The Creeping Forest

"We set the charges as planned yesterday, at intervals of twenty paces. A total of fifty firebombs. The wind stayed blowing from the East, ready to push the flames back into the trees and away from our homes. We maintained a safe distance and Georgio detonated the line.
The initial blast claimed us back fifty paces of land, and the trees behind did catch. We watched the fires for an hour or so before coming home, feeling victorious.
When I went back this morning, I could hardly believe it. Flowering weeds have already pushed up through the scorched soil, and the trees still standing have released these seed pods the size of my fist. No way to know how many have already taken. At this rate, all our work will have earned us a month, if that."
Nikolas Macedin, Othenopoli Town Guard Records, 3320

Geography

The Creeping Forest, at time of writing, takes up the majority of the continent of Haemistria. It's origin point can be discerned to lie approximately central to the main body of the landmass, and has spread outwards fairly evenly over the last five millenia. The rate is generally estimated to be roughly a metre in diametre every year.
The uneven points come primarily where countries that border the forest, or once inhabited land it has taken over, have tried to burn it back. While this works in the short term for removing larger flora such as trees, the smaller fauna thrives in response to the heat and grasses and weeds will reclaim the area quickly. In the long term, the trees that germinate and grow on the scorched land tend to be larger and more hardy than the trees they replace, making the attempt to curb the growth unsuccessful.
The deeper into the forest you go, the thicker the plant growth is, and eventually even light has difficulty penatrating the canopy. In depth studies are not feasible, as the flora and the fauna the further in you venture become more and more hostile. No research team has ever made it past the first few instances of mega-fauna and mega-flora, and attempts to drop in from above end with never hearing from the team again.
The height and density of the flora makes communication equipment functionally useless, and the powerful magic field that permeates the forest makes even magical communication impossible.
Due to the above issues, digital mapping has also been less than helpful in figuring out the lay of the land. Besides the rough placement of several rivers and lakes, little headway has been made. What is agreed by most researchers is that the forest is magical in origin, although the power of the spell used to create this unstoppable growth and life even five thousand years later is unprecedented. However, regardless of what is used to attempt to suppress it, the forest lives and grows.
The first historical record we have of The Creeping Forest is in that of the writing of the Symposiasts, who it is believed originated in one of the countries that has been swallowed up, in their attempts to flee the forest they could not stop.

Fauna & Flora

Many of the species of flora and fauna found in The Creeping are native to this particular forest and nowhere else on the planet. Common ancestors can be found in other places, but simply by growing and seeding in this intensely magic heavy environment, they become changed. Best estimates place The Creeping Forest as home to over 150,000 species of flora and fauna.
This can be as minor as the plants gaining magical properties where there were none before, as in the case of Sasansas. Alternatively, Mikolo plants found in the forest boundaries are usually ambulatory.
The deeper into the forest that samples are retrieved from, these changes become more and more pronounced. All Chimera's Breath from within the forest has in common with its external relation is the name. The standard plant is so named for the crimson and green flowers it produces, and has little use beyond decorative arrangements. The alternative version is deeply poisonous, and the toxin that can be extracted cannot come into contact with wood or metal as it will eat through the surface. It is also at least twice the size, and has large thorns that can deliver the poison to other species. The concentration is such that it can fell a creature the size of a horse in under twenty seconds. As the remains rot, the plant gains several important nutrients that allow it to continue growing larger. The largest specimin ever recorded was three metres tall.
Mega-flora are common in the deeper areas, feeding off of the magical energy to continue growing without limit. At present the largest trees, as estimated in a recent flyover conducted by the Symposium, are around 300 metres tall.

The Fauna of The Creeping Forest are less well studied, due to the secretive nature of the smaller species that populate the forest's edges. The mega-fauna found at greater depths are even more poorly studied as the environment is hostile to outsiders.
Some noteable confirmed species include:

• The Creeping Deer: these deer have been spotted ranging in size from one metre at the shoulder to three and a half metres at the shoulder. Antler remains suggest that far bigger members of the species exist, though this has never been conclusively proven. The name comes not only from their habitat, but from the fur padding their hooves, which gives them a muffled, quieter step. They have the noteable feature of being cold blooded mammals.

• The Amis Adder: these venemous snakes are found as far North as Mukasi, however the species from within the forest has the unusual capacity to become translucent. Whilst they can still be spotted when they move, especially larger examples of the species, when still they are near invisible.

• The Purple Moth: the dye these moths excrete when threatened can burn the skin of small animals. On species of adult human size, it merely leaves deep stains that can take years to fade. The value of these insects for use in tattooing and dyeing over the centuries has been consistently high.

Natural Resources

Given the size and relatively rapid growth of The Creeping Forest, it has often been used for lumber by the surrounding populations.
The diversity of the flora has meant that it has supported many small communities without farmland.
In recent years, most of the flora or fauna removed from the area are taken by research teams trying to figure out exactly what the original spell was, and how it has effected the world.

Type

Forest

Included Locations

• The Temple of Lamia

Included Organizations

• Lanzathida