Fernside Hollow

Before the city of Hightrees at Watermeet, the valley of Fernside Hollow was the origin and most significant place of worship for the Elenga faith. The faith originated from a vision of the god Säntonil-sugan by Tyrkir Ingisson, a explorer and scout for the Kjerforin Land Survey.

“It was my first impression that the shape of the forest indicated a mountain, which I found curious, as there was no reason for a mountain to be there. On my approach, the ground sloped downwards and I soon found myself in a strange kind of garden, dwarfed by very everyday plants grown to massive size.”

— Tyrkir Ingisson

At the bottom of the valley, in a spot where two rivers meet, Ingisson encountered the tutelary deity of the hollow.

“Xe appeared, at first, to be a shrub of some kind, bent as if grown on a cliffside. When xe moved, I could see a figure within the shrubbery: that of a gravid man. As I approached in some kind of Dream, xe called out to me by name, speaking in perfect Skretti with the accent of my hometown.”

— Tyrkir Ingisson

It was there, at the watermeet, that Ingisson became the founder of Elenga, a faith which has spread across the region with the seeds that each adherent carries.

The phenomenal growth of the local flora continues, with the trees - the largest of which are several metres in diameter - providing the structure of the treehouse-city of Hightrees at Watermeet. The fauna are also affected by the divine aura of the place; fortunately, not becoming even more massive in size than they already are, but becoming absent. Birds and insects proliferate, but the predators and large herbivores that are endemic to the wilds avoid the hollow, making it a kind of refuge. The largest predators are foxes and kites, which prey on mice and birds, and the largest herbivores are boar.