Asphodel (ἀσφόδελ)

"There are places in this world where even the Gods have no reach. The land touched by the shadow of that tree - nothing good ever came from."

— Unknown Vagrant

  Asphodel is the name given to the wide expanse of plains located in the east of Helthoria, just south of the Dunvjall Gorge. The location is mainly known for the giant sitting at its centre; but as of late, it is known for the sickness that fell upon that very tree, killing it and corrupting the lands surrounding.  

History

  Following the great Cataclysm, the land was brought back into commission by the gods that remained following the convergance of the realms. To the north, the gods built mountains; to the south, great expanses of water and plateaued landscapes - and in the centre of the world, the plains.
  At the very centre of these plains was planted a tree by the goddess Kelene, which grew and flourished, casting a great shadow across the plains that would soon form a grove in which the dryads and nymphs under her watchful eye would go on to reside. The tree acted as Kelene's tie to the realm; a powerful, steady force that would keep her power and her gifts to the dryads strong. Around the plains circled a great ring of trees, like a barrier between the Great Oak and the rest of the land.
  For hundreds of years, Asphodel remained as a beacon of prosperity, tended to by the gentle dryads and overseen by the goddess of the wild. It wasn't until the high priestess, a Seer by the name of Zephana, sensed the coming of a great sickness within the Great Oak, within their community's life force. Though the vision was obscured to her, she knew that something was to happen to the tree that stood at the epicentre of Asphodel.
  Just as was forseen, the tree began to show signs of a horrible disease that quickly began to overtake it. The dryads tried all they could to keep their great gift from the goddess Kelene alive, but despite their efforts, it was only enough to slow the spread enough for them to prepare their exodus from Asphodel.
  As the sickness spread through the tree, so it spread to the surrounding area - encasing Asphodel in a veil of destruction. The ones who lived there had but one choice; to take what they had and move west, where the woods remained alive. As quickly as they had all fled, a sudden, terrible darkness overtook the entirety of the plains - as though the goddess herself had left alongside her people out of weariness for whatever had overtaken the land.
  To this day, the around the tree remains a barren, dead landscape, and the barrier of forrest in immediate proximety to the tree remains dead and still. No one from the outside dares set foot in for fear of what dark presences had taken over. It is said that since the dryads fled, dangerous monsters from the surrounding area had begun to be drawn to it like moths to a flame. The only inhabitable area is said to be the outskirts, where the dead forest meets the living trees; but even there only the bravest, or perhaps most foolish, will ever set foot.