THE FORESTS OF YSGARTH
        To the mind of primitive man there were few things more
terrifyinging and mysterious than the great expanses of woodland which
concealed unknown creatures and perils and separated the far-flung
settlements of humanity from each other like a sea of trees.  While
Ysgarth is not really an entirely primitive world and man has tamed much
of the land, there are still large expanses of forest which hold
mysteries, pose challenges to travellers and provide a home for beggars,
brigands and diverse beasts.  Each of these great woodlands has its
unique character, flora and fauna.  They are examined briefly here so
that the traveller in Ysgarth has some idea what to expect.

THE URDWORLD
        When the first human immigrants came to Ysgarth they found much
of the land covered in great and ancient forest which some of the early
arrivals called 'The Urdwold' or World Wood.  This forest covered most
of the western half of the continent of Ysgarth, except for the steppes,
some mountainous regions, and coastal areas cleared by communities of
Trozards and Batrags.  Other early inhabitants tended not to clear
forested land, the Chitare being underground dwelling hunters, and the
Dothian living mostly a hunter-gatherer lifestyle by the time of the
first human arrivals.  This great expanse of forest awed the early
settlers, and entered into their mythology and superstition as the home
of powerful spirits and even gods.  That reverence and awe for the great
woodlands descended to the smaller areas of forest that survive to this
day and were once part of the Urdwold.  Tradition among many peoples
even holds that the Urdwold had a great spirit and a sort of
supernatural sentience which may awaken to reclaim the land, and
sometimes sends forth the creatures of its dreams in the forests that
remain. Some cultures have associated that spirit with a particular god
or goddess of their pantheon, and all hold a general belief that old
woods are sources of mystery and magical power.  Some legends even say
that the Urdwold still exists as an alternate reality or afterworld
where the spirits of animals and of men closely associated with the
woodlands go after death.

THE ABERFERRHUD (Area: 10,000 Hides)
        Sometimes called The Great Red Forest, this woodland is located
in the border area between Marsioc and Saisiloc, an area which is
characteristically flat and has rich, sandy soil fed by springs in the
eastern mountains of Talebolion.  It get gets its name from its
distinctive fall color which results from a predominance of certain
varieties of oaks and maples which turn bright shades of red in the
autumn.
        The Aberferrhud has mythic associations with the Dothian.
Legend tells that it was here that the final battle between the
Doomlords and Wraithlords was fought, and it is in the memory that the
trees turn so red on the yearly anniversary of the battle.
        Characteristically the Aberferrhud has very light undergrowth
and the trees are relatively well spaced.  Some effort has been made to
maintain this condition by the Kings of Saisiloc, who have paid local
peasants to clear brush to make the wood more accessible for hunting.
All of the trees in the wood are relatively small, because the soil is
rich, but loose and not very deep, above a strata of limestone.  The
most common trees are a small variety of maple and a dwarf red oak.
Some other varieties are also present, particularly in the small river
valleys which cross the forest, and where you may find willows and a
species of broad-leaf locust.  Ground cover includes a variety of tall,
hearty grasses related to some of those found on the steppes.  Animal
life is abundant in the Aberferrhud.  There are larger predators such as
wolves, lions, boars and bears.  Smaller predators are not as common,
though they are present.  Particularly numerous are rabbits of various
sorts and digging rodents such as gophers and ground squirrels.  Several
species of deer and wild goats can be found.  Small birds and serpents
are also fairly common.  The Aberferrhud also has a reputation for more
unusual beasts, including the Boreyne, Basilisk and in the far eastern
portions of the forest there are said to be Dragons.
        For many years the Aberferrhud has been a source of hard wood
lumber carted to the west.  A large population of farmers and woodsmen
has grown up along the western and southern borders of the forest.  The
northern portion is still maintained as a hunting preserve by the kings
of Sasiloc, and the southwestern areas are claimed as a special grant
given to the Charcoalers Guild of the town of Kasiudar in Marsioc.

THE BAELVOLDE (Area: 11,000 Hides)
        The Baelvolde runs along the border of Amerioc and Auscia,
reaching into Marsioc in the east and to the mountainous border of
Maresk in the west.  This forest is sometimes called the Forest of
Sorrow or the Forest of Regret.  It is strongly associated with the myth
of Althilde, the daughter of Maervek the Conqueror who led the Saes
south into Aetruvia.  The tale relates how while her father was subduing
Auscia she fled to the Baelvolde to tryst with her lover Dremarin of
Amerwic.  Dremarin was late, and while she waited by the stream where
they were to meet, she was set on by a lion and slain.  To spare
Dremarin the sight of her mangled body and to some degree to punish him
for his tardiness the gods (or the woodland spirits - depending on your
source) enchanted the paths of the forest so that he would never reach
their rendezvous and would wander lost forever, perhaps even eternally.
Legend has it that his voice can still be heard calling her in the
deepest parts of the wood.
        The reality of the Baelvolde is a bit less romantic.  It is a
loose forest of mostly desiduous trees on level and sometimes marshy
ground.  There are numerous small hills and depressions within the
forest and at lest three medium size rivers make their way through it.
The result is a very mixed terrain of rocky hills, bogs and some flat
dry areas, all well, but not exceptionally densely wooded.  Native flora
include a variety of herbal plants and edible tubers, as well as
numerous fungi and mosses, many of them edible.  The predominant trees
are oak, maple, elm and laurel.  The bogs are small and relatively
wholesome, with some peat grasses and a great profusion of mosses and
ferns.  Native fauna no longer includes Lions or Wolves, but some large
predators, particularly bog-dwelling Boadiles are still present.
Muircats, Lynxes and Foxes are among the smaller predators.  The
available prey include several species of deer, numerous digging and
nesting rodents, birds of all sorts, including the large, flightless
Woodcock and several varieties of hawk.
        There is a considerable human presence in the Baelvolde, and
because of its border location bandits and brigands are particularly
numerous.  There are hill caves for them to use as bolt-holes, and the
terrain is very broken to make pursuit difficult.  For a long time the
Baelvolde was also the refuge of various revolutionary exiles from
Suessiones and Auscia, and the Saesian and Auscian roads which lead
through the forest became famous for the old oaks which lined them
displaying the bodies of murdered Saesian soldiers and officials and the
occasional bandit as well.  The display of bodies along these roads may
be part of an even older tradition among the Kernwics of human sacrifice
to appease the spirits of the woodland.

THE CARENWOLD (Area: 15,000 Hides)
        The Carenwold is sometimes called the Mother of Spears.  It is a
relatively small, but very dense forest located around the southern and
weastern borders of the chain of lakes that separates Airdmacha from
Airgedelia, and running east up into the mountains.
        There are many legends about the Carenwold, but few stand out in
particular.  It is heavily hunted and unusually rich in game, and there
are all the usual tales of spectral huntsmen and magical beasts spied in
the woods.  It is also frequently infested with bands of Koblynau who
sneak down out of the mountains and use it as a route for raiding
Caludian settlements.
        The Carenwold is mostly conniferous forest, with ash, firs,
spruce and pines mixed in together in bewildering variety.  The soil is
relatively rocky, and undergrowth tends towards molds and ferns, as well
as thick sapling growth in many areas.  There are no grasses, but there
are shrubs, many of which bear berries.  Major fauna includes wolves,
bear, large boar, badgers, deer, foxes and a variety of songbirds.
        The human population in and around the Carenwold is mostly
Caludian, consisting of hunters and fishermen, mostly living along the
shores of the lakes on the northern border of the forest.  Cutting wood
in the Carenwold is strictly limited by the government of Airgedelia in
an effort to maintain the size of the forest.

THE INGWALD (Area: 20,000 Hides)
        The Ingwald is probably the most famous forest in Ysgarth, at
least for its magical associations.  When the Gott and Fersian tribes
passed through it in their southward migrations they came out with
bizarre tales and a hearty fear and respect for one of the Ysgarth's
deepest and darkest woodlands.
        The Ingwald occupies a lengthy series of valleys between
mountain ranges in northern Fersia and southern Marsioc.  Several rivers
run through it, and though there is an old Auscian road which was built
through the forest to Macharia it is largely overgrown and much of the
woods remains impassable.  Unlike many other forests the Ingwald remains
virtually untouched as it has been from the time of the Urdwold, because
of its bizarre magical repuation.
        In particular the forest is associated with the god Ingar, from
whom it takes its name.  The Auscians claim that it is linked to even
older sources of magical power, but the actual presence of Ingar himself
in the wood is a belief which many local residents swear is based on
fact.  Tales tell that when the first Fersians came through the region
they had with them the body of their god who had been born as a man and
died during their journey from their old world.  While they were passing
through the woods, Ingar appeared to them in a dream and told them that
his body must be buried in a special grove in the heart of the woods,
and a great mound raised over it.  There, the healing powers of the
woods would focus on him and he would live again, though they would have
to leave him there and never return.  A different version of the legend
says that Ingar was a living man, a great war leader and shaman of the
Fersians, and that when they came to this magical grove at the heart of
the wood he lay down to sleep on top of a great mound of earth, and
never awoke.  Instead he spoke to his followers in their dreams and told
them to head south and that he now lived in the world of gods and
spirits and would continue to watch over them.  Whatever the really
happened, there is a common belief among the Gott and Fersians and the
Kyveni living north of the Ingwald that some powerful being dwells at
the heart of the wood, that he sleeps atop a great mound of earth, that
his dreams have some sort of mystical and prophetic power, and that he
sometimes sends prophetic dreams to those he favors.  There is even a
cult among the Fersians which believes that the entire world is a dream
in the mind of Ingar.  There's little question that the Ingwald had more
than its portion of supernatural creatures, including Hwchwyr, Cernions
and a variety of other human-animal hybrids.  Another legend sais that
there is a pool at the heart of the wood where if a man drinks his
animal nature will rise to the surface, and he will become a beast, or
even part man, part beast.  Perhaps because of this there is always
abundant game in the forest.
        The Ingwald's flora is a mix of desiduous and coniferous trees,
with oaks, elms and linden predominant in the river valley areas and ash
and spruce most common in the elevated mountainous regions around the
edge of the forest.  Animal life is abundant, and includes wolves,
foxes, bears, boars, deer and many smaller species.  Because of its
magical reputation, very few humans actually live in the Ingwald, but
many live along the edges, hunting and cutting trees in the less densely
wooded border areas where it is believed that Ingar's magic is less
strong.

THE KRAS NETRICA (Area: 18,000 Hides)
        This forest is located along the eastern coast of Marmaria and
into Uztaria and Sumatmain.  It is a wild woodland, shunned by those who
live in the region.  Because of the relatively light population of the
area it has been left relatively untouched, and features no roads or
settlements, and remains unmapped for the most part.
        The Kras Netrica is so dense and forbidding that it has become a
traditional means of execution to drive criminals into it until they are
lost.  As a result legends have arisen of human or semi-human tribes
living within the woods, small, degenerate people who may eat human
flesh and are expert at woodcraft and keeping themselves hidden.
        The woods are virtually impenetrable because of the thick and
full nature of the trees which go there, including some thorny locusts,
cedars, scrub oak, cypress, juniper and magnolia.  Most of these woods
are not highly regarded for building, so the wood has never been
exploited for those purposes.  They also discourage certain larger
animals, so smaller cats, foxes, large rodents and small birds are the
main fauna.  There are some legends of magical creatures within the
woods, particularly small dragons, mandragora and strigos.
        The tribes which live near the Kras Netrica do gather firewood
from the outskirts of the woods, and do limited hunting, mostly with
dogs who can squirm through the brush. For the most part people just
leave this particular wood alone.

THE NEDERVODE (Area: 30,000 Hides)
        The Nedervode is the great northern forest of Caludia,
stretching from the edge of the steppes to the sea, and providing some
protection from the raids of the Vaen in that region.  It is virtually
untouched forest, ideal for lumber and hunting, and humans have had only
a superficial effect on it thus far.  Legends about the Nedervode say
that it is the abode of powerful spirits and ancient beings, including
Yoton, Trolls, Draugrs and other dangerous entitities.  Whether there is
any truth the the legends is uncertain, but the Nedervode is old and
relatively untouched, so who knows what might dwell within. Both the
Caludians and the Aescians have a healthy respect and fear for the
forst, because their ancestors had to pass through it to get to the more
appealing lands to the south, and its presence on the borders of Caludia
is a constant reminder of that dangerous trek.
        For the most part the Nedervode is made up of confierous
evergreens, including a number of varieties of spruce, fir, ash and
pine.  Undergrowth is light, limited mostly to ferns and mosses, because
the trees are thick and give enough shade that nothing much more
demanding can survive.  Because the ground is rocky and the soil is
shallow there are many dead and fallen trees, and trails tend to be hard
to find or uneliable.  Native animals include several species of wolf,
rabbits, deer, wild goats, eagles and hawks.
        Very few humans live in or near the Nedervode, though there are
numerous seasonal lumbering camps set up on the outskirts of the forest,
and along the area where it meets the coast of the Western Sea.
Lumberers ar emaking osme inroads into the forest because of increasing
demand for timber to build boats in the south.  Much of this lumber is
shipped out by boat from Strannach, a relatively new port on the coast
just at the southern tip of the forest.

THE OTHWOLD (Area: 1500 Hides)
        The Othwold is the central forest which surrounds the small
mountain range which divides Greater Combria from Lesser Combria.  It is
a relatively small forest, surrounded by cultivated land, but virtually
untouched at its mountainous heart.  Many legends are associated with
the Othwold, and the old Kyvenian and Combrian peasants of the region
believe that the mountains in the center of the forest may be where the
god Guyon makes his home.  Superstitious peasants shun the deeper parts
of the woods, for fear that Guyon will come upon them and claim their
souls.
        The flora and fauna of the Othwold are much like those of other
forests in Kyvenia or Caludia, except that certain older species are
known to survive there which have been hunted to extinction elsewhere.
One of these is the Othorm, a species of large lizard highly regarded
for its meat, but also a dangerous predator, rather like a fast,
land-walking crocodile.  Another unique species is the Turactrech, a
species of miniature pig covered with brilliantly colored, poisonous
spines.  They are highly prized for the poison in their spine and also
for their tender, sweet meat.
        There are some human villages on the outskirts of the Othwold,
but not even bandits like to spend much time within the woods, and the
central areas are universally shunned.  Some local villagers do enter
the woods to hunt Othorms and Turactrechs, but as those creatures become
more wary and stick to the inner woods that enterprise has become less
and less profitable.

THE PILARIA (Area: 8,000 Hides)
        The Pilaria is located between the arid, elevated plains of
northern Gottia and Sarkosia and the mountains that form a border with
Fersia and Macharia.  The region is hot and relatively dry, and the
profusions of many different kinds of locust trees give this forest its
name as the Forest of Thorns.  The Pilaria is an inhospitable region,
reputed to be inhabited by evil spirits and the shades of the dead.  The
ancient Sarkosians used to punish criminals by abandonning them naked
deep within the Pilaria, or in the worst cases executed them by
impalement on the foot-long thorns of the variety of locust known
colloquially as the Bed of Nails Tree.
        The soil of the Pilaria is shallow and poor in nutrients, and
during the spring there is extensive flooding.  There is little in the
way of undergrowth except for wild grasses, particularly Sawgrass and
Spinegrass.  However, the forest is rich in wild life. There is a great
profusion of birds, particularly large colorful songbirds, hawks and
carrion birds of several varieties.  Herds of wild goats an antelopes
make their home in and around the forest and several varieties of large
cats live off of those herds.
        Few humans actually live in the Pilaria, but Sarkosian villagers
who live on the outskirts of the forest make a reasonable living
gathering the beans and wood of some of the trees of the forest.  The
beans are favored by many as a spice, while the wood of some of the
trees is aromatic and used for small carvings and boxes which are
produced in the region and sell well in other parts of the empire.

THE RONUMOR (Area: 7,500 Hides)
        The Ronumor is the heavily but unevenly forested region in
south-central Kyvenia where the Iceni and other tribes of Kyveni still
maintain their ancient tribal lifestyle. Physically the forest is
diverse, with much of it at or below sea level, dotted with small lakes
and swamps fed by rivers which flow from the mountains of central
Kyvenia. The forest stretches from the south-western and western coast
of Ustradui up into the mountainous areas of Keredigian, so there are
elevated regions, impressive waterfalls and agriculturally fertile
low-elevation mountain valleys in the Ronumor.
        The flora of the Ronumor is diverse, including both desiduous
and coniferous trees, some fruit bearing trees, hearty highland shrubs,
ferns, marsh grasses and mosses. Because of the large human population
of the forests there are few large predators, with the exception of
Boreynes in the most mountainous areas.  Predatory birds and snakes are
common, and some varieties of both birds and snakes are poisonous.  Deer
and a variety of large rodents are common in the forest, including large
aquatic rodents.  There are also frogs and water snakes, and of course a
variety of fish in the lakes and swamps.
        The human population of the Ronumor is relatively large.  Tribes
of primitive Kyveni live in small villages concentrated in various parts
of the forest.  The Iceni are fishermen and live mostly in lakeside
villages where houses are often built on pilings because of seasonal
changes in the water level.  The Auli are mostly herdsmen and live in
small villages in the mountain valleys.  The Velugi are mostly hunters,
and have increasingly moved out of the forest in recent years.  Those
who remain live in small, palisaded villages in the northern part of the
forest.

THE SILVATOS (Area: 9,000 Hides)
        The Silvatos is a bit different from other forests, because most
of it is not particularly ancient.  It is located in central Evaria, in
a hilly region fairly far from the main roads and trade routes.  While
some parts of the forest are ancient, much of the land is former farm
land which has been abandonned and allowed to return to nature.  At one
time the region was known for its wines and for its pears and apples,
but its level of production and the quality of product did not justify
the difficulty of transporting goods to more populous regions.  The
result of this is that the Silvatos is more open than most other
forests, with less undergrowth, clear paths, and an almost parklike
appearance in many areas.  There are many areas which are former fruit
orchards and have a charming, run down appearance to them.
        The forest is made up mostly of desiduous hard woods and fruit
woods, spaced reasonably far apart, with the undergrowth kept under
control by a large population of deer and goats.  There are few large
native predators, but wolves have migrated into the eastern portions of
the forest, and smaller predators like foxes and lynxes are fairly
common.
         At one time a considerable population lived inside the Silvatos
in villages spread 30 or 40 stadia apart, connected by an elaborate
system of roads.  In modern times that population has declined because
of improved agricultural techniques which have made it possible for
cultivated land in more civilized regions to support larger populations.
Some villages remain, in which a traditional lifestyle of fruit, nut and
root gathering, supplemented by hunting is still followed.  Because of
the limits of that lifestyle, none of these villages is very large,
generally no more than 30 families, and the living which they eke out is
sufficient, but rarely generous.

Hides x 4 = Square Miles


