The Myrwood
A twilight realm where daylight filters through violet leaves
Environment & Atmosphere
The Myrwood is unlike any other forest in Aeonar - a twilight realm where daylight filters through violet leaves, and phosphorescent fungi bloom like lanterns in the dusk. The air is rich with Aether residue, the lingering breath of an Aeonic experiment gone awry or divine gift gone wild.
• Trees possess bioluminescent veins; some even sing faintly when the wind passes through
• Enchanted spores drift like slow snow - inhaling them too deeply causes vivid visions of the past or glimpses of alternate futures
• Wildlife includes luminous elk, crystal-winged butterflies, and the Vulpis - pale, semi-translucent foxes believed to guide lost travelers to safety... or doom
Historical Origins
Dominion historians say this was once a magical test site during the late Aeonic Empire, where experiments with Aether biota were meant to create self-sustaining ecosystems. Others whisper that this is where The Breath first touched the world - a divine remnant that reshapes nature around it.
The Order of Genesis claims to have "rights of stewardship" over the Myrwood, but few dare enter without protection from the Order of Shadowborn.
Geographic Context
The Myrwood sits just south of the Dead Lands, marking the border between ruin and renewal. It serves as a natural metaphor for rebirth after devastation: the land scarred by the Cataclysm grows strange but alive again. Symbolically, it shows that Aether, while dangerous, can create beauty as easily as destruction.
Legends & Myths
Even the most disciplined Arcanum scholars won't travel into the depths of the Myrwood since Lysara and her research team disappeared over 50 years ago
The Whispering Queen
Said to be the spirit of Lysara, cautioning wandering Myrkin away from the heart of the Myrwood. Myrkin pilgrims believe her essence was absorbed by the spores and that she now speaks through the forest's hum. Travelers claim to hear a woman's voice guiding them away from danger - or deeper into it. Offerings are left at the forest's edge to "appease the Queen's curiosity."
The Violet Stag
An ethereal creature glimpsed before storms or during storms, its antlers dripping violet light. The Dominion calls it a myth; locals call it an omen. Hunters say if the stag meets your gaze, you will never find your way out of the forest again - researchers are terrified it is one of the failed experiments witnessed during Lysara's failed expedition.
The Guardian of the Heart - Orryx
Deep in the forest lies the Labyrinth of Roots, a maze grown, not built. At its center sleeps the Guardian - a creature once human, now bound in fungus and crystal. It was a soldier of the Aeonic Empire, the first to be tested in the Project Mycofauna trials. The Myrkin call it Orryx, "the Rooted One."
Every century, the forest feeds it new victims to keep it dreaming. Those who wander too deep hear heavy breathing underfoot and feel the earth pulse in rhythm with their heartbeats - until the two beats become one. The forest does not need walls; it has Orryx.
The Lysara Incident
Over 50 years ago
Archmage Lysara Vael of the Order of Genesis led an expedition into the Myrwood Peninsula to locate and study a rumored Aeonic ruin believed to have been a bio-research facility - one of the legendary Bio-Forges of the fallen empire.
Day 6 - Loss of Signal
All spell-recorder contact with the expedition abruptly ceased. The last image transmitted depicted motion blur and bursts of violet light - followed by shapes moving through the fog: animal silhouettes, but humanoid in stance, with bioluminescent spines.
Day 10 - Second Expedition
A retrieval force led by Archmage Rellan Dhor of Tempest was dispatched. Upon entering the Myrwood's outer perimeter, they found evidence of rapid ecological mutation: trees fused by fungal membranes. The deeper they went, the more twisted the giant mushroom forest around them became.
Day 13 - The First Attack
Creatures resembling elk, wolves, and primates - each covered in pulsating fungal growths - attacked with coordinated tactics. Survivors retreated deeper, following a vibration source believed to be the Bio-Forge.
Day 15 - Discovery of Bio-Forge Nine
The team located a temple-like structure marked with the sigil of the Aeonic Empire. Interior murals revealed "Project Mycoanimus" - diagrams of hybrid organisms merged with fungal and Aetheric matrices. The entire facility was powered by a central core: a column of crystal intertwined with living mycelium.
Day 16 - The Extraction
The ruin was surrounded by hundreds of fungal beasts. Three Dominion dragons dropped from the clouds, their fire washing over the clearing as they extracted survivors. Only three survived. They left the forest behind, but it did not leave them - the spores grew in their blood, patient and remembering.