Sumahna

The poisonous forestlands of Sumhana (thus dubbed by the people of Dehrthaa) were created by the Lifeblood in the great age of creation before the retreat of the gods from Galbar. It is located in central-eastern Toraan and is a highly poisonous forest ecosystem;Something twisted in the Lifeblood, spurned by a dozen spiteful voices. It had created, but it had created too well. This would be but another forgettable paradise on a continent of plenty. Though beautiful, it would spawn no new, interesting lifeforms. They would grow fat and indolent.The pristine waters pulsated, darkening to blood-red in their newfound iron, salt, and sulfur content, so potent that anything that drank from it would perish. The brilliant trees grew even more brilliant in their saturation, their beautiful inflorescence each now possessing enough toxins to fell a Big-Prickly. The trees curled and warped, taking skeletal shapes into their branches and roots, which now snaked below the surface in a way that would fell and injure the unwary. As the birds took flight in alarm, the Lifeblood felt a sudden regret. Did it really want a pocket of deadly beauty incapable of supporting animals entirely? No. Each bird that fought to escape found itself falling and changing. Some fell as minute frogs, which populated the poisonous waters with poison of their own, absorbed into their brightly colored skin to deter predators. Others became tinier still, the size of acorns, with long beaks and longer tongues designed to harvest the toxic nectar, and wings that beat near the speed of sound. The descending feathers turned to russet bees, equally capable of surviving off the deadly flowers, creating an equally potent honey of their own. And of the largest birds, the raptors that had taken up residence in the greatest trees, it created stocky, surly mammals, with sharp beaks and a shiny blend of feathers and fur to allow them to resemble the silver trunks around them. These owlbears would serve as a final deterrent to any unworthy invaders of the poisoned forest. Only the truly adaptable and clever would be allowed to reside here, in this world of fatal grandeur. From the headwaters of the red spring came salamanders, salmon with orange pigments, and an abundance of red algae. Microscopic bugs and teeny worms proliferated through the acidic soil, their bodies designed to metabolized all the potent dangers around them. But many of these animals crucial to the ecosystem were to remain small and unseen. Whoever or whatever first discovered this place would do so to see nought but beautiful colors and absolute silence. They would not see a frog, bird, fish, or owlbear. All were camouflaged, nocturnal, and quiet, and all would convey the feeling of an empty, dead environment. It would be the ultimate test of survival, to find the life in the forest.Seeing that all was good in this new, technicolor wood, the Lifeblood moved on.https://www.roleplayerguild.com/posts/5090140
== References ==
Category:Locations