Welcome to the Root Wilds

Once a tropical paradise, the islands of Tuel now has been absorbed by an unnatural Mangal. Glittering oceans have given way to dark root mazes. Arboreal elves, human survivors, goblin traders, and lizardfolk tribes contend with soul-devouring beasts, devious and potent ancient hags, and unknown horrors for survival. Beasts and plants grow large and live long, and many bear old grudges.   How will you face the jungle? Hunt the beasts that devour your kind? Search for ancient artifacts and lost secrets to restoring balance to the world? Or strike a pact with an ancient evil to hold the jungle at bay?  

The World of Mangal

Mangal is a world of vast floating jungles, isolated from outsiders by ancient magic. Civilization clings to magical trees for protection, but ancient beasts, evil fey, and twisted vegetation dominate the landscape. Venturing into the Wilds is dangerous, made even more so by the strange flow of magic. But the rewards can be great, whether one seeks wealth, ancient power, or clues to the past.   Mangal is a tropical jungle-based dark fantasy setting for Dungeons and Dragons 5th Edition. Most setting content is system-independent, but all stat blocks and rules information will reference that ruleset, including the Dungeons and Dragons Core Rulebooks and Volo's Guide to Monsters.  

Havenwood Trees and Layers of the Jungle

Havenwood are massive trees that tower above canopy around them. With branching trunks reaching hundreds of feet into the air, the trees support massive networks of roots that sprawl for miles in every direction. These trees have long ago ground the islands they sprang from below the surface of the Brine, forming the "ground" of the Root Wilds.   The groves of the Havenwood trees are home to human clans, elven warbands, bats, monkeys, and various other flora and fauna. Many larger boughs are laden with plants and even smaller trees   Cloaked in perpetual shade, the Havenwood roots extend far beyond the sphere of their branches, interweaving to form the only dry land on Mangal: massive mangrove-like islands. The Root Wilds are home to lizardfolk tribes, wild beasts, magical monsters, outcasts, adventurers.  

Isolation and The Flow of Magic

Ancient magic long ago sealed Mangal away. Gods and other extraplanar beings cannot enter, and there are no reliable ways to leave. Spirits of the dead are also trapped, unable to travel to the outer planes. Most are consumed by magical beasts or drawn into magical reservoirs within the Havenwood groves.   Magic runs strongly in the Wilds, but it feels twisted or malicious due to millenia of manipulation by hag magic. This hagblight wears on the long-lived elves, ancient fey, and others drawing on upon the natural magic of the world, slowly corrupting them with its malice. Magic mediated by pacts with magical beings or other sources is better protected from the effects of hagblight.   The sealing away of Mangal also warped the local transitory planes. A small portion of the Border Etherial and Astral Plane melded into a misty echo of Mangal known as the Umbral Mists. This otherworldly plane is difficult to navigate, a chaotic mixture of swirling mists and echos of the material world. Many powerful beings have crafted liars within the Mists molded to their preferences.  

Allies and Adversaries

There are no evil gods, orcish hoards, rampaging dragons, or undead armies on Mangal. Wizard towers, prosperous cities or farmlands, and clerical orders are also absent. Mangal has dangers of its own.

• Fiends. Some ancient fiends remain trapped Mangal. Though weakened from long isolation from their native planes, rituals that allow contact and pacts with these beings are passed down by the Ashen Ring.
• The Elven Paragons. While no substitute for the elven gods of old, these transcendent elven heroes guide elven culture by example, although their individual goals vary greatly.
• Evil Fey. While fey motives are difficult to understand at best, those powerful enough to survive in the Wilds have grown increasingly unpredictable and cruel as the centuries passed. Though hunted relentlessly by elves, powerful hags still dominate much of the Wilds of Mangal.
• Wise Beasts. Predatory beasts that are intelligent and cunning, often both physically and magically potent. The oldest would rival the dragons of other worlds in power and are just as varied in their personalities.