Wildersung Wood
Deep within the melodious lands of Kartakass sprawls the Wildersung Wood, a forest unlike any other in the Domains of Dread. Straight-limbed and pale-barked, the trees of Wildersung stretch toward the sky like ancient tuning forks, resonating with sound rather than merely observing it. The air here is still, heavy with anticipation, and filled with the uncanny sensation that every whisper, every breath, every footfall is being recorded.
Wildersung Wood is a hushed cathedral of bark and echo, where every sound is sacred and every secret is stored. It is Kartakass distilled—beautiful, haunting, and always listening.
“Sing true in Wildersung, for the wood sings back with all the voices of the dead.”
Geography
The trees of Wildersung bear smooth, silvery bark that reflects sound in strange and unnatural ways. A shout doesn’t just echo—it repeats, delayed by heartbeats, warped into harmony, or dissonantly overlapped with older sounds.
- A spoken word might return as a different voice.
- Footsteps might sound behind a traveler long after they've stopped walking.
- Entire conversations seem to replay at twilight—dialogues no living soul remembers having.
Wanderers who spend too long within the wood sometimes report hearing their own secrets whispered back to them in song.
Localized Phenomena
Local lore claims the forest remembers every sound it has ever heard. Birds mimic not just other birds, but specific people from decades past. The wind rustles the branches with rhythms matching forgotten lullabies. It’s said the Wildersung Wood is a living archive, preserving the emotional resonance of Kartakass itself.
Some believe the forest is an extension of the land’s obsession with performance—a natural audience, immortal and impartial, that never forgets a line.
Despite its beauty, Wildersung Wood is a place of psychic peril. Musicians who play within it often become entranced, improvising feverishly for unseen listeners until they collapse or vanish into the trees.
The echoes can drive intruders to madness, especially when the forest chooses to reflect their deepest fears or most painful memories back to them. Creatures drawn to sound—both beast and unnatural spirit—lurk beneath the forest’s canopy, using mimicry to lure the unwary astray.
Tourism
Some performers seek out the wood for inspiration, believing that if they listen closely, they might learn a lost masterpiece or commune with the memory of Kartakan greats. A few have returned, their compositions haunted and brilliant. Most are never heard from again.
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