Shadewood

Considered the second oldest forests in all of known Zimildran (the oldest being the great Bukmar in the northern Snow Marches), the Shadewood is truly a place of fear and malice. Home to almost as many ferocious dinosaurs as Ukinda itself, hunters tend to stay away from the Shadewood due to its dark forest floor, and the unnatural presence that lurks within it, whether it is called a spiritual presence, or simply a profound unsettling atmosphere. Traveling in the Shadewood can create some threatening encounters with wildlife such as tarbosaurs, baryonyx, dimetrodons, postosuchus, and carnotaurus.

The true size of the Shadewood is unknown, but it is regarded as the largest expanse of forest in all of Zimildran. Its dark canopy can be seen as far north as the Falls of Ettrem and the Spinecliffs, east as Gateway Island, south as Shadownet Cove and west as the highest buildings in Jinshu Kong. It is a reminder of the dangers of the southeast, and also referred to as the ‘Dark Corner of Zimildran.’ Yet it isn’t without its marvels, or mysteries. What Terekor ruins exist in other parts of Zimildran, they are nothing compared to those found in the depths of the Shadewood. While the Geistgate is still the most in-tact ruin from ancient times, crumbling archways, scattered cobblestones, and remnants of building foundations are seen almost hourly in the depths of the Shadewood. To any learned folk, it is obvious that the Shadewood itself represents the very heart of the Terekor empire, even though at present there is little to show for it other than scattered ruins of once great city streets. The greatest of these ruins that gets regular visitation is known as Zabimi Moko.

Yet the shadows of the Shadewood conceal other great mysterious structures that the world at large is unaware of. The prison of the Ancient One, Marakoth, is buried thousands of feet below the Shadewood, and has four simple, crumbling entrances at various points in the great forest. The once wondrous Terekor city, Izal’shommak, commands a great area in the far east of the Shadewood, and houses the largest collection of undisturbed Terekor artifacts, including a handful of working, though dormant, clockwork golems. The Grove of the Wardens, a hidden shrine at the wood’s center, is the spiritual doorway to the home of the mysterious enclave known as the Wardens who protect the natural world and guard it against the Ancient Ones. And finally, there exists a temple as old as Zimildran itself, a testament to the Five Kings of Zimildran, and within dwells the spirit of Tikandu Laro, Lord of the Titans, who commands the Five Kings in their endless slumber and their waking rage.