Forest of Veils

The Forest of Veils is a large, heavily wooded area at the southeastern extremity of the Alluvial plain. Noted for the dreariness of its climate and the uninviting ruggedness of its terrain, the forest is shunned by most people and widely regarded as a place of ill omen.

Ecology

Woodlands of various sizes dot the alluvial plain, which is fertile enough to support large-scale tree growth as well as the horticulture that supports the Eleven Cities. Oak, ash, elm and larch trees are therefore common, with willows often found along streambanks and bonewoods and bloodwoods also evident in many areas. The farming communities of the plain do not typically name these woodlands as most villagers seldom travel far from their homes and simply refer to the nearest forest as "the woods" or "the forest." The Forest of Veils, however, is famous; farmers who live hundreds of miles from it and will never see it regard it as a place apart.
This is a valid assessment, even from a purely material, ecological perspective. Tree growth is preternaturally thick throughout the forest, resulting in a dense dark canopy that blocks sunlight from reaching the ground. As such the forest is, at ground level, almost always dark and cold, even in spring and summer when increased leaf growth very effectively counteracts the light and warmth of the season. Generally speaking it is hard to find one's way without a lantern. Bonewood trees are far more common, and much larger, in this forest than elsewhere, as are bloodwoods. Visitors frequently report a sense of being somehow indoors or underground when in the forest, encountering clearings that seem like rooms and large thickets that resemble maze-like corridors.
The dense canopy is made denser by heavy growths of epiphyte plants such as ivies and orchids, sometimes in huge patches that spread across numerous terrestrial trees. Maryas's veil, otherwise rare outside cultivation, can be found growing here in often bizarre quantities. The lack of sunlight stifles the sort of undergrowth common in most woodlands; here the dominant species are Festerthorn and Ironweed which, like the vines above, often grow in great profusion. It has been observed that anyone wishing to travel into the forest needs a lantern in one hand and a hatchet in the other.
Animal life is similarly uninviting. No birdsong is heard in the forest, which is often unnervingly still until nightfall, when the calls of various species of owl immediately become very common. The several streams and ponds discovered in the wood - the internal geography of which is unsettled - are infested with Ghost frogs who seem to have beaten out all other aquatic species. The ground cover also provides an ideal hunting grounds for various species of snake, who spend the days basking in the canopy and then descend the trees to hunt by night. The forest is also home to a thriving population of wolves, noted by those who observe them as being of a consistently rangy, emaciated, hungry-looking aspect. Indeed the question of what such a large population of carnivorous animals actually eats is an interesting one for which those who study such matters have few convincing answers.

Folklore

One of the other interesting questions about the Forest of Veils is whether the cold dark reputation the place has is the result of the folklore that has spread up around it, or vice versa. Forests are dangerous places in general on the alluvial plain and every village has stories about big bad wolves with which to caution children from straying too far into them, but in the Forest of Veils these stories seem weirdly apropos. Few herders frequent the edges of the forest, because the wolves show no particular hesitation to prey on goats and will even attack humans, contributing to the eerie hostility the forest seems to have for two-legged visitors. As such the forest is surrounded by several miles in all directions of fertile land nobody much wishes to cultivate - and which is thus given over to weeds and brambles.
Not all the antagonistic life of the forest moves on four legs. The weedy verges of the forest are known for frequent sightings of The Shoemaker. Furthermore Beast Men seem to exist in large numbers in and around the forest, coming and going across its verges, often in considerable haste. Reports suggest such individuals in this area evince a peculiar affinity for birds - they are often reported to be wearing feathered cloaks rather than the usual leather and to caw like crows rather than growling like beasts; one is said to escape attention from civilised man by summoning a huge flock of rooks and disappearing into them - and a bent towards hostility, with some said to attack wayward rural folk without provocation. Why they would behave differently in this area is, like so much else, unclear.
The popular story of The Three Brothers Purple is unambiguously set in the Forest of Veils.

In mythology

Most sources that address the matter agree that the cave that leads down to Krezzan's underworld is located somewhere in the Forest of Veils. The resulting association with death is regarded by most researchers as the source of the forest's bleak and fearful reputation, though this does not explain the various eerie idiosyncrasies of the region's ecology.

The myth of The Skeleton Tree is also set in the forest.

Type

Forest, Temperate (Seasonal)