[Maplore] The Emberrest

[RaiderBlue 1064]

 

The Emberrest

The Fogged Wood

 

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Lands of Eternal Autumn

 

Resting within the middlelands that comprise the center of Azuras is a vast woodland commonly referred to as The Emberrest, which appears to be locked in an eternal state of autumn. Each of the trees holds hues of gold, rust, and ember-red, occasionally flickering off and littering the forest ground only to regrow in the same almost withered state. Additionally, residents of the region often found that these trees occasionally produced thick fogs that lingered throughout the woods. Those who may be more knowledgeable on wood elven practices may form a comparison to their own Taliame’miruel or Trees of the Red Autumn. However, this comparison is more akin to a sister species than an exact copy. Taking on a far darker coloration often leads to a more foreboding presence. Travelers who are forced to travel through this fog usually speak of how the wind never ceases to shift in the forest, as the branches carry sounds like whispers or forgotten voices.

 

Some believe that the Aspects cultivated the forest itself as a blessing upon the land, meant to protect and preserve it. However, over time, an apparent sickness has appeared to root itself through the wood, as if the cycle of nature had been broken or twisted inward, causing an eternal rot to fester like an infected wound. Such things can be seen in the subtle signs within animals that linger in the area, often accompanied by occasional malformations or the shifting fogs of the wood, which are said to whisper the voices of those lost to it.

 

 

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The Forgone Ruins

 

Throughout the woods, it is not uncommon for travelers to come across various ruins that litter the land, each clearly a remnant of humanity. Stone carvings and foundations hidden amongst the fog, with no true origin aside from clearly being multiple forms of grave sites. Superstition has left many of them unexplored, and rumors of curses falling upon those who wish to disturb the long-dead. The ominous presence in itself leads many to avoid taking the risk. Some believe that these ruins may lead deep beneath the twisted soils of the decaying lands and suspect they may be the heart of the forest.

 

With such a fact beside these sights across the Emberrest, often they are small and may only rarely hold any substantial building. Only one such ruin is an exception to this, known as the Village of Rowland. An island colony of once foreigners set out to make Azuras their new home, which now rests mysteriously abandoned. Compared with the other ruins of the Emberrest, the village is far more recent, likely only half a century old when it was inhabited. Visitors to the site would find the town in a state of disrepair, as if the colonists had suddenly disappeared. Farm tools and rotted food litter throughout the village, and children’s toys are left upon now cluttered and dirty floors of the homes. Rumors scattered throughout suspect that the colonists may have sailed away from Azuras or been claimed by what may linger in the forest's fogs.

 

Creatures of The Fog

 

It's a common occurrence for tales of travel through the Emberrest to be told by hunters and merchants as they traverse the dense autumn woods, being suddenly enveloped in a thick, misty haze that obscures their vision of the traveled roads—said to begin only with whispers flickering between creaking branches, followed by the cracking and crunching of sticks beneath foot before suddenly being attacked by packs of pale snarling creatures. Said to be descendants, like in form with lanky limbs and twisted forms, the attacks are common and jarring enough for the creatures to be given a simple nomenclature of the Ravyns. 

 

The origin of the Ravyns is unknown, mainly because so few have been captured to perform a study, often disappearing as soon as travelers are ambushed. The beasts frequently only claim one victim at a time, dragging them away into the forest, not being long for prolonged fights. Some hunters in the region believe the creatures that linger in the fog are ancient, appearing when grave sites across the forest are disturbed. Others believe that they are the now twisted forms of the colonists of the Village of Rowland, the fact of which is to be seen. But the fact remains that stalking the various roads of the autumn-coated lands is a shifting foreboding haze.

 

 

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