The Dark Forest

The Dark Forest is a deep and forbidding wood located west of Ostirmirk at the base of the Bleeding Spine Mountains.

Over the years, there have been many attempts to map this tangle of roots and branches, but those who dare to venture too far into the forest are never seen again. Indeed, it's almost as though the forest itself is alive and resisting such efforts to make sense of it.

Those who manage to venture into the forest and return are never quite the same. Their minds bend and break attempting to understand what they witnessed, but they consistently have described "a cold that transcends time itself." Given that these same fellows are usually suffering from severe cases of frostbite, such a notion is not without merit.

The Spinemangler Clan
The Dark Forest is foreboding, but mere environmental hazards aren't the only concern for those who would seek to venture inside. The savage Spinemangler Clan of beastmen have declared the forest their territory, and they defend it with a vicious ferocity that can only be described as unnatural.

They will, occasionally, spring forth from the forest to harass trade caravans, meaning that the more learned caravan guides will give the forest a wide berth. Such inconveniences, however, have attracted the attention of Ostirmirk's trade guilds. The guilds have financed several expeditions into the Dark Forest in an attempt to root out the beastmen menace, but every attempt has met with limited success.

To this day, the Spinemangler Clan remains an elusive, persistent threat, but have yet to challenge the might of any of Ascaria's nations in the open. One hopes that they never do so.