The Wyrd

Those who live closest to the Wyrd say that there have been travellers who travel into the Wyrd twice and come out feeling a deep yearning to return to the Wyrd. No one ever, ever goes to the Wyrd thrice and comes out of the forest to tell about it. Many believe they perish, many believe that they become one with the forest. The Wyrd is a dangerous place and should not be traversed. In my findings, we discovered that it was a singular living organism, or at least we think it is. In conclusion, please caution yourself when going to the Wyrd.

— From the paper of Dorian Dordelby on the Wyrd.

If there ever was a place defined by "Faerie Ring" the Wyrd would be it. The Wyrd is a deep, dark and misty forest made of fungus and moss. The Wyrd is an experience that many akin to the Faewylds that are spoken of in tales and limericks. They are much more dangerous than the tales and stories would lead you to believe. The mist in the Wyrd is a constant haze, it covers the ground and in some places covers the whole forest. To the untrained eye, it is just mist. For those who know the make-up of the Wyrd it is actually a mixture of a magical glamour-like mist and fungal spores. It is well known among adventurers that the constant haze 'changes' people. Some who have visited tell of wounds closing over with a white fungus-like scab after wandering through the mists.

Those who have been to the Wyrd mention glimpses of a village that moves. Scholar Dorian Dordelby states in his academic paper on the Wyrd that there is indeed a village within the Wyrd although he did not notice anything odd about the village. What he and his companions did not notice is that the entire village and its inhabitants were shape-shifters. Everything in the village is a mimic and the inhabitants are all either shapeshifters or changelings themselves. Due to their physiology, they seem to be unaffected by the pull that the Wyrd has on mortals. One could argue that the Wyrd is the origin of these species and therefore they grew accustomed to the effects of the Wyrd as the time went on. Others would argue that the mimics and changelings are a result of druids with pre-existing regenerative abilities that are able to fight off the fungus that seemingly aims to make you lose your humanity. The fungus slowly consumes your brain and forces you to become one with the hive-mind of mycelium that grows rampant within the Wyrd.

Placeholder Bowser by Leashea

At the very heart of the Wyrd is an odd green light that seems to emanate from the very centre of a massive circular field. At the centre is a mass of mycelium and withered foliage in the vague shape of a humanoid holding a staff. Floating above this visage and magic is a chunk of the Citadel from a bygone age. Encased in crystal, this chunk is consistently and forever falling, until the magic stops. This crystalline-cased hunk of building is held aloft by the sheer willpower and magic might of an ancient forest guardian. The staff seems to be sapping the life energy from the area around it. That being said, it seems the barren field is only growing larger.