Echo Woods

The Woods Are Hiding.

There are numerous tales about Spiral Peak and Echo Woods.
It is said the true woods are less easy to spot than expected due to all the living 'wood' creatures ...
+ Treant - looks to be a standard tree
+ Twig Blights - indistinguishable from a dead shrub
+ Myconids - fungus people
+ Shambling Mounds - wild bush
+ Wood Woads - look like tree trunk or wood elemental
+ Wood Elementals
+ Vegepygmy

Show spoiler

Note: Somewhere inside the woods is a massive corpse flower - first interaction is a nauseating odour - whispers of the woods having a heart.

The Echo Woods are located on the Southern part of the Northern Isle, next to Dusk Quagmire (which is between the woods and Odd).
Located between Stony and Belve.

The Echo Woods are so named due to the weird echoing noises heard from every direction. They are dark and foreboding.
Even travelers who have been in many woods before, say none have felt so very deep - "cannot be sure they will ever end, nor which direction you are going or came from". The darkness is so eerie and unnatural. The various trees in the woods stands strangely still - yet the whistle of the echoing wind circles around within. The trail winds to and fro, maddeningly, coiling like a serpent upon itself.
Treant do live within the woods, so the weird movement of these tree like creatures startles people too.

In the fresher water of the Dusk Quagmire, nearest to the Echo Woods, a few different animals can be found, including Cassowary, White-Browed Scrub Wren and Thornbirds. Wild boar leave tracks of hoof prints.

Thornbirds

Large and bulky thornbird with a long tail, conspicuous yellow eyes, and a whitish throat - Cinnamon above and buff below - Build huge nests of twigs suspended from the ends of tree branches - spikey thorn bushes. Their song is very loud and explosive - usually delivered as a duet.

WELL

On the Out-skirts of the woods - along the west side - is a hidden shelter inside a large dark bark tree. Nearby is a water well covered by vines.

---

FROM STONY

Heading from Stony, travelers see a riot of spikey bushes and thorny scrub grow in the last pieces of bright sunshine on the verge of the woods, as if protecting some scared place in the shadowy interior. A break in the bushes reveals a well-trodden path through the woods - that leads between Stony and Belve.

Crows and Grackles call from high branches somewhere in the woods, screened from view by a dozen shades of green and heavy shadows. The sounds of boar charging through the trees. Movement out the corner of the eye, but only trees are there when someone looks.
A tint of red hue touches the South side of some trees and rocks within the centre, where a hidden path, of a tunnel of trees, leads past the Dusk Quagmire towards The Gahara.

WILD DWARVES

Wild Dwarves live within parts of the Echo Woods. A shrine to their deity Thard Harr is marked with sacred totems and two loyal Fern hounds. They plant Yellow Musk creeper plants around the shrine.

Wild Dwarves dark-skinned, short and stout - very short light brown hair - with dark brown eyes - have dark skin covered by tattoos, and grease to ward off insects. They travel to Odd through the Dusk Quagmire regularly.

Show spoiler

The Wild Dwarves are regular visitors down The Gahara to The Silk Lake to hunt Bioluminescence jellyfish and collect various Fungus and mushrooms - making them the best guides into Ru'Than

+ Shaman is a Wild Dwarves - Seimra Thickethorn - dark-skinned, short, broad and stout has a hunched back - long, light brown dreadlocks - with dark brown eyes when using magic their eyes turn emerald and heavily dilated - has a hunched back - voice is deep and clear.
Seimra has two apprentices in Stony - Moon Elves storekeeper Medie Ululur, and Tabaxi drag queen “Indiana”/Hedgerow "Hedge”.
+ The Witch Doctor is a half Wild Dwarves/Wild Elves - Maelis Bitterbloom - resides in Odd, where they have a store of sorts called The Wiccan. Maelis has dark-skinned, tall for dwarf (short for an elf) and skinny - pointed ears - very short light brown hair, has strip of black - with dark brown eyes when using magic their eyes turn violet then become desperate and heavily dilated - heavily tattooed body, is covered with grease to ward off insects - wears a fur long shawl - wear a bone pygmy necklace - blowgun and poison darts - has a minor phobia of being clean - Voice is deep and wheezing
* the Shaman and the Witch Doctor are half-sisters - same mother.

ENSLAVEN

Also Enslaven Undead are said to walk the woods - looking for something for their master.

Geography

As you enter, moving through the trees and bushes, it seems like there is always some thing on the Peripheral of your vision - did something move?

SIGHT = natural narrow path - trees, bushes, berries, wild flowers and fungi - small creatures and insects shuttle away - large spiderwebs - the ground rises and lowers depending where the roots stretch.
SOUND = Other birds in the branches - rustling of leaves and snapping of twigs under foot,
SMELL = mulch, fungi, algae, moss, bark, leaves, bird droppings ...
TASTE = woody tang - damp
TOUCH = rough bark, damp leaves, tickling foliage, spiderwebs,

Insects fly into your faces as your move by.

Show spoiler

moths, ladybugs, flies or fungus gnats

A White-Browed Scrub Wren follows the Party, flitting in the branches, after the insects disturbed or attracted by your movements.

Some of the tree roots appear to pull back as you go to step over them, while other roots seem to length and grow more solid - as if to trip you. It is hard to see what the different trees are and there is not much light coming through the canopy.
A vine twisted around a branch, tumbles off as if to entangle you.
Sometimes you hear noises of larger animals, moving within the woods. At times, you see the shadowy shapes of animals moving around - none coming close enough to you. There are numerous birds above your heads. You hear the cries of a young Cassowary somewhere in the distance off to where you think is towards the Dusk Quagmire.

As you head deeper into the Echo Woods, the air feels more damp and unusually thick. There is a livingness to everything within the Echo Woods. Like the whole forest is breathing, and twitching, and waiting - holding their breaths - while you past through. Everything seems to be waiting to see what you will do - poised to attack, welcome, or ignore you all.
Will it embrace you with branches that are so like arms? Will it swallow you up to become part of this living place?
But it is just a woods after all - surely it is only a place of trees. There is not an Echo here - not one like in a cavern or a canyon - where you say something and the sound comes back . It is more more like the echo of Life and of breathing and of something more. There are places in The Feywild Realm like this.

There is an increasingly strengthen foul odour - a growing stench like a rotting corpse.

Maybe something has died nearby.
ROLL Nature - is it a plant, or a dead creature?

ROLL History - Have you heard of the Corpse Flower?
Known give off a powerful smell to attract carrion insects (such as carrion beetles and flesh flies) which feed on or lay their eggs in rotting flesh - The flowers inflorescence's deep crimson colour and texture contribute to the illusion that the spathe is a piece of meat. During bloom, the tip of the spadix is roughly humanoid body temperature, which helps the perfume spread so far. The spathe is deep green with cream-coloured specks on the outside, and dark maroon on the inside - sides are ribbed, creating a frilled edge.

The thought of this place growing on the back of a vanished Titan Giant, is a passing thought for many of you. You picture a massive creature lying underneath this large woods - feeding the roots as it very slowly decomposes. The thoughts inside your brain are jumbled and overflowing, as if not all your own. Your senses are on fire, then are drowning - then moments of absents of thoughts - then are bursting out of the soil, then it feels each thought is struggling to breath - then they are they encased in wood. A feeling of being connected to this place grows as you walk on - is there an comfort in that for each of you?

Localized Phenomena

SATYR

Stories of a Satyr (named Tyree) - also known as Fauns, are Fey creatures that although usually found in The Feywild Realm, do appear all over Esau. They delighted in singing, dancing, feasting, and debauchery.
Tyree looks like male very dark skinned Human of stout build, with mottle of organge, brown and yelloe fur covering his lower bodies and legs and black cloven hooves similar to those of a goat. Goat-like horns top his head - green, orange and brown hair. Untypically Tyree is without facial hair.
He plays a silver dual/double fluted horn.
Tyree has a natural atypical of most Satyrs - well known for being curious and incredibly hedonistic. They are willing to go to any length to achieve their desires, giving little thought to the results of their actions, and often rope other creatures into participating in debauchery.

The Witching Hours

During the hours of 3 to 4 - both morning and night the heavy cloud of Spiral Peak lowers down to the Dusk Quagmire. Air Elementals and their herder Aerodos - of The Plane of Air - travel down swiftly to play on the quagmire with the Treant from Echo Woods.

Fauna & Flora

CREATURES

+ Badgers - lived under Echo Woods
+ Ants - trail up and over tree roots
+ Spiders - spin webs in branches
+ Jewel Beetle - sparkling in the gentle light
+ Boar - snuffling in the bushes
+ Squirrels - chittering in trees
+ Owls - hoot in the darkness
+ Pine Woods Snakes - small, slender snakes, ranging from 10 – 13 in (25 – 33 cm). Coloration is generally brownish, ranging from golden brown to reddish brown with a darker head and lighter venter.
+ Fern Hounds
+ Crows
+ Thorn Birds
+ wild mice - scurrying away
+ Insects - such as centipedes, beetles, ladybugs, leaf insects, cicadas, bronze bug, moths, catapillars, worms, fungus gnats, etc.
+ Feathered Rabbit

PLANTS

+ Fungus
+ Corpse Flower
+ Belladonna
+ Hemlock
+ Blood grass
+ Rowan Trees
+ weeping willows
+ ferns
+ palms
+ wild daisies
+ wild lavender
+ Moneywort
+ Wolfsbane
+ daffodils
+ Foxgloves
+ stinging nettle
+ poison Oak
+ strange fungi

Show spoiler

HAZARDS

1 = Giant Spider Webs - sticky entangle
2 = Hidden Wild Dwarf - unseen - (4 spying, 3 sneaky, 2 jump out, 1 fire poison dart)
3 = Shambling Mounds - wild bush
4 = Quicksand
5 = Twig Blights - indistinguishable from a dead shrub
6 = Yellow rocks - simming noise - if touch or lick then vomit bright yellow
7 = Pit trap
8 = Wood Woads - look like tree trunk or wood elemental
9 = Pixie
10 = Myconids - Fungus people
11 = Roots move - stretching out to trip a person up
12 = Vegepygmy
13 = Massive pitcher plants
14 = Treant - looks to be a standard tree
15-16 = strange fungi
17 = Wood Elementals
18 = Roots retrack
19 = Purple Rocks - soft fizzing noise - if touch or lick gain +5 temporary HP (1 hour)
20 = goodberry seeds

---

Natural Resources

Stepping into Echo Woods is to walk through a place of strong Eldritch and other Types of Magic. If a person does not seek their Power Animal or Spirit Familiar, one or both might seek you out - haunting your dreams and watching closely.
FOR EXAMPLE

ANT = The message of an ant is to work with diligence, with conviction, and work with others to forge your dreams and turn them into reality. Despite their tiny size, these little Spirit Animals are immensely tenacious. They have a superior strength of will, and accomplishment can come even in the smallest of packages.
BADGER = The message of a Badger is for you to walk your path at your own pace. In other words, you must have faith in yourself and your abilities. Moreover, trust that you have all the right tools to take on whatever challenge faces you. Also, this spirit animal teaches that you should make sure that you ignore what others may say.
BEETLE = The message of a beetle is asking you to make changes in your life that do not necessarily comply with you being true to yourself. In other words, the Beetle meaning lets you know that you must evaluate the situation in its entirety so that you can find a way to compromise. The presence of this spirit animal means that change will come, whether you want it to or not - Jewel Beetle symbolism is a reminder that life is a series of unexpected moments of joy and beauty in the smallest of packages. Thus this insect teaches us to find beauty in everything. When we focus on this aspect of our lives, we will come home to the joy within us.Insect themed gifts
BOAR = the message of a boar is insisting that you get busy with that project that you have been procrastinating on. In other words, you need to move forward with your life and stop waiting for things to happen. Alternatively, the Boar meaning is prompting you to meet uncomfortable situations head-on. This spirit animal says it is the only way to get clarity and resolve the situation. By doing this, everything sorts out fairly and equitably. Moreover, you will be facing your fears, doing the hard effort, and finding peace with the situation.

History

Banshee

There are tales of battles on the Northern Isle near the Echo Woods, before it became a large quagmire - the battles would become abandoned by soldiers because after hearing wailing in the woods just before tussling with their enemies. Terrified by the thought of a Banshee, known as Desposada, signalling their impending death, they would flee.
Fleeing soldiers would be usually be killed by their enemies, their own armies for desertion or simply by the elements if they stayed in hiding - and with every death the legend of the Banshee would grow and grow.

---

Human Male

The Possession of the Youth
The most famous missing youth found much later - for years has lived in the dangerous Echo Woods. People are not sure how he survived. He only ever gave the name Diego Wilde - who has never been reported missing.
He is a lanky Human male - he refused to tell people where he actually came from, and no one has ever claimed him. No one is certain how he survived in The Echo Woods.

Show spoiler

Diego Wilde was one of the first children that went missing from The Rookery of Farr City, in 1426AG (11 years ago). Diego was thirteen and half years old - the oldest ever taken.

---

Lost Noble

High Elves noble, Isarrel Reyynore - died 100 years ago, at very old age of 436 years old. Isarrel had been very wealthy and bitter in the end.
She had been a beautiful baby. Even quite a delightful child. One time when travelling through the Echo Woods with her father and five siblings - they family were attacked by an angry Treant.
Her mother had died of a mysterious illness, when she was only a lass of 6 years old. The father had taking them to look for a cure. He never returned. The children stayed together - they survived by keeping hidden. Isarrel survived in the Echo Woods for the rest of her life - befriending the Wood Elementals.
Magical death notes find rightful owners - still living.

Type

Woods

Location under

Northern Isle

Owner/Ruler

Thard Harr

* Heart of the Forest
* Animal Spirits
* Spirit Animal Totems list
* Animal Totems List