dungeons and dragons notes part 1: the third moth empire and the underwoods
the great forest in the middle of the continent bears the distinction of having the greatest deal of merchant traffic in the region. this is, in part, due to the relative lack of monsters in the forest, as well as the fact that travelers in the forest find themselves arriving at their destinations with a greater degree of swiftness than would be expected, given the size of the forest. abnormally, however, some types of divination and transportation magic tend to fail in and around the forest.
what is lesser known is that the forest is also distinguished by being the center of the now thousand-year-dead third moth empire, and the site of their greatest magical workings. the third moth empire is abnormal next to the preceding and succeeding empires in that it left comparatively few ruins, despite its extensive use of artificer-made wonders. this is, in part, due to the rise of several major druidic orders immediately after the fall, who returned most of the empire’s constructions and artifice back to nature.
the druids were, however, unable to dismantle the greatest working of the moths: the great forest itself. the part of the forest that most travelers see is in fact a splinter of the feywild, seemingly bound into the material plane (thereby causing magic which fails across planar boundaries to fail in the forest) by a great ring of standing stones. the forest itself is interspersed with smaller stone constructions, some of which, if touched in a particular way, produce a limited plane shift effect to send the user to the material plane. more specifically, the part of the material plane covered up by the portal, a darker forest lit only by further stone constructions, which glow with a soft yellow light. this is the underwoods, and it boasts no inhabitants aside from the fox tribes (detailed in a future post), who often return to the great forest to hunt and forage for resources, new recruits, and food.
the reason the third empire constructed such a massive planar construct remains unknown, though some theories include a desire to create more arable land for agriculture, to speed up travel through the region, or perhaps to create additional space in which to construct cities.
any questions or requests for clarification would be appreciated.