Cinder-Wood Forests

Along the far Western side of the Isle of Aqshy near the Caldera Mountains span the Cinder-Wood Forests. Here you find not the fully infused life of the Realm of Fire, but rather life that is brushed with fire’s influence. For miles and miles the forests run the length of the western and northern coast of the Isle. The trees smoulder lightly with fire’s touch, the edges of leaves and bark glowing lightly in a perpetual state of ember. Deer with fiery tails and fire veined antlers roam the meadows of fire grass and ash flowers. Bears with claws infused with the power of fire and whose roars emit the heat of a forge.

This region has its own share of monsters as anywhere else, one the Ebermouth. Few have survived an encounter with it and all give nonuniform reports of what exactly it is. Is it reptilian, amphibian, or a creature of the forest none can say for sure, the one thing that is known is every breath lets fly a flurry of embers and it’s scream sets fire to whatever is in front of it whether flammable or not. Another mystery of the area is the Blazesoul, while not reported to be a danger to anyone, many are unsettled by it as odd things happen to those visited by it, some good, others minor misfortunes. There are no records of what it looks like or what it does, but all reports of it are of lone travelers in the woods. In the morning they find the scorched outline of a woman in the ground outside their tent or next to their bedroll as if a woman had laid with them during the night watching over them as a mother would watch over a child.

The Cinder-Woods due to their vast size hold many a town or village of those delivered to the realm gate to the south. The people of the woods make use of the vast resources, despite their appearance of burning wood, the trees are very strong and once cut continue to release the energy for some time, making them good alternatives to fires to keep places pleasantly warm during the nights before being used as proper material once the heat as subsided. The warm breeze flowing through the trees also means the people rarely must worry about cold or extreme heat living here.