The Mangeno Woods
Perhaps one of the most unpleasant places in the entirety of the Desolation of Hissh, the Mangeno Woods is a vast expanse of forest in the west of the region, known and feared for its labyrinthine passages and acidic mist that almost always obscures it.
Geography
With its close set, moss smothered trees, the Mangeno Woods has a deeply claustrophobic feel, which is amplified by the constant presence of a thick, green tinged mist that swallows everything beneath the forest canopy. This mist is infamous for being acidic in nature, causing unpleasant rashes to appear on the exposed skin of creatures exposed to it and creating an unpleasant burning sensation in the lungs of those who breath in the thick, humid air of the woods.
Furthermore, beneath the trees, often obscured by the mists is a dense underbrush of spiky thorny plants that almost appear to be alive, interposing themselves in the way of travellers and consuming paths that were supposed to provide passage through the woods (see below)
Numerous rivulets and streams run through the area of the woodland, forming ponds, lakes and even waterfalls where the topography of the landscape allows. Like the mist, the waters of these features are ever so slightly acidic in nature, making it unpleasant to drink and potential dangerous to be exposed to for a long period of time.
Localized Phenomena
Many of those who travel through the Mangeno Woods note that the wood appears to work against travellers there, with the underbrush creating obstructing barriers of thorns where there was no blockage previously as if they move with a will of their own, or directed by the will of another. Travellers have also reported being surrounded by the undergrowth as they rest, often waking to find that the clearing they had chosen to camp in had with the dawn become a choking, tearing tangle of razor sharp thorns and briars.
Even the large footprint of the Blood Way, the main road through the Desolation of Hissh, which traverses the Mangeno Woods east-west in its southern section, is not immune to this. It is a frequent occurrence to find masses of thorny briars clogging up the road, which have to be cleared or burned before onward passage is possible.
Sometimes the movement off the undergrowth is so bad that travellers get hopelessly lost, far away from the paths and tracks they had been trying to take. Reports have filtered back, from those that managed to escape the woods with their lives that when all hope appeared lost, a ghostly voice would start to whisper to them, offering them a way out in exchange for favours, a voice that would only lead the unfortunate souls further into the mist shrouded maze of the woods and even further away from rescue.
Fauna & Flora
Whilst all the creatures that dwell in the Desolation of Hissh are notably more aggressive and almost exclusively carnivorous, even when their counterparts in other parts of Kelbonnar are not, those that reside in the Mangeno Woods are even more unusual. Whilst they follow the trend of other denizens of the Desolation of Hissh, being aggressive and carnivorous, they often exhibit strange behaviour, as if they are being manipulated by a greater force. Travellers who have braved the woods have reported seeing deer, wolves and other creatures who would not normally be seen together working as if part of the same pack to attack those who trespassed on their domain, even feeding from the same poor unfortunates that they had killed.
The acidic mists of the Mangeno Woods also appears to have deeply affected those creatures that reside there. Any injuries that they pick up quickly become weeping sores, their fur is patchy and thin and their bites have become toxic.
Natural Resources
Whilst technically the Mangeno Woods would be a valuable source of timber, the large number of ferocious creatures who dwell beneath its boughs mean that little is harvested there. In a similar vein, whilst similarly large areas of woodland would normally be a place where residents of local settlements hunted and trapped game, the serf populations who reside in the villages surrounding the castles and mansions of their Vampiric masters have long since learnt to not consume the flesh of creatures that dwell in the Mangeno Woods. Those that do, out of lack of knowledge or desperation are said to be driven mad, and turned into ravening, flesh hungry creatures themselves.
Tourism
The few visitors that the Mangeno Woods receive are seldom there to visit the place itself, but are rather passing through it to visit castles and mansions that lie along its edges. Those that do travel through the woods are warned not to be on their guard, and even Ymeris' Vampires do not linger there for long without good cause.
Comments