“Speak not the names of the lost, for the forest has taken them. When wayward souls cross the boundary from their world to wander among the oak, ash, and thorn, they belong to the trees. Dry your eyes. The Elderwood weeps for them now.”
- Elder Gallows -
Ardengloom (AR‑din‑gloom) is a warning whispered by candlelight, a wood so ancient that all know its name. In a time beyond memory, the primordial forest enveloped the entirety of Druskenvald. Though now only a fraction of its former glory, its towering, gnarled trees are the last barrier between civilization and the unknown. For as long as there have been voices, songs have been sung of the terrors that lurk in the umbral heart of the wood.
The province of Ardengloom is a land of dark forests, twisting shadows, and echoes of the long-dead feyfolk who once dwelled there. Though dangerous to outsiders, deep within the twisting roots and choking shadows lies a shrouded society. Living in remote settlements throughout the great wood, the gnarlborn (see page >) are a people grown from the forest itself, resembling their treant ancestors with bark-like skin and haunting, glowing faces. These folk, along with the other species of the dark forest, stand as sentinels against those who wish to exploit their primordial home.