## Description

The Preborian Forest is a huge primeval forest located almost dead center in Marcandria, bordering Rosella to the north and Sillvengo to the south. The forest is often called The Forbidden Forest in Marcandria, with its name being a derivative of how the same term was pronounced in Marcandrian centuries ago. The forest gets its name due to how extremely hostile some of its inhabitants are towards civilization and civilized beings, with any Marcandrian entering the forest being attacked, to be driven out if lucky, to be killed if unlucky. The forest today is largely untouched, with the only traces of civilization once having it under their domain being a single ruined road build by the Concalians, alongside the old ruins of a Concalian town build along it. The Marcandrians have made numerous attempts to create a trade route though the forest, as the shortened travel time it would create between Marcandria's northern and southern provinces is considered to be of strategic importance both in terms of economics, security, and to increase cooperation and cohesion among Marcandria's provinces. Attempts to maintain a north-south route through the forest has so far (as of 1353AD) failed, though lumbering activities and the clearing of land to create new pastures and farmland have slowly been pushing back the forest's boundary over the centuries.

The Preborian forest is diverse in both flora and fauna, though the forest is most notable for the numerous fey creatures that inhabit it. These fey are chaotic beings with little in terms of governance or official leadership, though there exist individual fey who hold a lot of influence within the forest. While these fey are generally protective of their forest from outsiders, they are by no means under a single banner. Many cooperate with each other. Many have friendly symbiotic relations with one another. Others are rivals, or may despise one another to such an extent that they cannot stomach the sight of one another.

The most distinctive separation one can make among the relations between the forest's fey are between those living in the verdant groves in the forest's east versus those living in the more gloomy, tangled, and fetid marshes and swamps in the forest's west.

### The Verdant Groves of the Dryads

The verdant groves located in the Preborian Forest's centeral and eastern regions have a beautiful mystical and enchanting look to them. The presence of the Fey that inhabit them have slowly caused these groves to be suffused with the magic of these fey beings, making the groves reflect their magical and mystical nature. The flora in these groves are of the most verdant greens, with more mystical looking leaves, flowers, and fruits of deep oranges, blues, and purples also being heavily featured. These groves have both a mix of mundane flora, alongside more mystical looking and sometimes magic infused flora typically only associated with the Feywild. Plants here will on occasion uproot themselves and decide to re-locate, before re-rooting and seemingly turn back into regular plants again. The animals living in and near these groves similarly tend to have vibrant furs and healthy bodies. A few of these animals will on occasion get accidentally infused by the prevalent fey magic that exists in these groves, causing them to become a more unique looking, at times more intelligent, version of their species.

The dominant and most influential type of fey in the Preborian forest's verdant groves are the dryads. They are a form of all-female tree-spirits, each bound to a single tree that acts as both their home and life-force, providing them with all the nourishments they need to survive. A dryad is able to separate their body from their tree, though are only able to receive nourishment from it so long as the ground they stand on remains connected to the tree's root. The dryads in the Preborian forest are able to traverse almost the entire forest due to its trees forming a single interconnected root structure. A dryad who leaves the area connected to their tree's root structure quickly dies. A dryad whose tree gets cut down goes mad, thrashing and gnawing at anything and everything they come across, consuming its life force in an attempt to stave off their own death.

The dryads view themselves as guardians of the woodlands, and protect it fiercely. Intruders who they believe may harm their forest quickly find themselves assailed with their poison-dipped arrows and fey magic as they dart across the canopies. The dryads, having lost sisters in the past due to lumbering activities done by humanoids, sees all humanoids as threats to their forests, and therefore attack them on sight. Of the fey in the Preborian Forest, the dryads are the ones Marcandrians are most familiar with, specifically because it's usually they who drive off or kill those who dare enter their forest. The dryads' ability to communicate with plants, alongside the interconnectedness of the forest's roots, allows the forest to notify them when it's being harmed. However, the forest's vast size coupled with the dryads not being particularly numerous means they are by no means able to stave all of the Marcandrians lumbering and forest clearing activities along the forest's edge.

The dryads share these groves with numerous other types of fey. Among these are satyrs, a raucous all-male type of fey who enjoys trickery, frivolities, and debauchery. Pixies and sprites build small villages among the grove's boughs. Pixies and sprites are pranksters in their own rights, playing pranks on both their own kind, other fey, and even animals. Quicklings also scurry across the grove's forest floor, and are capricious beings who love nothing more than playing pranks, especially loving it when their pranks causes additional troubles for the one being pranked. Faerie Dragons also add to the list of pranksters who make their home in these groves.

all tricksters in their own right, playing tricks on both one another, other fey, and animals.

Satyrs - court dryads as a way to procreate.

Pixies, sprites, quicklings. Tricksters. Faerie dragons also make their home in the groves, and also play tricks.

The dryads are not very organized or structured, often cooperating and collaborating with each other, but with no overarching strategy across their kind.

A dryad's look changes with the season. Hair like autumn leaves during fall. White-ish hair during winter. During spring and summer: tan skin and green hair.

Oldest and most respected is ____. Fey who live among the dryads, or near their groves, include __ (satyrs, pixies, sprites, …)

Kalythra

- Who lives there. How they operate, cooperate, etc.

- About hag: Mention how Marcandrian folklore often tell of an old lady whose managed to survive in the forest's east, and whose able to grant you any wish you desire, for a price.
- About wood woads: Both dryads and other types of fey will sometimes kidnap humanoid intruders, cut out their heart, and place it inside a tree to create a wood woad whose meant to ward off future intruders.
- Forest is rich in fey magic, with regions of the forest often reflecting the nature of its fey inhabitants. Some beasts have also been infused with fey magic, making them more mystical and sometimes more intelligent.

## Inhabitants

- Beasts: Badgers, Bears (Brown), Beavers, Boars, Deer, Elk, Foxes, Frogs, Goats, Hares, Small Lizards, Lynx, Rats, Small Snakes, Poisonous Snakes, Spiders, Giant Spiders, Phase Spiders, Squirrels, Toads, Giant Toads, Weasel, Wolverines, Wolves
- Birds: Bats, Eagles, Hawks, Ravens, Owls, Giant Owls, Vultures
- The Verdant Groves of the Dryads:
  - Beasts: Badgers, Bears (Brown), Beavers, Boars, Deer, Elk, Foxes, Frogs, Hares, Small Lizards, Lynx, Rats, Small Snakes, Poisonous Snakes, Spiders, Squirrels, Toads, Giant Toads, Weasel, Wolverines, Wolves
  - Fey-infused beasts (examples): Giant Toads, Giant Fire Beetle, Giant Lynx
  - Birds: Bats, Eagles, Hawks, Ravens, Owls, Giant Owls, Vultures, Misc small birds
  - Fey: Dryads, Pixies, Quicklings, Satyrs, Sprites
  - Monsters and other no-mundane beings: Ankhegs, Bagienikk, Bulettes, Cockattrice, Faerie Dragons
  - Plants: Awakened shrubs

ALL CREATUR NOTES FROM BELOW GATHERED:

- Beasts: Badgers, Bears (Brown), Beavers, Boars, Deer, Elk, Foxes, Frogs, Goats, Hares, Small Lizards, Lynx, Rats, Small Snakes, Poisonous Snakes, Spiders, Giant Spiders, Phase Spiders, Squirrels, Toads, Giant Toads, Weasel, Wolverines, Wolves
  - Swarrm of maggots
- Birds: Bats, Eagles, Hawks, Ravens, Owls, Giant Owls, Vultures
- Fey: Dryad, Pixie, Sprites, Satyrs, Nymphs, Quicklings, Aridni, Meenlock, Redcap, Boggles, Blink Dogs, Displacer Beasts, Darklings, Ettercaps, Doppelgangers/Changelings, Korreds?
  - Faerie Dragon
- Plants: Awakened Shrubs, Shambling Mounds Awakened Trees, Treant Saplings, Treant, Wood Woad, Corpse Flower?
- Monsters: Bukavac, Bagienikk, Cattoblepas, Carrion Crawler, Froghemoths, Spriggan, Ankhegs, Basilisks, Bulettes, Owlbears, Perryttons, Wyverns, Stirges, Cockatrice, Banderhobbs, Ropers, Hydra, Behirs
- Other Intelligent Beings: Trolls, Bullywugs, Ettins, Cyclops?, Vegepygmies
- Undead (near ruins): Will-o-wisps, ghosts, spectres, flaming skull, Notthic
- Other: Mephit, Back Pudding, Gray Ooze, Orche Jelly, Flail Snail, Cave Fisher,

- Dryad/Fey Groves
  - In central and eastern parts
    - Kalysra's/Amatheera?'s Grove - Largest
    - 2-3 other dryad Groves
  - Creatures:
    - Dryads
    - Pixies
    - Awakened Shrubs?
    - Sprites
    - Satyrs - often try to woo the dryads and nymphs
    - Nymphs - near ponds? Or perhaps no nymphs to not have overlap with dryads?
    - Quicklings?
- More wild regions near some mountains - where wolves typically are.
- Decayed Marsh areas / hag area in west
  - Creatures:
    - Trolls - live in ramshackle “homes” - or rather pieces of wood arranged to make a roof and some walls, like a cone-shaped tent.
    - Shambling Mounds - hunt from the marshes/wetlands. Step in a wet area and you may be stepping right into a shambling mound.
    - Bagiennik's
    - Aridni?
    - Meenlocks?
    - Redcaps?
    - Quicklings?
    - Catoblepas? - beast that makes their wetland habitat gloomy, tangled, and more fetid.
    - Bullywugs?
    - Vegepygmies?
    - Carrion Crawlers?
    - Froghemoths
  - Plants: Gas Spores?
- Cursed portion?
  - Where the fallen dryad once was? thus near border of forest in south?
- Concalian City Ruin?
  - Probably somewhere near center - probably along the road that goes through the forest. This is a road from the Concalian time, that has decayed just like the city ruins have.
- Otherr:
  - Korred communities near mountains, in caves in mountains?

Beasts etc:

- Magical beasts such as chorts and morvudds here as well?
- Non-mundane beasts:
  - Giant Snails? Beyond the Witchlight
  - Giant Fire Beetle
  - Giant Centipede?
  - Giant Lynx?
  - Giant Dragonfly? Beyond the Witchlight
  - Giant Toads?
  - (Fey infused versions of beasts? Like runic bears etc as well? i.e. have giant versions of the animals come due to a reason, like being infused with the fey magic that flows through the forest.)
- Beasts: Badgers, Bears (Brown), Beavers, Boars, Deer, Elk, Foxes, Frogs, Goats, Hares, Small Lizards, Lynx, Rats, Small Snakes, Poisonous Snakes, Spiders, Giant Spiders, Phase Spiders, Squirrels, Toads, Giant Toads, Weasel, Wolverines, Wolves
- Birds: Bats, Eagles, Hawks, Ravens, Owls, Giant Owls, Vultures
- Plants:
- Monsters:
  - Ankhegs, Basilisks, Bulettes,
  - Owlbears, Perytons?
  - Wyverns,
  - Stirges - marshland areas?
  - Cockatrice
  - Manticores? Maybe not?
  - Banderhobbs - servants of Hags, so in Hag/swamp area.
- Fey:
  - Boggles born out of feelings of loneliness - near forest border where there are villages?
  - Blink Dogs?
  - Displacer Beasts?
  - Darklings?
  - Ettercaps? Parts of the forest entirely impassable due to their webs? Make this visible on map somehow?
  - Doppelgangers/Changelings - like Te'Lik
  - Korreds?
- Otherr:
  - Mephits?
  - Flaming Skulls in Conalian ruins, alongside ghosts etc?
  - Black Puddings, Gray Oozes, Orche Jelly. Most common near ruins?
  - Faerie Dragons?
  - Ettins? Maybe not a good fit with the rest of the inhabitants. Perhaps only in the surrounding mountains, being pushed from the forest by tthe other inhabitants?
  - Awakened Trees? Or have some of the trees in the forest on occasion decide to relocate themselves.
  - Swarm of Maggots
  - Nothic? Scouring Concalian Ruins? Conciri Magisterr from long back that went mad?
  - Will-o-Wisps in ruins?
  - Gricks? Maybe not?
  - Treant Sapling? Witchlight. near dryad groves?
  - Flail Snail?
  - Cave Fisherr? In caves and dark areas of the forest?
  - Wood Woad - either hag or dryads, of both, who have carved out the hearts of invaders, and placed in the trunk of a tree to create wood woads. Exist only to protect the woodland around where they were made. Dryads and hag have them in some areas near forest border to deter humanoids from entering the forest.
  - Ropers? In caves?
  - Cyclops? Since this is based on Italy, and to some degree Greece with Concalia. Perhaps this is where they best fit, orr maybe in the highlands?
  - Corpse Flowers? Lore says the sprout from necromancer tombs. maybe have them exist in hag area?
  - Hydra? Hag area or in big lakes?
  - Treants? Super rare if so,
  - Behirs? In mountains
  - River Nymphs? Each river has one nymph?
  - Spriggan - Dryad whose tree got cut down. have an area be its hunting ground. All animal life in that area is gone, it's killed everything. Probably near southern borderr.

Topology:

- East: Aside from the hilly landscape that exists throughout the forest, the eastern part of the forest also features a low-lying landscape with gentle depressions, flat terrain, and perhaps even some natural basins. This topographical feature allows water to collect and pool in the low areas, creating a landscape that's prone to waterlogging. As a result, the soil in the eastern part of the forest retains water for more extended periods, contributing to the formation of wetlands.