Mysteries of the Coral Forest

Excerpts from Griminus Hinge, Royal Scholar (Sixth Age)

...The Coral Forest was not always a forest. In fact, if my predecessors are correct, the Coral Forest Did not become a forest until near the end of the Third Age. Until an unknown event by our scholars, the Region was a vast inland sea, roughly hemmed in by the mountain ranges that curl around the continent. We can find corroboration of this history in the languages of natives to the are, whose traditional dialects still refer to the region as, roughly translated, “Empty Sea”. I have funded a great many archaeological expeditions in the mountains Over the forest, and several have returned a great number of artifacts depicting sailing, fishing, and perhaps even some whaling rituals. The earliest known artifact depicting the accursed religions that infest land now is a Mask, stored under M31-3-CF, in her majesty's archive, has the distinct taint of the Evil calamity of the Third Age. Given that much of the structure of the Coral Forest is indeed coral, and that the murals of O16-3-CF and O17-4-CF show landmark changes in Empty Sea, we can surmise a rough geological timeline of the region. Until the Third Age, the region between the mountains and immediately surrounding them was all sea. Vast coral structures were able to grow, largely protected from the worst of weather by the mountains. The sea must have been greatly rich in nutrients, until the the devastating events that ended the Third Age. Naturally, given the details of what happened, the sea began to dry up. While “Sir” Ridomas is quick to sling about his theory that the waters evaporated, my studies indicate that the elevation of the landmass changed, falling on the eastern end of the mountain ranges. While this has certainly not gained me any accolades within these stuffy academic circles, every expedition sent seems to add to my theory. In Keeping with my theory, salt content of the soil is too low to have been left behind by evaporation, the rivers generally trend from West to East, and many of the denizens Of the forest are closely related to their seaborne counterparts. It is these strange and Majestic creatures to which I shall apportion the contents of the rest of this Volume...
...Originally thought to be Arrays of unique plants, we Now believe that the flowery structures along the coral trunks are actually beasts, specifically the anemone creatures that secrete the coral. With several lives lost in obtaining some specimens for comparison, it has been found the flowers are nearly identical to the florets that can be found at night among the eastern reefs. Their purpose seems to be ensnaring detritus and creatures that pass the canopy. Occasionally they lend an eerie glow to the forest itself. It has been observed that these creatures will retract into the trunks of their trees when large or particularly dangerous beasts draw near...
...The abundance Of resources left behind in the soil has allowed for magnificent growth, not only among the plant life, but among the animal populations as well. With the apparent richness of Nutrients, our teams hove found that the Coral Forest is able to host a Disproportionate number of large predators. While plants have moved into the area, many creatures in the region have the gluttonous nature of their oceanic predecessors, attempting to Eat anything that can fit into their slavering maws. Thus, it should have been no surprise to find that many swamp trolls called this place home. After losing three crews, we can say with confidence that the trolls of the Coral Forest... exist, and are apparently thriving. With all hard evidence disappearing into their stomachs, it is hard to Really say much else. They still tend to lurk around the rivers and swamps, lunging out when they have the advantage. Remnants of the second crew showed that their acid jars had little effect, which makes sense considering the waters the Damned fiends call home, and scorch marks around the dig sites hint that fire Is equally nonviable in repelling them. However, the venomous spines adorning many prey species of the region may indicate an aversion to the poisons and venoms of their benthic prey. A fourth Expedition is being arranged to test this hypothesis. Yet the trolls Seem to inhabit only the outer to middle rings of the basin. If locals can be believed, there are beasts that dwell within the center of the forest that time itself forgot, or dares not touch. Plants with Effervescent pools of digestive acids, slithering land Eels the size of a mighty grillek, worms that can pull an elephant under the soil. I myself have seen crocodiles washed out of the region, so massive they make the 20 foot Alligators of the Bluebriar River seem like hatchlings, yet with clear bite marks that cut their days short.
Even the skies above have not been safe to explore. Perytons stalk the stone cliffs. Mighty rocs have taken up residence in the mountains, soaring through the veritable clouds of dragonflies, bats, and wyverns to swoop down on unsuspecting prey. And separating the forest and sky, possibly the most dangerous creature in the region: Spindlewick. Built to look like or perhaps grown from an unnatural spider, this creature is part beast and part city. The webs it spins span from mountaintop to Forest floor, ensnaring any large creature that touches the sturdy cables. While any spider large enough to hunt rocs is dangerous, the real danger of Spindlewick lies with the denizens that lurk within. The abdomen of the spider is a huge glass orb, and within that orb is a pyramid with a single tree growing out the top. The pyramid houses the cursed remnants of the eladrin who called the shores of the region home, until that grim end of the Third Age. It is my belief that the eladrin who live in Spindlewick managed to take the last of the original forest with them, just as the results of their abominable religion finally boiled over. How they have managed to survive over several thousand years is beyond anything our research has turned up. Few scholars who have ventured there have returned, although whether it is because of those primeval elves, or the dangers of the forest around them, no one knows. If they are indeed the last living creatures of the Third Age, then the historical and arcane knowledge they possess must be beyond anything we now know (may the Emperor forgive my blasphemy)...

Purpose

The document above is a relic from the Sixth Age, within a century before the Fall. Scientific study was in a golden age, and many scholars were given generous grants from the empire to study the natural world. It concerns the Coral Forest, a strange mountain and forest biome set seemingly randomly within the expanses of the plains. Previous study had found that typical markers for origins of mountain ranges, such as fault lines, were absent from the region.
This book was one that Folgorath had asked his assistants in Thywicket to grab for him before he ventured north.

Type

Journal, Scientific

Medium

Paper