Place of No Stars: additional forests
The Bleeding Trees / The Crying Trees
This is a forest that is made up of trees that seem to leak...maybe bleed or even cry--due to a a red sap that spills from them whenever they are scratched...or sometimes out of nowhere at all, as if weeping.
There's debate over whether it's accurate to say that the trees are bleeding or crying. Those who don't simply say that it's nothing but sap argue that its colouration must mean blood. Others point out the strange wailing-like sound that always flows on the wind in this area, louder and harsher wherever the trees seem to be bleeding more.
Some who have gone here never dared to return, claiming that they heard the cries of their victims sobbing all around, as if hiding behind every tree all at once. Whether that's a product of the forest itself or the resident's own guilt could only be known by those willing to enter the woods.
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Inspo:
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Timeless Woods
Many new residences are attracted to this area at first glance. Unlike most of the Dark Forest, it's not too dark. The sky almost looks blue. The deeper you go, the more vivid the colours are, the more you're sure that's a real blue sky above you. Maybe if you keep going, you'll end up back in the living world...
Too, the deeper you go, the longer and longer the trees get. Most cats don't notice it at first, transfixed by the blue sky. But in time the trees grow so long that they reach even higher than the eye could see. Yet, none ever hold branches. Slim wooden bodies stretch endlessly in fixed lines. And when cats finally notice and look around them, they see that the ground has changed, too. When they look down, they see...trees stretching endlessly, reaching past a blue sky...Surely just a reflection. A trick of the light.
Cats could wander this forest for ages. They could walk until their claws grow the length of their whiskers, could stay in this forest for countless generations. But when they leave--if they manage to, it's like no time passed at all, an occurrence that breaks their mind more than the solitude itself.
There is only one passageway into this forest, only one way to get in or out.
If you want to get out, pray that you remember the way.
*Note: likely within or close to The Sward
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Dancing Forest
Though not nearly as unsettling as The Crying/Bleeding Trees or as dangerous as the Timeless Woods, the Dancing Forest can still stir quite a fright, especially to the new residences.
The trees in this area never stay still, yet no one can ever see them move. They change shape, twisting, bending, and turning while a cat's back is turned. This change doesn't just affect the trees, but the forest itself--changing smells, rock formations, even the shape of a single blade of grass, so that a cat cannot rely on any of their senses to find their way. Even clawing into a piece of bark won't work, as it will just disappear.
Those who are aware of this phenomenon prior to entering the forest are often simply spooked if they can keep their head, while those who aren't can experience intense anxiety as they wonder just where they are and what is going on.
Note: also possibly close to The Sward
Bonus: Dead Willows
These trees are not set in specific areas. Instead, they are dotted around. Running into one is incredibly uncommon, as they appear randomly--as if the tree itself is choosing when and where to appear, and to who.
These trees are the most deadliest of all.
When a tree appears to someone, they are beckoned. No one knows just what they see or why it controls them so well, because no one who has ever seen a Dead Willow has survived.
The tree lures cats in, guiding them until they stand at the highest branch. Then, the cats jump off, perfectly landing on their neck, the same exact angle somehow killing every single victim.
There is never a witness to these deaths. The affected cats are always caught alone. Due to this and the trees only appearing to cats that immediately die, very few, if anyone, are aware about this danger at all.
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