Tollerwalde

**Tollerwalde National Park** is a mostly Apelchemic national park located at the northern tip of Apelchem where the two borders of Parlinn and Cheskachena lie. Tollerwalde National Park is the oldest national park in the world with first known congresses dating back to August 1569. The park is known for its old-growth trees, picturesque views, and wildlife. The Tollerwalde National Forest was a common area for hunters and fur-trappers to go into in the Middle Ages and many were mesmerized by the large, moss-covered old-growth trees that many myths were written about the forest that it was the breeding ground for fairy folk, it was the place witches go to party during the witching hour, or it was hallowed ground and it was incredibly forbidden to set foot into the forest or you'd be possessed, but those are just three one of the many myths of the forests, most were associated with fairies and witchcraft. Though despite it being an infamous hunting ground in the Middle Ages, it is illegal to hunt any animals in Tollerwalde National Park today. Tollerwalde National Park is also the largest megafauna area of Parania presently and was for over 10,000 years supporting around 180 mammal species, over 300 species of birds, 24 species of fish, 10 species of amphibians and 3 species of reptiles.

## History

Tollerwalde National Park was once known as "*Feskoga*" or the Fairy Woods, due to multiple legends claiming fairies, nymphs, and elven lived in the big, old-growth oak and conifer trees the forest had to offer, it was also the hotspot for other mythical creatures and it was likely due to the large amount of vegetation in the forest that causes a lot of things to go unseen by the human eye. Many foxhunters went into the area that is now Tollerwalde National Park as a very healthy population of red fox (*Vulpes vulpes*) lived in the area and a hunter once counted seeing over 50 individuals in one day in the area in over 20 different locations of the park. This attracted the attention of many hunters who came from southern Apelchem to hunt for fur. As the area attracted more and more people, the government of Amben declared making the forest illegal to hunt animals in, so they decided to make it a national park where they can admire wildlife, but cannot hunt them.

## Biology and ecology

### Fauna

Over 180 mammalian species call the area of Tollerwalde National Park home, this is very large for Tollerwalde National Park as the area is only as big as half of Amben which only supports 20 mammalian species. Common animals that live in Tollerwalde National Park are common shrew (*Sorex auraneus*), red squirrel (*Sciurus vulgaris*), red fox (*Vulpes vulpes*), culpeo (*Lylalopex culpaeus, introduced*), raccoon dog (*Nyctereutes procyonoides, introduced*), Tollerwalde black bear (*Ursus tollerwaldea*), common badger (*Meles meles*), oriental badger (*Meles leucurus, introduced*), western roe deer (*Capreolus capreolus*), eastern roe deer (*Capreolus pygargus, introduced*), sika deer (*Cervus nippon, introduced*), gray wolf (*Canis lupus*), common hedgehog (*Erinaceus europaeus*), wild boar (*Sus scrofa*), golden jackal (*Canis aureus*), and house mouse (*Mus musculus, introduced*). Rarer individuals include northern raccoon (*Procyon lotor, introduced*), red deer (*Cervus elaphus*), moose (*Alces alces*), stone marten (*Martes foina*) and crested porcupine (*Hystrix cristata*).