Urzigeni Forest

Overview

Location

The northern range of the Kalininlym Union and Republic of Tory.

Ruler

Pra'Myoiw
Contesting ownership is the governments of Kalininlym Union and the Republic of Tory.

Alternative Names

Kalininlym refers to their portion as the Kalin Woods and the Republic of Tory refers to their portion as the Deep Weald. Official documentation at the Library of Archived Records list the region as Urzigeni, with the previous two as sub-regions.

Geography

by Midjourney

Like many of the forests that Myoiw inhabit, the thick of Urzigeni forest comprises extremely tall hoary trees. These behemoths have been around for centuries – the date of many simply unknown since most scientist aren’t allowed free reign in the deep forests. Dotted amongst the ancient trees are the more slender pin and deciduous that are more common along the fringes of the forest – these are the trees that are frequently milled for lumber. The Urzigeni doesn’t have much by way of undergrowth since the canopy generally blots out the sunlight. There are some ferns and smaller vines that do well in the low light but it is rare for new trees to grow in the depths of the Urzigeni.

While the hoary tree is not exactly unique to the Urzigeni forest, it is a common sighting in the places that the Myoiw inhabit – so much so that it’s become synonymous with the places they’ve made their homes. While no one would exactly say the Myoiw are conservationists, they are very protective of their wooded homes.

The Myths

The Urzigeni forest is a source of many nightmares, fairy tales, and legends for the people of Kalininlym and Tory. It’s always been a place of darkness, where people get lost, meet crazy monsters or fae who lead the unwary astray. These legends and stories persist even into the modern day, so much so that most will refuse to travel deep in the Urzigeni without a guide or just cause. Technology has a funny way of not working under the boughs of the hoary trees, making navigation difficult. Especially since the forest hasn’t ever really been mapped. Even the most stalwart will find the towering trees and eternal shade unsettling the farther they get from civilization.

The Truth

There aren’t any monsters in the Urzigeni forest beyond the Myoiw. For as long as there have been dark woods for rogues and vagabonds to retreat to, there have been stories of the fae and the monsters that lurk in the shadows. These stories are persisted and encouraged by the Myoiw – brought to life by some of their more powerful Shra who bring the fears to life. At least, in the minds of those who wander too close to their homes or too deep in the woods. The stories of fae whisking vnou away aren’t entirely untrue. Myoiw, like many other noble families, will cull the common vnou population from time to time. They do this in the form of pilfering anyone of a higher Shra than Dez. This manifests as fae taking babes in the middle of the night or luring young adults into the forest, with the darkest of the stories about murder committed against those who might have insulted the fae. Just like the stories of vnou being led into the forest aren’t entirely false, so too are the stories of murder. Some vnou aren’t willing to join the fae or higher Shra resist the pull and so… Myoiw kill them. As the vnou advanced into the modern era, they’ve outsourced a lot of their kidnapping so that there is less murdering. It’s neater, cleaner, and results in the pilfered vnou being sent to the other various noble families.

by Midjourney

by Midjourney

Contesting

There is a fair bit of contention when it comes to the Urzigeni forest. Government officials will dismiss the stories out of hand and have long declared the portions of the forest within their boundaries as property of the state. Land had long ago been sold to various common vnou to log and small towns have made a modest living farming and milling the deciduous trees along the perimeter of the forest close to their towns. It has been implanted in various vnou officials that they’ve been the ones to navigate the construction and direction of the roads and rail way through the Urzigeni when, in reality, such transportation routes have come about after a lot of back-and-forth between the various noble families and Myoiw.

According to documentation, Pra’Myoiw’s name is stamped across the Urzigeni forest while dismissing any further claims they might have on the land around it. Notably denying themselves any expansion or jurisdiction beyond the boundaries of the forest, thus leaving the countries and their governments to the other noble families. This means that the Urzigeni forest falls to the law of Pra’Myoiw, which is to say, very little at all, and no noble outside of Pra’Myoiw would be able to say what laws there might be if any.