Uskwood

The Uskwood is a large hardwood forest located entirely within the shadowy nation of Nidal. Little is known about this country as its inhabitants do not welcome foreigners, and even less about the forest which surrounds its capital, Pangolais.

History

Over countless millennia, Zon-Kuthon's followers have meticulously molded and guided this ancient forest, creating a sinister and foreboding woodland that does not quite fit the conventional definition of "wild" like many of Avistan's untouched forests. Instead, it has been cultivated into a nightmarish garden.

Places of interest

An elven druid of the Uskwood stages an ambush with his shadow hound companion.

• Castle of the Captive Sun: Volsazni Dezarr's rural residence is renowned not only within Nidal but also beyond its borders for housing a notable array of artifacts and sacred marvels associated with light. Equally famous are the unconventional visitors that this vampiric nobleman hosts within his estate.
• Crosspine: Situated along the southeastern edge of the Uskwood, this village stands out due to its distinctive practice of guiding a remarkably elevated proportion of its youth into the paths of arcane and druidic learning.
• House of Lies: This vast fortress-like estate overlooks the Usk River and serves as the gathering place for the Guild of Liars, a society of storytellers and con artists.
• Lost Lodge: This secret but forgotten Desnan safehouse contains supplies, weapons, and relics of the Song of Spheres, but is surrounded by a nest of deathwebs, placed there by Shades of the Uskwood druids centuries ago.
• Pangolais: White cobbled streets shine like muted moonlight beneath arched cathedrals and grand academies adorned with rose windows in Nidal's capital.
• Shadow Caverns: This entrance to the Darklands is guarded by the umbral dragon Visceroth and his xulgath servants and is the primary conduit for the slave trade between Nidal and the realms below.
• Shadowreach: This seemingly bucolic hunting lodge is avoided by all due to the dangerous shadow creatures that hunt in the nearby woodlands.
• Summer Grove: Reachable solely in midsummer and absent the rest of the year, this hidden glade exudes beauty and tranquility. Wildflowers and lush grasses thrive beneath fragrant linden and sweet cherry trees. The albino Uskwood druids and their spiders have never disrupted this place.
• Sunless Pond: This supernatural spring was gifted by the god Zon-Kuthon himself shortly after Earthfall, and feeds a pond whose dark water has plant growth-enhancing properties. This water is collected and sold by the Shades of the Uskwood druids.
• Uskheart: This location within Uskwood is the center of the circle of druids known as the Shades of the Uskwood.
• Winter Garden: Formerly owned by a member of the Umbral Court, this cottage and the land around it are now surrounded by disorienting mists and unending snowfall.

Inhabitants

A druidic order known as the Shades of the Uskwood, all worshipers of Zon-Kuthon, dwell at the heart of Uskwood. These albino druids (those not born with albinism lose their pigmentation during the initiation ceremony) carry with them powerful effigies of hair, twigs, and blood that each crawl with the terrible cold of the Midnight Lord's hallowed hunting grounds. They specialise in cold magic and are forbidden to evoke fire magic.

It is suggested that redcaps are able to do as they please within the Uskwood, whether that is simply roaming widely through the forest or murdering their victims and retreating to their well-hidden lairs.

References

For additional as-yet unincorporated sources about this subject, see the Meta page.