Harken Dal Nystiere

Thorn Choked Wastes; a Moaning Well

The Harken Dal Nystiere marks the end of any sort of normlacy for the Dragondown Coast. A vast rainforest regions consisting of a near-impenetrable canopy, fierce rains and stone-like trees. It would seem almost normal, where it not for the presence of corruptive magics. So powerful that it mutated the forest’s flora and fauna, causing them to sprout wicked thorns or grow unusually large - surrounding the entirity of the Harken Wilds with a maze of broken hills, briar-choked ravines, and dry, dusty scrubland. These give way to windswept gravelly hills as one goes farther south and west.

Even the broken savanna surrounding the Witchwood hosts af diverse scents, such as fresh rain or snow, blooming flowers, or other pleasant and natural aromas. Yet those who stalk these rainforest floors, however, take those natural odors and twist them into something foul. Plantlife rots and withers, drained of life by parasitic fungi and suffocating vines or brambles. The dense fog and forest canopy cause these acrid smells to thicken, becoming a humid stench of corruption. Even the wind, which is usually a harbinger of reprieve from such terrible odors, only manages to stir and strengthen them.

It is said that even the spirits and ancestors seem lost here.
Becoming twisted and hungry things when they linger too long.

Old Machines have sunken into the thornwastes surrounding the Harken Dal Nystiere; while naturalist wizards who seek to purge the unwraveling magics of the place are corrupted into dangerous beastial monsters. And even the most seasoned frontiersman can cause their senses to betray them - causing hallucinations to appear in the trees and shadows. Venturing into the Harken Dal Nystiere is considered foolhardy by most, but the most courageous adventurers can find long-buried secrets and powerful rewards for their bravery.

Geography

The Great Braided Tree

A tall, multi-leveled woven structure near the center of the Harken Wilds. It is a A network of trees stretch high into the sky, creating the ancient tree that looms tall over the rest of the forest. The crown of this amalgamation of trees appears to be a great flower, looking out over the southern reachs of the Dragondown Coast.

The Tomb of Dreams

A mysterious dome that currently houses a group of bandits who never sleep. Their listlessness may be attirbuted to a powerful mix of hallucinogenic gases they forcibly inhale. They are able to survive even the most grevious wounds caused by the Harken Wilds, and whisper adulation to Parilment of Yearnings.

The Monastery of Primor Meliaganz

An ancient Monastery of the Nerathilord of Rebirth, dedicated to her champion whose bones are interred here annually as decreed by her exarch. Pilgrims dressed in topaz colored rags who bear large covers on their back make trips from the Monastery to the lands south of the Dragondown Coast - yet fewer return every year. It is believed these Meliaganz Pilgrims have become seedbeds for spreading darkness.

Navigation is difficult within the morass, because of the dense fog and bramble thickets. Few settlements, if any, can be found within a given forest as a result of its corruptive influences, and any roads or paths that may have once existed there are quickly overgrown and hidden. Even experienced navigators need a healthy measure of luck to traverse such a forest, and even then, they’re just as likely as the next traveler to fall prey to the many horrors lurking within the shadows and fog.

Alternative Name(s)

The Harekn Wilds; The Witchwoods;

Type

Jungle

Legends said that in the depths of the Witchwood is a bizarre extradimensional space full of weird monsters and strange magical effects holds creatures from all planes of existence since the Era of the Shifting Lands. A pyramid seemingly shaped from shadows that may very well be one of many infernal prisons created to confine powerful beings. Existing beyond space and time, appearing in multiple places in the world and planes beyond.