The Forest of Night

The Forest of Night is a gigantic, dark, and primal place that dominates the northeastern portion of Ardra. Bordering both Romania and Setonia, it is said to be an entryway into the fae wilds themselves. A primal place of ancient nature home to Driads, Ents, Nymphs, Pixies and all manner fae creatures to name a few.
Its canopy is monopolized by King's Spruce, Itching Conifer, and Wolfwood. Branches cover all from the skies gaze, plunging the forest into a pertinent night, making the need for sight one of the most prevalent problems. Bunches of Gloom Berries hanging from the canopy create a strange illusion of looking up at stars.
Even with such a think canopy, the forest is abundant with life and activity. A large variety of fungus and fauna litter the forest floor, with a large selection displaying a riot of colour from the eerie glow they emit. Food can be in abundance for those that know where to find it. A variety of beastly noises, belonging mostly to varmint, reverberated through the air and formed a chaotic orchestra with the swaying of treetops in the wind.
One of the last corners left untouched by man, Eldrin or Dwarfs none have been able to tame it, all who attempt quickly falling to their folly or simply disappearing to never be heard from again. While many have become lost, the forest feasting upon them, but not all have found peace. Brave adventurers seeking to explore these woods would be wise to ask around the villages on the edge and listen to the tales the locals spin as some may hold clues on how to survive the horrors within.

Ecosystem Cycles

Though hard to study due to the raw magical energy altering the environment, scholars have been able to deduce that time itself works differently; though how often changes with reports of time slowing to crawl or speeding up by years. Some even hypothesise that it is possible to get trapped within a repeating cycle, going over the same moment in time, again and again. Though experiments and evidence of this are sparse due to the dangers of the forest, it is believed that the closer to the heart of the forest the more severe the differences in time become. This could be the cause of the forests unusual life cycle; Like other forests, the Forest of Night appears to be affected by the four seasons on the outer fringe, with some trees shedding their leaves before growing anew, with ever-greens enduring the colder seasons just as well as their cousins elsewhere. However current information suggests that once past the outer edge, the forest ecosystem seems to experience only summers and winter that can last for years.
More study is needed to evaluate the effects of the ecosystem and time abnormalities on the local flora and fauna, however, due to the relative dangers within, a truly comprehensive study has been deemed impossible. Those who still wish to risk life, limb, sanity and more by adventuring into the Forest should note that the University of Wendover has an open request for all information about the environment as well as live samples of rarer plants and insects and animals with the proclaimed Almpha Kurklebottom overseeing any and all donations made.

Localized Phenomena

Alongside the unnatural time distortions and lack of seasons, several other odd phenomena have been recorded including:
Luminous Clouds: Luminous clouds cast light as bright as full daylight, even at night. Creatures that suffer penalties or are damaged or destroyed by daylight are similarly affected by luminous cloudlight. Magical darkness of any level counters luminous cloudlight.
Psychic Calm: A supernatural calm settles over the land, stopping raging creatures from fighting and joyous ones from revelling. Creatures cannot take violent actions (although they can defend themselves) or do anything destructive. Psychic calm negates any morale bonuses granted by spells such as bless, good hope, and rage, as well as a bard's ability to inspire courage or a barbarian's rage ability. It also negates any fear or confusion effects.
Oven bubbles: Bubbles of superheated air form. Plantlife and untreated wood may spontaneously combust. The bubbles are difficult to spot and are best spotted by looking for the heat distortions of objects behind them.
Illusion mist: every creature breathing in it will see other people/creatures , an intelligence or perception check is required to realize if something is an illusion.
Ground Aurora: Auroras appear at ground level.

Fauna & Flora

While no one knows for sure what manner of things grow within the forest, scholars have been able to study the outer fringe. Below is a list of some of the plants and animals head researcher Almpha Kurklebottom has been able to record. Ordered prettiest to ugliest by the Kurklebottom herself after her previous list -ordered by personality- was rejected.
Trees: King's Spruce* Itching Conifer* Wolfwood* Black Pine* Scythe Tree (PF)
Plant: Snow Dindle* Jester Rock Fern* Mammoth Cabbage* Assassin Vine (PF) Forester's Bane (PF) Razor Fern (PF) Strangle Weed (PF)
Fungus: Twilight Moss* Goblet Shelf* Sweetbread Mushroom*
Herb: Wolf Galangal* Blood Mint*
Animals: Badgers (PF) Boars (PF) Goblin Dogs (PF) Death Butterflies (PF) Wolf Spider (PF) Owlbear (PF) Fox (PF) Wolves (PF) Forest Drakes (PF)

History

The Forest is said to be as old as Ardra itself, birthed from the earth fully formed, its mysteries rumbling from within, its wild embrace. It is unknown how many have been lost attempting; in-vain, to map the wildness or discover mythicized riches that sometimes are rumoured to be guarded within its depths.   While the heart of the Forest has yet to been glimpsed, a small amount of advancement has been made in the form of slowly deforesting the southern fringe. However, this achievement has taken centuries despite lumberjacks working diligently. The result of these efforts has been an endless supply of wood resulting in extravagant carvings and buildings in the surrounding villages.

Tourism

Touring this forest is almost a certain death wish, however in recent years it has become the location for young adventures to test their skill and bravery with a small but steady stream of people flocking to the location. Due to this, the towns that surround the area have become somewhat wealthy with several high-class inns being set up for adventures to enjoy their last few days before almost certainly going to their deaths.

by Jordan Grimmer

Alternative Name(s)

The Dark Woods, Heart of Monsters

Type

Forest