Blackwood

Blackwood is a strange, abnormally large forest that takes up much more space on the interior than it does on the exterior. It earns its name from the exterior entrance; those who enter Blackwood find that its borders swiftly darken upon entry. On the outside, it looks like nothing more than a small copse that takes up a tiny space of land in Northern Tregaron. On the interior, the edge of the border darkens the moment somebody sets foot beneath the canopy. Tree boughs become lofting, black columns and the sun or moon fades off.
After a ten meter walk, those stepping through the treeline arrive in a forest far larger than the modest grove may suggest.

Geography

Blackwood's Geography remains widely unknown save for the mostly coniferous woods that make up the edges of the copse. It's a known fact that the forest warps into different biomes the deeper travelers tread, and yet maps are difficult to properly maintain due to the peculiar nature of the forest. Rivers swell into vast ponds that nest themselves at the edge of high cliff faces, before the boat voyaging through the riverway suddenly finds itself resting at the forest floor with no water in sight.
Such treacherous circumstances often lead to adventurer and merchant alike to simply circumnavigate the copse, for those that tread through its borders seldom ever return.
True to its name, Blackwood grows darker the further one steps in. Colors soon become muted shades of grey, until they're slowly drained into a black and white, ashen palette of grey tree boughs holding drab pine needles.

Localized Phenomena

Blackwood has a lot of phenomena. The most well known is the fact that it takes up more space than it should. It's a tiny copse, small enough for people to step around in under a day if they were to keep at the edge of the treeline. And yet, days, weeks, and supposedly months may pass before anyone may reach the center of the forest.
Those stepping too deep into the wood find that the colour drains from the pastels of the forest. Boughs become grey, and pine needles begin to resemble ash littering the forest floor by the time travelers reach the center. This phenomena also extends to those venturing too long through the wood. Blue silks become muted cyans, whilst bright reds become muted shades of pink, until either inevitably fades into a drab, lifeless grey.
Deeper within the woods, rainfall sparkles and shimmers. Glittering, prismatic droplets land with rainbow-shaded splatters before settling into glistening puddles of a liquid called pigment.

Eerie Eyes

Not limited to just the beasts; many who travel far within Blackwood find countless eyes looking upon them from all angles, of varying shades, hues, and sizes. Stepping through the treeline at night leads to countless gazes from the periphery, before clumps containing myriads of many different irises can be found gazing upon you. Within the greyer parts of the forest, these eyes are much more apparent.
For it is the eyes that manage to maintain their pigment in Blackwood. Drab and dreary surroundings are cut through bright, vibrant shades of blues, greens, and even darker browns or steely grey-blues that manage to shine through monochrome grey. 
With eager, long and grasping fingers, the denizens of Blackwood eagerly seek out the eyes of those wandering within; even the beasts wish to take eyes for themselves. For those who do not have pigment are destined to fade away to nothing as they tread into the deeper reaches of the forest.

Climate

Blackwood's climate is fairly cold or temperate. Cold weather is the only consistent thing to be found within the treacherous wood. Temperate rain can be found within the woods from time to time, but it is far more likely to snow during the winter seasons.

Fauna & Flora

Most curious are the flora and fauna. Whilst one would expect them to carry the choked pastels of their grey environment, the many-eyed fauna is known for carrying a lot more vibrancy than their surroundings. Eerie gazes constantly watch over those that tread through Blackwood, following them with each and every step. Despite their shaded surroundings, their irises carry much more colour and vibrancy than anything else within the shadowy copse.

Natural Resources

Save for the curiously grey lumber found deeper within the wood, Blackwood's known for being a haven for particularly hard-to-get alchemical regents. Most notably are the vibrant slurries of prismatic fluid that forms puddles after rainbow rain events. These puddles contain raw pigment, a product exclusively found within Blackwood.
The eyes of creatures in Blackwood are also capable of being crushed and refined into this curious pigment, though such an object is often considered dangerous to tamper with on account of the dangerous beasts that carry them.

History

Though mysterious and mostly unexplored to this day, Blackwood's mystique and placement in Tregaron have made it a place steeped deep within both human and Elven history.

Villish Toll

When humans were heavily divided from one another, the Villish people used the strip of land unclaimed by the woods as a wall to take tolls from travelers. The building was strategically built into the edge of the woods to ensure that rival nations would be forced to step through the gates either monitored, or risk the perilous venture through Blackwood.  Despite the walk from the edge of Blackwood to the other side at the end of the wall looking like it should take no more than an hour's walk, the few travelers that have wandered through Blackwood reported themselves wandering for three days -- and not without danger.

We were watched by a bunch of beady, glistenin' eyes that stared at us from the dark. Even though they were black n'empty, they managed to...stand out, in the grey? Like black marbles. Next thing y'know, a shaggy furred ram is rushing us down. Saw one fella get grazed by its charge, and what came out wasn't blood -- but...their colour. Their colour splattered all over the thing's fur and faded into grey. It looked somethin' like a ram. But its face was covered in these beady eyes. Damn thing didn't even have a mouth or horns, it just lumbered after us on hooves until we saw everything with color was being sucked into its shaggy pelt. Ran far after that. It didn't bleed. Ain't about to find out if something can die when it can't bleed.

Elven Sanctuary

Blackwood was often considered an Elven sanctuary before they were driven out of Tregaron. Their communion with the Fae had allowed them to safely coexist without fear of suffering the dangers that it would normally otherwise present. Alas, though, even the beasts of Blackwood weren't immune to the Blood Curse, and when swarms of the monstrosities came stampeding out from the treeline of the copse, most have long since assumed that any Elven settlement within the forest was left to ruin.

Elias

Elias is the name of the legendary alchemist that first discovered pigment. Though shrouded in rumors, myth, and legend, Elias' origin is fairly humble and simple; he was a simple alchemist that heard the curious properties of Blackwood, and the supposed Fae that dwell within it. This intrigued Elias into travelling deep into the copse, and the subsequent discovery of pigment. 
Shortly after Elias had returned to the world outside to share his discovery, stepped back through the treeline in hopes of finding new ones, only to never return. A prestigious academy was later erected in his name, known as the Orange Academy, named such for the garishly bright orange robes that Elias wore before his descent into Shadewood.

Tourism

Due to the dangers Blackwood presents to travelers, it remains walled off from the rest of the world. Adventurers are heavily discouraged from stepping foot within the copse; and the dangerous beasts that often tread out from the wood are carefully contained within the walls surrounding it.
Despite that, this doesn't stop Blackwood from attracting wayward travelers that are curious of seeing the phenomena for themselves -- or simple treasure hunters that eagerly seek to hunt down the pigment that can be found painting the otherwise grey heart of the woods.

Type

Forest, Boreal (Coniferous)

Location under

Tregaron