Deadwoods Geographic Location in Dragon's Bane | World Anvil

Deadwoods

Written by Sierra Brown.
Artwork by Vertixico.

   

A region of the Ak'Aidor ash-lands well known for its dense forests of deadwood trees. The Deadwoods are the primary source of lumber and game for the entire region.

The Deadwoods is a dense forest region encompassing a large portion of Ak'Aidor that runs along the base of the Greater and Lesser Spines, flowing inward toward Kithar's Throne. This large, sprawling forest is so named because of the dark, grayish-black bark and dead looking leaves of the deadwood tree filling the landscape. For most Drakon settlements in Ak'Aidor, the Deadwoods is the only viable source of lumber and game outside of the fisheries to the northeast. This region most certainly does not exist naturally, and many Drakon believe it is the blessing of their patron god Kithar that keeps the region plentiful.

Geography

Most of the region is covered in dense forest with a strong, dark magical aura. To add to the unnatural element, the forest seems to grow back as quickly as it's cut down. While portions of the Deadwoods encompass the flatter terrain leading into the plains, a majority of the forest travels up the hills and lower mountains of the bordering Greater and Lesser Spines.

Situated within the flatter portion of the forest is a large lake, upon which Deadlake was built. This lake and settlement accounts for the main population of the Deadwoods region and serves as a trading post for outgoing lumber and game, as well as incoming rice and coffee commonly consumed by the Drakon workers.

Fauna & Flora

Despite the perpetual cold twilight of the northern ash-lands, the Deadwoods region is filled with trees and game. Most obvious is the grayish-black trunks of the tall deadwood tree, as well as various underbrush and fauna that feed on each other, and in turn, feed the Drakon population as Kithar's bounty. Some of the most common forms of fauna include raccoons, badgers, anteaters, sloths, wolves, foxes, deer, and elk.

As a part of Kithar's Bounty, most creatures in the Deadwoods are quite docile. However, some creatures such as the wolves and rare encounters with a bear or mountain wyvern are far less friendly. Drakon hunters and lumberers are trained and skilled in defending themselves from such predators and consider such encounters to be tests of their strength and faith in Kithar.

Natural Resources

The Deadwoods serve as Ak'Aidor's primary source of both lumber and game. Drakon hunters and lumberers from the unfortunately named Deadlake work through the forests daily, bringing back the spoils of their labor for transport to other Drakon settlements.

Table of Contents

Type
Forest, Boreal (Coniferous)
Location under
Included Locations
Owner/Ruler

Articles under Deadwoods



Cover image: by Vertixico

Comments

Author's Notes

Written as a part of WorldAnvil's 2019 Summer Camp.


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Jul 2, 2019 01:38 by Richard Bradley

I really like the thought and detail you put into this! I specifically thought the part about the animals still being docile even though the energy around the forest is dark was very interesting and telling. Why are they not affected by the energy of the forest? Is their god that strong? These are some questions I'd like to see answered later, perhaps. So far, it's looking awesome!

ricky -- 24 years old -- he/him, fae/faer, tiger/tigers pronouns -- current project: novanati rebuilt
Jul 2, 2019 01:46 by Sierra Brown

The aura of darkness comes from the fact the deity that reigns over the land and has 'blessed' it is the draconic god of darkness and the void himself, Kithar. The animals are docile because that is what he commands of them, though not all of them obey his word - The wyverns, in particular, are completely unaffected by his or any other draconic god's influence.

Jul 2, 2019 01:48 by Richard Bradley

Oh I see! Okay that makes sense then, thanks for the clarification!!

ricky -- 24 years old -- he/him, fae/faer, tiger/tigers pronouns -- current project: novanati rebuilt
Jul 2, 2019 02:16 by Basheer Ghouse

I like how the bounty of the region has made it integral to part of the trade of the wider setting and cultural effects this has had on the population. It's straightforward but that's not a bad thing, and I think it serves its purpose very well. I am curious as to the history of the area, as that seems very lightly touched on, and would note that the phrasing is occasionally less than clear. Notably, when you say 'it grows back as quickly as it is cut down' the grammar does not make it clear if you are referring to the woods or the dark aura.

Jul 2, 2019 02:26 by Sierra Brown

Ahh - In that I was referring to the trees. I'll tweak the wording to hopefully make that more clear.

Jul 2, 2019 02:33 by Sierra Brown

Also a quick note - History is something that'll come eventually, in the form of timeline events that will probably be filled out properly after Summer Camp. But to summarize - The region's location along the Ak'Aidorian border and near the mountainside has left it exposed to encounters with mountain wyverns, as well as dwarves, gnomes, and elves from neighboring lands. These encounters typically haven't been friendly.   There's also been some events revolving around the Drakon religion, including a rather bloody inquisition a few hundred years ago that's still present in the population's minds.

Jul 2, 2019 02:46 by Basheer Ghouse

Thanks!

Jul 2, 2019 02:59

FIRST OFF, how did you do the thing at the top!! "Lorebook/Place/" Thats so cool and I wonder if low level free-forger me can do it. If not that's fine, because it's cool and the first time I have seen it used.   The dark aura, can it be harnessed? Can a person watch one of these trees grow back? Or are the trees like weeping angels? Are there any unique plants to the region? (Trying to help with the Natural Resources section. I have trouble with it too.) Also, your article makes me think I should indent more....hmm. Otherwise, nice article and keeping forging.

Jul 2, 2019 04:54 by Sierra Brown

The bit at the top is using the container blocks that I think are grandmaster and higher only. They use the CSS classes provided by bootstrap for breadcrumbs. I'd post an example but I can't get the no bbcode tag stuff to work.

Jul 2, 2019 16:05 by Sierra Brown

In my exhausted state I completely missed the second half of your post, sorry!   In theory, with the right skills, tools, and knowledge, one could try to harvest the magical aura. Nobody's ever tried though - It's primarily only the Drakon that live here, and they're a people that wouldn't ever dare do something that could incur their god's wrath. Like trying to siphon some of his power.   Unique plants.. Well. There's the Deadwood tree. There's like some other plants that grow specifically in that region as well - Things you might expect to see in mountain forests, but changed by Kithar's aura in the same way everything else in Ak'Aidor was changed and shrouded.   You can watch the trees grow back, in fact. I imagine it'd be a common thing for Drakon that live in the region to watch every now and then, sort of like a mini-vacation people might take to go bird watching or visit a beach and watch the waves. It's basically just 'Tree grow really fast and is fully grown within a couple hours'.

Jul 2, 2019 03:01 by Heath O'Donnell

I fins it interesting that you have done a very dark and seemingly originally desolate place for this prompt! I profess to not being as well versed in this world as Galaxies End, but this has definetly drawn my attention. What inspired you to work on this world for this prompt?   I love the idea that this place is still not safe, but that those besieged by violent beasts feel that this is a test from their god.   I do feel that the Flora & Fauna section seems to be very mimic-y of the second paragraph, but I run into this in my writing as well.   Again, this is a very tight and obviously well thought out article, and I can't wait to see more of it!

Jul 2, 2019 16:30 by Sierra Brown

The contrast of a dark, desolate ashland forest being a lush region seemed like a fun thing to toy around with. I'm glad it came together well :D   The decision to write about this specifically came from the fact I've chosen to focus all Dragon's Bane articles for summer camp on the Ak'Aidor region, and I'd already established in the Ak'Aidor article that the Deadwoods existed as a defined region.   I'm admittedly not entirely certain what seems mimic-y in the Flora & Fauna section, but that might just be because I wrote it and I know what I was intending to say, not what it looks like it's saying to others. (I'm bad at self-editing.)

Jul 2, 2019 16:59 by Heath O'Donnell

Rereading it, I'm not too sure myself mow. May have just been tired!

Jul 2, 2019 03:23 by Susanne Lamprecht

You managed to write an article that made me think about whether I really wanted to visit this region. And this despite the fact that I always curse not being able to really travel to a corresponding fantasy world. Hats off for that, your text has brought me some glances over my shoulder, if there is something rustling that shouldn't rustle.

Jul 29, 2019 19:23 by Elias Redclaw

I really loved reading this article! You really fleshed out most of the parts of this article so I don’t have much to say besides echoing in what the others said. I’ll try to leave as much feedback as I can though! But first, let’s get to what I liked first.   1) The details are my favourite part here. I’m personally a detail heavy author and reader and when presented in a neat, clean and interesting way like you do, it’s just bliss to my eyes. Reading about this place and the mysterious and dark aura that is everpresent there was a really amazing experience! I also love how you detail the flora and fauna of the region and the geography as well.   Secondly, I really dig the table of contents you have there! It looks like a really nice touch to this article and it really adds a beautifying element to this article. The block articles were also very pleasing to the eye and certainly did add a very unique depth to this article!   Now onto the critique part. I’ll go with the questions first.     1) Do the animals ever interfere in the lumbering operations? What happens if suddenly a mountain wyvern appears? Do the lumberers retreat or do they stand their ground?     2) I wanted to know a bit about the history of this region. When Did it began to be used for lumbering? How did the industries set themselves up in such a harsh location?     3) Do the Drakon culture have anything associated with this region? It sounds like an important place for their civilisation to me so I wanted to know if there’s any cultural views or stuff like that about this place. Also, a quote would be very useful again, for grabbing the readers interest from the beginning. Maybe a special saying about this region or something else.     Personally, I really, really loved this article. The amount of details and the nimble formatting really made it pleasing to the eye to read. I didn’t have much to say since most of the other comments covered what I wanted to know but still, I hope my quickly written article whilst trying to catch a train helped! Congrats Sierra and keep up the amazing work!