Greenwood Forest is an old temperate woodland in The Barony of Varbis, located near Greenwood's original ground-site and the new resort settlement of Long Rest. The forest gave the original lumber town of Greenwood its name and remains one of the most culturally and historically important wild regions in the Barony.
Although not as vast or untamed as the great wildlands of the Free Lands, Greenwood Forest is old, watchful, and politically complicated. Small elven villages are scattered beneath its canopy, alongside foresters, hunters, herbalists, hidden druids, and old paths that predate the Barony's current political order.
The forest is remembered for three major events:
- The rise of the original Greenwood lumber town.
- The animal attacks blamed on evil druids before the intervention of Team Small.
- The raising of Greenwood into the sky, which left behind the crater that later became Long Rest.
| Field | Details |
|---|---|
| Name | Greenwood Forest |
| Type | Temperate Forest / Elven Woodland / Historic Barony Region |
| Region | The Barony of Varbis |
| Nearby Settlements | Greenwood, Long Rest |
| Known Inhabitants | Small elven villages, foresters, hunters, herbalists, druids, rangers, woodcutters, pilgrims |
| Primary Faiths | Talic, Brian, local ancestor rites, small hidden Corinettan traditions |
| Political Status | Barony territory, but locally negotiated with elven villages and forest communities |
| Known For | Old lumber routes, elven hamlets, animal attack legends, druidic controversy, proximity to Long Rest |
| Current Tone | Beautiful, wary, partially healed, politically sensitive |
Description
Greenwood Forest is a rolling woodland of old oaks, greenwood trees, ash, birch, moss-covered stone, narrow streams, hidden glades, and half-forgotten trails. Its edges are open enough for hunters, woodcutters, and travelers, but its deeper interior is harder to navigate.
The forest is not uniformly wild. It contains:
* Small elven villages.
* Old lumber roads.
* Abandoned druid camps.
* Greenwood-era logging scars.
* Barony trail markers.
* Hidden shrines to Talic.
* Moonlit Brianite waystones.
* Forest watch posts.
* Medicinal herb groves.
* Stone circles that may predate the Barony.
* Strange clearings where the sky appears slightly too large.
Many locals claim the forest has been quieter since the purification of Long Rest, but not entirely at peace.
History
The Old Forest and the Lumber Town
Before Greenwood became a flying city, it was a small lumber town near Greenwood Forest. The town depended on the forest for timber, hunting, charcoal, herbs, and trade. This relationship was never entirely peaceful. The town needed wood; the forest communities needed restraint.
The earliest disputes were ordinary ones:
- Overcutting.
- Hunting rights.
- Road construction.
- Sacred groves.
- Elven territorial claims.
- Human settlers expanding too quickly.
- Barony officials misunderstanding old forest customs.
Despite these tensions, Greenwood Forest and the town of Greenwood were tied together for generations.
The Animal Attacks
Before the intervention of Team Small, the original town of Greenwood was plagued by violent animal attacks. These attacks were blamed on evil druids operating in and around the forest.
The official Barony version says that corrupt druids stirred the beasts against the town. The forest version is more complicated. Some elves and rangers believe the druids may have been guilty; others believe Team Small and King Varbis I acted too quickly and arrested many who knew nothing of the attacks.
| Theory | Supporters | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Evil Druid Theory | Barony officials, old Greenwood families | Corrupt druids weaponized beasts against the lumber town. |
| Forest Retaliation Theory | Some elves, Talicite hardliners | The attacks were the forest reacting to overcutting, not deliberate druidic evil. |
| False Blame Theory | Younger elven villagers, some historians | Innocent druids were blamed because the town needed an answer. |
| Elemental Disturbance Theory | Long Rest scholars | The same magic that later raised Greenwood may have been disturbing local beasts before the city rose. |
| Team Small Theory | Cynics | Team Small solved the immediate problem and did not care much whether the explanation was correct. |
The Arrest of the Druids
Team Small oversaw the building of a palisade around old Greenwood and convinced King Varbis I to arrest the druids within the town. The animal attacks stopped soon afterward.
This event remains one of the deepest wounds in Greenwood Forest's local memory. The Barony generally remembers it as a necessary security action. The elven villages remember it as a moment when fear, politics, and mercenary power overruled older relationships with the forest.
The Raising of Greenwood
When Mephisto and Yark raised Greenwood into the sky, the forest lost the town that had once stood at its edge. In its place remained a massive crater, unstable magic, and decades of elemental incursions.
Some forest elders believe the raising wounded not only the earth, but the memory of the forest itself. Certain groves are said to lean toward the crater, as if still watching the place where the town vanished.
Long Rest and the Healing of the Crater
After the heroes of the Wagon Train Expedition purified the elemental corruption, the old crater was developed into Long Rest. This changed Greenwood Forest's future.
The forest now borders a resort lake, a Magnorite cathedral, and a growing settlement built on the site of an old magical wound. Some elven villages welcome the healing. Others worry that the Barony has simply made the wound beautiful enough to sell.
Elven Villages
Greenwood Forest contains several small elven villages. These are not great cities or military powers. They are modest, hidden, self-governing communities built around old trees, streams, family groves, and moonlit clearings.
Most villages avoid drawing attention from the Barony. They trade when useful, guide travelers when trusted, and disappear when threatened.
Villages
| Village | Description | Notes and Hooks |
|---|---|---|
| Silverbough | A small moonlit elven village built around pale-barked trees. | Likely honors Brian and keeps old night-paths through the forest. |
| Briarvale | A hidden settlement protected by thorn hedges and trained forest animals. | Its elders may know more about the original animal attacks than they admit. |
| Mossglen | A quiet village near medicinal springs and herb groves. | Trades with Long Rest's healers and may cooperate with Evelyn Whiteshield's cathedral. |
| Thalan's Rest | A memorial hamlet founded after the druid arrests. | Contains names of those taken by King Varbis I's soldiers. |
| Greenhollow | A partially abandoned village near the old crater rim. | Some residents left after the elemental incursions and have not returned. |
Religion
| Talic | Talic is the most common divine presence in Greenwood Forest. He is honored through animal rites, planting songs, hunting limits, and forest stewardship. Talicite worship in the forest is not always organized into formal druid circles. Many villagers practice household rites, seasonal observances, and quiet offerings at old trees |
| Brian | Brian is honored by elves who travel at night, keep moonlit paths, guard hidden doorways, or maintain relations with drow, duergar, lycanthropes, and other unusual peoples. Brianite waystones may mark safe night roads through the forest |
| Magnore | Magnore has gained influence since the founding of Long Rest. Some elven villages respect Magnore's role in healing and balancing the old crater wound, especially those that trade herbs and medicines with the North Shore cathedral. However, Magnore's lawful, ledger-focused clergy can make forest traditionalists uneasy |
| Lady Corinette | Lady Corinette is not politically popular in much of the Barony, but small private traditions may survive among elven singers, mourners, and families who preserve laments for the arrested druids. These rites are usually quiet and domestic rather than public |
Relations with Nearby Settlements
Greenwood
The relationship between Greenwood Forest and Greenwood is old, strange, and unresolved. The forest gave the town its name, then watched that town become a flying city.
Some villagers see Greenwood as a marvel. Others see it as a theft from the earth.
Possible points of tension:
- Old logging rights.
- Responsibility for the crater wound.
- Memories of the druid arrests.
- Greenwood tourism spilling into the forest.
- Team Small's continued influence.
- Mephisto's old magic.
- The question of whether the flying city still owes anything to the land below.