Verduran Forest

The largest woodland in Avistan straddles the borders of Andoran, Galt, and Taldor. Despite existing at the crux of several major powers, the resident druids, gnomes, and fey within the Verduran Forest maintain a large degree of autonomy from the surrounding lands.

Taldor long ago came to terms with its woodland neighbors through the Treaty of the Wildwood, which established peaceful and mutually beneficial terms for logging and preservation alike. Residents of the Andoren portion of the forest, however, have found themselves in a growing conflict with loggers and the Lumber Consortium, especially as impending war has driven up demand for raw timber throughout the region. Only the efforts of the gnomes of Wispil, in accordance with the Treaty of the Wildwood, have prevented similar tensions with Taldor, whose shipbuilding has also increased demand on Verduran timber.

Long isolationist, the Wildwood druids have nevertheless found new allies in recent years. Some of Kyonin’s first overtures beyond their borders were to the Verduran Forest, given the two cultures’ shared appreciation for natural lands. The elves provide the Wildwood Lodge with current information on the outside world—an increasing necessity, as the forest’s proximity to Absalom means it will have little chance to remain neutral in any conflict with the Whispering Tyrant. A growing number of Rivethun dwarves from the Five Kings Mountains have also begun traveling to the Verduran Forest for mentorship.

THE GREEN FAITH

The Green Faith predates any empire, and for ages its worshippers—usually druids, though also the occasional primal sorcerer or cleric—have claimed the Verduran Forest as a center of worship. The Wildwood Lodge is the oldest and best-known of these orders, holding the Isle of Arenway as a particularly sacred site and defending the forest as a whole from interlopers.

DOMINICUS RELL