The Weald of Whispers

It is said that the sounds of laughter and song dance with the breeze through the boughs of the Weald of Whispers. Where Fey beings dance and the ghosts of a forgotten people haunt the trees, where the forest creatures watch you with an intelligence beyond their nature. Though I have walked numerous times through the nearly forgotten paths of this wonderous wood I have seen naught of what the tales tell. And yet, as I recall the vibrant leaves of the trees, the sweet scents of the staghorn sumacs and other similarly fragrant shrubs, the warm richness of the forest air, I could easily imagine such beings walking these very paths and calling this place home. Perhaps it was only tricks of lights and shadows stirring the imaginations of those who came here before me. Yet I wonder...
-Eir Belmorn, The Forgotton Wilds

Geography

The Weald of Whispers is a 387 mile stretch of old growth forest in north-west Elrune, below the tip of the Tsereve Mountains. It is a forest of multilayered canopies, deep ravines and the Fallorman River, a single river that falls from the Tsereve Mountains and cuts a winding path throughout the Weald. Unlike other similar forests found throughout the world, the Weald exhibits a lushness and vibrancy contributed in no small way to the Wild Court of the Feywild - specifically Relkath of the Infinite Branches. Deep near the center of the Weald exists a now-fallen temple to the seldom seen Fey lord, still guarded by treant sentinels who are said to be hostile to most travelers. Elsewhere in the southern end of the weald exist more ruins, remnants of a civilization long passed from the world but unfortunately nothing remains that alludes to who they might have been.

Fauna & Flora

The rich soil of the Weald supports a diversity of trees. Conifers like pines, firs and hemlocks grow alongside maples, elms, oaks, and birches. Much of the forest is old growth with many large trees and many in varying stages of age, some of them averaging 600 years. Gaps in the canopy are scattered throughout along with the downed wood of the trees that used to stand in those places. One must be wary of standing snags however, as such trees can topple without warning. The ground features its own mix of decaying wood playing host to mosses and fungi, sprawling ferns and shrubs such as staghorn sumac and honeysuckle that often bear fruit. Lichens - some of them edible - hang like curtains on the pines. The weald is also home to the greatest concentration of various flowers and herbs, many of them prized for their rarity. Alongside the usual plants such as bellmont, lilies, violets, and wild ginger, one can find more rare specimens such as Bronze Morel (an edible fungus also used in various alchemy recipes) and Skull Swallow-wort (a rare poison component). Other flora such as Star Tongue and Bright Silkweed are said to also grow somewhere in the Weald but due to the wild nature of the woods and the Fey sentinels who are said to wander it have prevented travelers from recovering such specimens for study.
The Weald is home to a variety of wildlife. Deer, bears, wolves, squirrels and other such small critters are common. Songbirds such as warblers, kinglets, cardinals and chickadees make their homes high in the trees while the woodpeckers prefer the dead trees that are often home to a whole host of insects they feast on. The Silverorb Spider is the most common of several spiders that call the weald home, and is surpisingly venomous. Frogs, turtles and salamanders are some of the many different aquatic wildlife that can be found in and along the Fallorman River including the Glassback Turtle whose shell is prized in varying jewellery for its rarity. The higher boughs of the weald are home to hawks and owls, who hunt the small creatures of the wood.

Natural Resources

Though the Weald possesses valuable resources such as wood and plants, there is no known place that harvests from this particular region with any regularity. Much of it is due to the nature of the Weald and its connection to the Feywild. Others claim it is cursed, and any who takes from the Weald will face much misfortune all their lives. Claims which have found life, as those few who have known to return from the Weald with their spoils have also met misery and sometimes unfortunate ends afterwards.

Alternative Name(s)

The Breath of Relkath, The Haunted Weald

Type

Forest, Temperate (Seasonal)

cover image: deciduous forest by Rennett Stowe