, the SENTIENTS ruled the soil, and men (Human) and Dwarf were few and unlearned. The Darkenfold is
a remnant of that forest, stretching only several hundred miles from the Danau River and the GREAT LOTHIAN PLAINS of Kayomar in the east to the doorsteps of the Rhodope Mountains in the west. In the south, the great SOUP MARSH hems in the ancient trees, and the forest continues in wild growth from there to the far-off Shelves of the Mist in the distant north and west.
The ELDWOOD, to the east, another remnant of the Ethvold, holds the heart of the old wood, but the Darkenfold holds its dark memories. It is an evil wood, filled with its own wild abandon and creatures of ill intent. Those who live there know that the trees and the soil hold memories of their past glory and do not forget the axes of men, ORCS, dwarves, and Goblin that have plundered them of their wealth and life.
The forest itself is huge and has many prominent geographic regions, divided into three: the Northern Plateau and SOUTHERN PLATEAU and the MISTBANE RIVER BASIN. A series of foothills, bluffs, and small lakes usually referred to as the BREAKS, divide the plateaus.
Grassy knolls, open meadows, and slow-running brooks pocket the forest deeps and break the sinister visage cast by the old trees. Here, where the sun shines, lilies, daisies, daffodils and other wild flowers bloom. At night, the light of the moon and stars spill through, and when the evening is still, the FEY come out to dance, sing, and play. The forest is thick with these creatures. Remnants of the Ethvold, they came here long ago, before the WALL OF THE WORLDS girded the earth from the trackless wastes of the VOID. SPRITES, NYMPHS, NIXIES, and PIXIES as well as water lilies, blue bells, wood chips and the like abound throughout the deep recesses of the forest. There are darker fey as well; BOGGARTS, SHADOWS, BULLWORTS, and CARP SNAILS dwell here. Indeed, many believe that the Darkenfold’s nature derives from the QUEEN OF UNSEELIE'S COURT who resides in the forest’s southern reaches beyond the DOWNS in the LILY FARE.
Two main roads cut through the forest. The larger of the two, the OLD POST ROAD, begins in the Town of Elne in the east and meanders through the upper reaches of the forest, until it veers north just above ENDS MEET, to emerge in the BROKEN STEPPES south of PETERSBORO upon the edge of the Shelves of the Mist. The SOUTHERN WAY, a spur of the Old Post Road, is overgrown and weeded with small trees and is slowly vanishing back into the depths of the Darkenfold. Both roads are vestiges of the Winter's Dark , when the Empire of Unklar stretched even to these distant reaches. The Old Post Road in particular rises several meters above the forest through which it cuts, being fashioned of several layers of gravel and topped by cobbles. There is enough slant to provide run off, and two long, shallow ditches run the whole length on either side of the road. In many places, the cobbles have cracked and slid away into the ditch, or the road itself has sunken into the moist ground. There were once way posts along the road, which the servants of the Horned God and other travelers used when traveling these dark eaves. They were generally one or two-room stone buildings with wood shingle roofs. But those have fallen into ruin for the most part or vanished into the forest entirely.
The Southern Way was never paved, and its condition reflects that. Its track is still visible in most places, but in some, it has vanished into the wood, covered now in young growth trees and brush. The UNGERN began work on it at one point but gave up when the Winter's Dark began. The pile of rubble from the cobbles and equipment lies still where the Post Road and Southern Way join, though much of it is overgrown with weeds and the like.
Few men venture into the Darkenfold. Those who do are a hardy lot with stout axes and stouter wills. Some settle in the few clearings or along the old roads, and build strong wooden houses beneath the dark trees and along the meadow tracks. ’Tis unknown what motivates them. Whether some crime or want of justice has driven them, or whether they desire a piece of earth far away from the civilized world, they find a dangerous home in the Darkenfold. They trade in GREENBRIAR or Ends Meet on occasion, with the WOOD ELVES, or sometimes leave the forest to travel to larger towns such as Petersboro in the west and Elne in the east.
A small band of dedicated rangers have taken on the onerous task of protecting the forest and the folk who reside there. They call themselves the RANGERS OF THE KNOT, for they meet in a glade wherein two ancient trees have wrapped their boles around each other. Only recently has the DRUIDIC COUNCIL recognized the rangers. The Council promised to deliver them a sapling offspring of the GREAT OAK to help heal the Darkenfold.
There are numerous elf villages in the MILLORIAN, the southern stretches of the forest. These elves live a semi-nomadic life in the woods, living in small villages, cleverly hidden by magic and the use of the natural surroundings. These folk trade in both Ends Meet and Greenbriar mostly with the frontiersman but they rarely if ever leave the forest. There are some HALFLINGS who live here as well, small enclaves in the forest deeps, usually near water, and GNOMES gnomes also, most of these in the TIMBERLAND region.
There are other strange humanoids in the forest as well. The ESCHL are savages who live in the stone-age and seem to be a mixture of elf and orc. Their skin is dark colored, almost green and their faces are narrow and flat. They wear animal skins mostly, grease their hair for ceremonies and battle and wield a wicked array of stone and wood weapons in battle. They decorate themselves in all manner of trinkets, paint their bodies, and cut their hair in wild array. The eschl live in small nomadic bands that are generally part of larger tribes. They dwell throughout the forest, commonly found in the POWDER RIVER region and the lowlands
north and south of the DOG RIVER. There are also the WOLDMEN who are primitive humans that live in the area of the Valley of the Frog south to the lands around LAKE NUNT and HETH'S PERCH. They usually are not often seen as they are feral in nature, and will swiftly disappear into the dark woods.
Beyond all the dangers that lurk herein, the Darkenfold is a land of great adventure. It attracts all manner of treasure-hunters, explorers, and freebooters; for the forest was once home to forbearsregion. The ruins of their once-great kingdoms lay hidden in the forest deeps. Old towers on hills, dungeons beneath them, temples, monasteries and the ruins of all manner of buildings house treasure long forgotten; gold and gems, magic artifacts and sorcery both pure and foul.
Fauna & Flora
These oak trees of the Darkenfold are a peculiar species of trees that are native only to the Darkenfold and give it its name, for the mature trees have a grayish-black bark that absorbs light. A campfire’s light, for instance, will not flicker off the trees, but rather vanishes into the bark, as if the trees drink the light. At night, the forest is dark beyond imagining, cutting in half twilight vision and dusk vision. Anytime oaks are found in the Darkenfold they are considered this particular breed.
The oak trees in the Darkenfold move in a variety of ways.
Communicating: The trees in the Darkenfold communicate with each other through their vast root systems. Vibrations, fluids, moving soil are all indications that one tree is speaking to others.When a whole wood wakes up and begins speaking it can seem as if the ground itself is moving, if only slightly. To those with keen hearing or smell, the noise of this tree speak is loud indeed.
Reaching: The most common method is to reach out with their limbs. Hard, knobby, sharp lateral branches twist and bend to obscure paths, to slow travel, to reach into camps and move equipment. Such movements are not easy to discern and require a skilled forester to see them. Often trees are made aware of a creature’s coming by other trees and they begin to bend down their lateral branches and block the path long before they encounter the creature. They do this after the creature passes as well.
Walking: When a tree walks it does not do so as other creatures do. The tree’s roots begin to thrust out and pull the tree behind it. The earth is broken only a little as the tree passes over, for its passage is not swift, nor is it often very far. A few feet in day is usually the most they can move, though on occasion, they move faster. In this way whole paths disappear, watering holes are hidden and camps consumed. When the trees are woken and wish to harm others they walk to block a well traveled path, confuse rangers tracking, make it impossible to back track or pass without trace. One may bed down at the head of a wide trail only to waken the next morning to find the trail gone.
Breaking the Earth: When a tree wishes to make it even more difficult to pass an area they lift themselves up, roots breaking free of the soil, creating a mess of tangled holes, roots, ditches and the like. Many a swift runner has perished by crashing through the wreckage and falling prey to whatever caused them to run through the forest so swiftly.
Collective Action: The oaks can communicate, walk or reach as groups or individually.
INSECTS
The Darkenfold is filled with flying, glowing insects. They are everywhere, hounding travelers. The lights of campfires and attractweave in and out of the forest and in a way create light where there otherwise would be none.
History
THE LIVING FOREST
In the DAYS BEFORE DAYS, when the Ethvold stood in her prime, the VAL EAHRAKUN walked the world as children. From them came many things of wonder, and knowledge known only to them. The Ethvold was ripe for such seed and it flourished for it became the home of many gods, LET, NUNT, HETH, AMENUT and the greatest of them all, TEFNUT. The forest flourished and grew aware of itself as no other wood in the world.
In time however the gods were driven from the world by the JUDGEMENT OF CORTHAIN and with their passing beyond the Wall of Worlds their power faded. This coincided with the rise of men and the power of sorcery so that the Ethvold suffered many depravations and slowly it fell away. First in the center, in the Lothian Plains, but later in the north, east and west. In time the power of it, the knowledge it once held became a memory, except in the Darkenfold. There, those memories were rooted deep in the ground and knowledge passed on to the trees, the awareness, remained and it became a dark thing so that the forest changed. No longer the glorious wood of yesterday, now it was a dark pace, filled with resentment if not malice.
This awareness has made the Darkenfold a particularly dangerous place to live, for the forest can defend itself when it desires. It can move, if slowly. When it does it moves with a purpose, sometimes collectively, sometimes through individual trees, but when it does it is easy to become forever lost in the dark wood.
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