Crystal Boundary

Crystal Boundary is a small logging outpost at the edge of the Cyrstalroot Forest. It's largely maintained by a group of untrained outcasts from nearby cities - people with a reason to escape the purported safety and peace of urban life. Though the dangers of the wilds outside of civilization are great, some people prefer it over the crowded, regulated life they would find behind those walls. And raw resources such as timber, leather, and the strange crystals that grow in this forest are in high demand in the cities. Though founded by a mere 10 individuals, it now houses somewhere closer to 60. Once it was established, it became a sort of collection point for those who find city life galling. Outcasts, vagabonds, and explorers have begun to congregate in this small community. It has become a sort of proof of concept for life outside the cities - though nowhere is truly safe in the wilds, this is proof that people can defend themselves and not only survive, but thrive out beyond the walls.
Though it should be noted that this safety appears to have some sort of help. There is said to be a spirit who watches out for and protects the forest. Many of the folk of this outpost give offerings of food, drink, and some craft pieces to 'appease' this spirit or gain her favor. Most woodland creatures seem to avoid the people there, and the people living there often speak of a sensation of being watched or judged for their actions. Still, whatever this spirit wants, she seems to be fine with their logging and farming operations. Perhaps this is because the folk there have such reverence for the forest and its spirit, and seem to be felling trees in a very ecological way - checking the upper branches for nests or burrows in the trunks, and will often choose trees with notable diseases or malformations. It might also be partly because new trees grow unnaturally fast in this forest, able to grow a seed to two dozen feet high in under a year, so the impact of the logging is mitigated somewhat. And rather than mining for the unique crystals that grow here, gathering teams simply pluck fully grown crystals from the ground after they've fallen from their clusters - either broken off by a heavy storm or simply growing too large to support themselves.




RECORD ADDENDUM: Something has gone wrong. Several sections of the Crystalroot Forest have begun growing in rampant snarls. Thorns are growing from previously smooth stalks and vines, and some drip a toxic venom. Trees have begun moving of their own accord, swinging their heavy branches at anything that moves. Many of the forest creatures have begun moving erratically, attacking anything that moves nearby. Strange snakelike humanoids have been seen in the vicinity, and the very earth rumbles beneath our feet. The crystals have started to grow an angry red, like reflecting flickering firelight. I am sending dispatches for aid, but I am not hopeful it will come in time. If this record finds its way to our archives, know that working with the survey teams of the Delphic Enclave has been the finest decade of my life.