Labyrinths Dream Forest

Farthest east lies Glimmerdeep, the Jeweled River, whose deep crystalline waters are home to several clans of Naiads along its winding course. Near the center of the forest are a trio of lakes, the Trine. The southwestern lake is called Starmere, for the glassy smoothness of its surface, which at night seems to fill with the pinpoint fire of every star above. To the southeast lies Cloudmere, named for the luminescent algae that is native to its depths. Both of the two southerly lakes are home to aquatic elves. Farthest to the north lies Silvernode, from which the Silvervein River flows southward into the edge of the Storm – and perhaps beyond. The waters of the Silvernode and Silvervein reflect the sky with mirror accuracy, making it near impossible to see below the surface. No creature calls the Silvervein home, due to the tendency for strange creatures to wander up it from the Storm, but the Silvernode itself is jealously guarded by a race of highly aggressive merfolk.

The last two main rivers of the Forest are the Murkwater, and the furthest easterly river, the Stormwater. Both of these rise from a deep, powerful underground spring, which on one side flows down into the Perse Fens as a swampy morass that shifts course regularly and bears no name. On the other side, the flood splits into the two rivers and flows toward and into the Mystical Storm, housing various creatures escaped from it. The spring rises from sediments that stain the water, and the churning Murkwater is named for its dark brown tone; Additional deposits cause the slower Stormwater to seem stained by the crimson mists of the Storm itself, on cloudy days often resembling a stream of blood. A lesser deposit of the crimson sediments results in the section that flows into the Fens being suffused with the red-brown color of dried blood.

The forest itself, from the Trine south and west, is dominated by elven races, villages near the center, and nomadic groups of near the edges. The Labyrinthian Rangers are a highly respected group, for their unceasing vigilance in patrolling those areas near where the land vanishes into the Storm, to keep the rest of the forest safe. North and east of the Trine, Kirre dwell, massive psionic tiger-like creatures with eight legs, horns, and a barbed tail. Vicious in the extreme, they are a predatory race who won’t hesitate to make a meal of another intelligent creature, and are extremely jealous of their territory. In turn, their meat and fur are both prized by other races. By mutual agreement, the Kirre and Elves tend to avoid each other, even working together sometimes to quell a particularly difficult threat; But neither hesitates to take the opportunity to remove one of the other race, if the chance presents itself.

Very little comes from the sections of the woods dominated by the Kirre except for an occasional pelt, but trade goods flow from the elven territories in myriad forms, from rare plant life, to magnificent live-wood musical instruments, to highly trained riding horses, war dogs, and war horses. Very few of the latter two are sold outside the Labyrinths Dream Forest, almost invariably becoming the property of the Rangers to aid them in there unceasing vigilance, and it is almost as rare for anyone not of the elven natives to acquire an elven riding horse. The Forest’s denizens protect what is there’s; Just as the Kirre twist a wanderer’s mind astray, frequently to the stranger’s demise, so too the elves play glamours upon intruders, leading them a merry chase through reality and illusion and, as often as not, leading them back out to find themself where they started from. Between the two, the woodland has gained a name for mystery and confusion. The Labyrinths Dream Forest.