Bar-Dendra Forest

Stretching right across the south of the region of Dazscor, the Bar-Dendra Forest is a huge expanse of trees that is deemed by most to be unnavigable. The trees for an almost impenetrable barrier of foliage, rendering the interior of the forest perpetually dank and gloomy. The people of the Joint Kingdom treat the forest with great respect, but are also very wary of entering it. Unlike the other areas of woodland in the Kingdom, people only go to hunt in the Bar-Dendra when times are truly desperate, with people who live on the outskirts of the forest preferring to walk for hours or days to another area of woodland to hunt, rather than risk entering Bar-Dendra. Everyone in Dazscor and Aramore knows that the forest is home to all manner of beasts that would quite happily make a meal of a man or woman. What scares people more is the rumours of the fey beings that inhabit the forest, who it is claimed steal children, and sacrifice all those foolish enough to enter their borders to their fey gods.

Geography

The trees that comprise the Bar-Dendra forest are very old and large, with many of the trees in the interior of the forest dating to before the beginning of the Settlement Era. The forest is predominantly deciduous in nature, though there are some coniferous trees dotted throughout the landscape. Because of the incredibly thick canopy of trees the forest floor is quite bare of thick foliage, with only the hardiest of grasses and bushes being able to withstand the low light levels of the forest floor. Fungi, however, thrive in this environment, and there are large groves of mushrooms and toadstools underneath the trees. Here and there in the forest, where a large tree has died or been felled, verdant meadows of grasses and flowers spring up in the clearing in a riot of colour, taking advantage of the glut of sunlight.
There is but a single road that cuts through the forest, to allow for the progression of the main trading route north from the nations of the south to Karpella. Attempting to skirt around the forest would add weeks to any journey, but the path through Bar-Dendra should not be taken lightly, as it is an easy place for all manner of ne’er-do-wells and beasts to lie in wait for unsuspecting travellers to walk by.

Type

Forest

Location under

Dazscor

Owner/Ruler

King Hastel I

Owning Organization

Kingdom of Dazscor and Aramore