Blauaugenwald
The Blauaugenwald is a huge forest area in the west of the Slimean Lands. The forest is infused by Pink Mist and the home of the Butterflygirls.
"The sun was blinding me as I entered the forest south of Laurand. I wandered through the thick greenery for hours, expecting to reach the shores of the central lake soon. Instead, I soon found myself at the south end of the forest, north of Eichennah. It was raining and after my confusion calmed down and entered a local pub, I learned that it was not hours that I spend in these woods, but months had passed in the outside world." Famous Influencer who documented his travels through the Forest.
Geography
The Blauaugenwald is a mysterious forest with old, Pink Mist infused trees and plants. The terrain can be split into the outer and inner regions of the forest. While the outskirts are a mix of hills and flat terrain, the insides are wet and swamp-like in nature. The deeper parts of the forests are thick and impossible to navigate through the infusion, while the outer regions are less thick and partly navigatable by normal citizens as long as they head not too deep into the forest. The thick forest is interrupted by villages and groves deep in the forest, as well as glades at higher altitudes on top of hills.
The forest is 30 km from east to west and 35 km from north to south in its widest lengths while having generally an oval shape. In its center is the huge Lake Blauauge, which gave the forest its name. Rivers from the north and east pass through the forest towards the lake. The forest directly surrounding the lake is swampy and near impossible to navigate, even for inhabitants of the forest.
Ecosystem
While the majority of the ecosystem of the forest is similar to most temperate forests in central Europe, there are two major differences. For one, it is the infusion by Pink Mist, which makes the forest chaotic and wilder than any other forest in Europe. The other one is the fact that the forest is inhabitant by Butterflygirls, Alraunes and Dryads, which influences the ecosystem through their existence and their claims on different areas of the forest. These three species are at the clear top of the ecosystem and have little to fear from predators that roam these forests due to their wild infusion of it.
Ecosystem Cycles
Similar to most forests in central Europe, the Blauaugenwald goes through four typical seasons. In spring, nature awakes and the forest is filled with flowers and blooms in many colors. The unique plants and infusions by Pink Mist make it a beautiful view with danger attached. The thick pollen of the many plants makes the air heavy and depending on the exact plants close by, can have various effects on travelers and inhabitants, like hypnotic sleep, trance-like states, or even transformations into various plant lifeforms or even into Alraunes.
After the pollen fell to the ground and the summer takes over, the green wildness of the forest covers most glades and roads through these lands. Magical thorns, thick leaves, and high grass block passage and make it near impossible to get through on the ground. During the summer, only the Butterflygirls travel through the forest with their wings in the air under the treetops. Inhabitants use the thick branches of the trees to navigate from treetop to treetop and avoid the covered ground. Villages try their best to hold their areas clean of the thorns and the dangerously fast-growing plants of the forest.
As fall reaches the forest, leaves turn colors and fall to the ground. The forest calms down and the preparation for the coming winter begins. While the inhabitants clear the paths and make travel for them possible again, the plant life slowly falls asleep. The last fruits are harvested and brought into the villages. The storages are filled with food, while the fauna prepares for their winter rests.
During winter, the forest is asleep and it is the time that makes travel the easiest. Even with the snow and ice, it is still way safer and better to travel through the forest than during spring or summer. It is also the only time of the year, that all parts of the forest receive the light of the sun due to the fallen leaves of the huge trees. During the remaining year, big parts of the ground are covered in darkness.
Localized Phenomena
Not only the thick forest itself makes it hard to explore these woods, but also the spatial disturbance of distances itself that are present in the forest. It is impossible for outsiders to navigate through the forest without the help of an inhabitant who is accepted by the forest itself. A traveler can enter the forest on the east and near instantly leave the forest through an exit in the south moments or hours later. Paths that should be kilometers long appear to have only lengths of several meters. Villages that should lay next to each other are miles apart and nobody can say where exactly the rivers flow through. Someone may take the same route and ends at different locations, as well as groups that begin traveling together found themselves split apart even while walking next to each other. Inhabitants have the culture of holding each others' hands while traveling through the forest to at least stay together.
Strangely, those that are blessed by the forest and accepted as inhabitants, have a natural sense for the flow of space in the forest and are able to find paths to their desired locations.
Tourists and the population around the forest are supervised that the Queendom of Slimea is unable to perform rescue operations in the forest and will not risk its personnel for such dangerous missions. The cooperation of the natural inhabitants is required to enter the forest.
There are no laws forbidding entering the forest, just a recommendation not to try without help from one of the inhabitants of the woods. Many brace tourists have entered the forest and never returned. Time seems to flow differently in parts of the forest, twisting the space-time continuum.
Fauna & Flora
Both the flora and the fauna of the forest are wilder than any other in the Slimean Lands. The infusion of Pink Mist caused diverse mutations in the animals and the plants, creating new subspecies and dangerous effects. While most of the life is the same as in any other forest of central Europe, the mutations and the new subspecies make the forest unique. Trees huger than skyscrapers with crowns darkening the ground, weird fruits that let anyone who dares to eat from them float through the air or make them a hypnotized slave of the tree, all of these are just some of the wild mutations that exist in these woods. It is impossible to make a complete list, as new mutations spread and old seem to vanish forever by the effect of the pink mist infusion. The forest itself seems to have a life on its own, protecting certain areas and blocking off outsiders who dare to try to enter the forest.
There are several humanoid and intelligent species living in the forest. The majority of the population are Butterflygirls, Humans, Alraunes and Dryads.
Natural Resources
The Blauaugenwald's biggest resource is its magic and the infusions of Pink Mist that exists in the woods. It is a natural fortress that protects its inhabitants from outsiders and offers a huge variety of fruits, new plants, animals and wild beasts nowhere else to be found. The ground has huge veins of vulcanic sulfur and several valuable metals like gold and silver that were never fully extracted in the past and remains in the ground to this day.
History
The forest is the remain of a far bigger forest that existed in central Europe hundreds of years ago. Over time, Humans have cut most of the forests in the area, isolating the forest around the Lake Blauauge from other wooded areas. Due to the hilly area and the sulfur in the ground, the trees in these forests were rarely harvested and remained wild. Hunters of the surrounding villages used it to hunt for some of the best meat and enjoyed the big wildlife population in the forest that remains to this day.
The sulfur in the ground has volcanic origins. Some fissures exist in the ground to this day, creating dangerous clouds of toxic fumes. Especially the Lake Blauauge in the center is affected by it and with closer proximity, the risks of finding such an old fissure increase.
At the end of the second world war, in 1945, the nazis of the area hid their stolen gold, art, and other treasures deep in the forest with the goal to reclaim it, after all, calmed down. All who knew where the treasures lay were captured by the allies and were never able to regain their wealth. To this day, most of these treasures are still hidden deep in the forest. Many urban legends surround this historic side note and many have tried to find the gold and the art over the years.
In 2018, through a fissure of Pink Mist in Neueisen, the first Butterflygirl emmerged. It is rumored that she was a Fae from Bardor and was infused by her travels through the Pink Mist. This fairy was changed and became the first butterflygirl. She found herself in an unknown land and naturally fled towards the biggest forest in the area. Due to the huge amounts of pink mist energy in the body of the woman, with each flap of her wings, she spread a bit of her new magic over the land. Humans who were directly affected by the falling dust were transformed into the first Butterflygirls and instinctively followed their queen into the forest of Blauaugenwald.
As soon as the queen reached the deepest part of the woods, she unleaved her chaotic magic. This sends a huge wave of pure, mutative energy over the whole forest. The whole area was infused by the energies and became wilder and more chaotic in nature. All who lived in the villages of the forest were affected by the magic, most became butterflygirls while some remained as humans of these woods.
After the contact with the villages was cut, police officers investigated the area and quickly realized that the whole forest had changed. Navigation through the forest became impossible for outsiders and any try to enter the woods failed. Inside the forest, everything changed for the inhabitants. By the will of the Fairy Queen, they were bound to these woods and became its inhabitants and protectors. With the blessing of the forest and the queen of the butterflygirls, they learned to navigate through the forests and after several weeks, contact with the outside world was established. Even tho the government wished for an evacuation, the inhabitants wished to stay within the woods. It became their natural home and it felt wrong for them to leave their forest for long. As contact with the fairy queen, as the queen of the forest and the butterflygirls began calling herself, was established through diplomates, the area was declared their realm, and negotiations resulted in several declarations of peace and cooperation.
Tourism
With the help of a Butterflygirl, a tourist can enter the forest and experience the wonders of it with their own eyes. Entering the forest without the help of one of the girls is dangerous and not recommended. The government of Slimea generally does not take any responsibility for the tourists and travelers that enter the forest as it has no way to rescue them in case of emergencies. As soon as a tourist enters the forest, they are fully at the mercy of the inhabitants and the will of the fairy queen that rules over the wild forest.
Alternative Name(s)
Butterfly-Forest
Type
Forest, Temperate (Seasonal)
Location under
Characters in Location
Inhabiting Species
Comments