Travelers and traders from Louvain tour the entire southern half of the Beast World from riverboats on the Quest River until reaching their destination at the far end of Vinyot. This wide, gentle estuary is surrounded by a forest of maple trees and the Witch City of Porta Strega.
Porta Strega earns its name from the peculiarities of its surrounding woodland. Whatever aspect of nature keeping the real world separate from the Netherworld is thinner here, making the forest an intersection of natural and ghostly forces. (For more information about witches and ghosts, see page 198.) The emotions of a willful creature are normally necessary for the creation of a ghost. In the woods around Porta Strega, a quiet-minded animal’s violent death or some other shock can leave an imprint on the Netherworld.
These feral ghosts are unusually powerful within the treeline of the Strega Woods. They manifest as they like, appearing as herds of pale lights at night, flying through the leaves and darting across the treeline.
Thankfully, the mysterious cause of their presence also allows them to calm from the wild outburst of their creation. Porta Stregans are nevertheless known for preferring a salad over a steak. Fate is best left untempted.