Lavender Wilds

The Lavender Wilds is a large stretch of forest located on the Northern side of Lubec on the continent of Crestfall. The forest, named for the vast quantities of lavender-colored flowers which bloom within the forest and surrounding area, is considered a site of great spiritual significance by the Lubecian gnomes; this is due in part to the fact that the forest is believed to contain a gateway leading directly into the Feywild.

Description

The Lavender Wilds is large expanse of forest, sometimes referred to as an "ocean of trees" by the people of Lubec due to the sheer size and depth of the area. Its name derives from the trees themselves, which bloom a unique species of violet flower similar in appearance to the more common lavender plant; the flowers' petals possess a unique quality in the way they filter the sunlight that passes through the treeline, bathing the forest floor in a deep violet light.
Attempts to map out the Wilds in full have thus far proven unsuccessful, as expeditions into the forest have been known to cause disorienting effects in explorers: travelers have returned from the Wilds reporting unexplained gaps in memory which cannot be recalled, temporarily altered perceptions of time, and difficulty maintaining a sense of direction while venturing through the Wilds for long periods of time. In many cases, travelers have journeyed into the Wilds for what felt, from their perspective, like days or weeks at a time, only to re-emerge close to where they journey began only to discover that a mere few hours have passed.
The Lavender Wilds is home to a diverse ecosystem of flora and fauna, ranging from common species expected from the region to more unusual and unique specimens; according to explorers' accounts, the deeper one ventures into the forest, the stranger their surroundings became, stumbling upon animal and plant species that have never been seen outside of the Lavender Wilds. Many of these unique species are believed to be Fey in origin, as attempts to identify sketches, photograms and other samples of plants and animals seen within the Wilds have all proven unsuccessful thus far.

History

For hundreds of years, the gnomes native to Lubec have regarded the Lavender Wilds as a place of great spiritual significance, believing the forest to be home to thousands of animist nature spirits which are highly revered in the Lubecian religion. Following the annexation of Lubec into the Hegian Empire, attempts to deforest the Wilds to allow for additional farmland were met with strong resistance from the native Lubecians; this eventually resulted in a terse agreement between Lubec and Hegia to cease all logging operations within the Wilds, due in part to a number of unexplained disappearances of Hegian workers within the Wilds during the aforementioned deforestation efforts.
During the Lubecian Civil War of 969-973 ME, the Lubecian Wilds became a strategically viable location for Lubecian gnomes fighting against the invading Hegian forces, the former's knowledge of the terrain giving the Lubecians an edge when it came to guerilla warfare. Hegian soldiers returning from Lubec after the war reported strange and terrifying skirmishes within the Wilds, with some stating that it almost felt as though they were being "attacked by the forest itself" while within its borders.

Connections to the Fey

It has long been speculated that the Lavender Wilds may contain a permanent Convergence Zone leading directly to the Feywild, with the strange and anomalous properties of the forest being the direct result of the Fey's magical influence on the region.
If this is true, then many of the spirits revered by the Lubecian gnomes may indeed have their origins in the Feywild as well; however, until the forest itself is successfully mapped in full, it will be impossible to determine a definitive answer to this theory.

Type

Forest