Overview

The Thornwoods are an ancient and tangled forest west of Stormhaven, defined by dense thickets of brambleberry bushes whose thorny vines make off-road travel nearly impossible. The roads that wind through the forest, along with its riverways, form the only reliable arteries of passage. This natural barrier has long sheltered the region from unchecked settlement and outside influences, granting it a mystique that draws fey, druids and adventurers alike.

Amid this wilderness lies Thornvale, a settlement that has prospered by cultivating and exporting the forest’s brambleberries. Traders and merchants mostly keep to the main road and river, drawn by the demand for its wines and preserves. Some risk rumored shorter routes, they attempt travel on deceptive paths through the woods to reach the town faster., but many get lost and never get to their destination.

The Thornwoods are alive with whispers—of Hag trickery, Druidic mysteries, and hidden glades. For some, it is a place of beauty and wonder; for others, a dangerous and impassable wall of green thorns. Thornwood's abundance of swamps and mushroom circles ensure that Fey and Hag influence is never far.

Ancient legends tell stories of a hags claiming the woods, in a bargain struck. And the relatively high historic-run ins with hags that the citizens of Thornvale have had, do lend merit to these stories... For in the swamps of the Thornwoods, lies a ruined hags hut that once belonged to the Hag Malvana, she terrorized the local populous until adventurers killed her...

The stories of hags, haunting the woods are mostly about the northern side of the woods, while the stories of fey trickery mostly hail from the southern side of the woods.