Thornwood

The **Thornwood** is an impenetrable thicket of mighty black thorn tendrils. What lies within is unknown, as no one who entered the Thornwood has ever returned. Many have tried to burn the thicket, but the seemingly dry thorn bush has proven to be extremely heat-resistant. Up to three adult horses can be impaled on the larger thorns of this undergrowth.

## The Sea of Thorns

North of the Land of Drouchont, there lies a region fully covered in a dense, thick vegetation. The place is completely covered with a species of thorn plant, stretching through miles, and growing so dense and high there is little to no way to explore what lies beneath. The plant, known as “Thornwood”, has been a staple of the region from the first written records about the area, and has become one of the great mysteries of that side of Giantstep. The plant covers the land completely, twisting and bending its giant branches, with thousands of thorns and spikes of different sizes and properties. Not even exploring the land through the air has given experts any clue about what may lie beneath, if there is indeed even something down there. The neighboring populations in the area have crafted stories of what lies within, becoming the frequent subject of telltale tales for children.

The locals have tried to exploit the wood from the Thornwood for many centuries now, with little to no success. Trying to merely chop the wood is fruitless, since the plant is quite resistant to cutting and to blunt force. Moreover, when someone tries to damage the plant, it will burst a cloud of thorns, which will go flying in every direction. The effects of the thorns may vary depending on the size: some are the size of nails and are able to pierce metal armor, such is the speed and velocity at which they travel. Others are smaller, being caught in people’s clothes and generating great itchiness and inflammation. The smaller ones are barely visible, but if breathed they will cause severe fits of coughing, which could led to choking if the affected person does not leave the area. Using fire to clear the woods is also pointless, the wood keeps a high humidity level all year long, and it cannot catch fire. Those times when magical fire has been tried, it has likewise failed, since burning it does not really damage the plant. Using magical or alchemical herbicides has also been tried, and once again, the forest reacts violently to these infractions, having little to no effect in the area. A particular noteworthy legend about the area is that, many millennia ago, a young dragon was challenged by his peers to destroy the forest of thorns. He flew above the sea of black wood and exhaled his fire breath upon the forest, to burn it to a crisp. The forest, in turn, launched such a cloud of thorns into the air, with such force and speed, which were able to penetrate the thick scales of the mighty being, rupturing its wings and making it plummet into the deadly thorns. The hole that had been created by the fall was swiftly covered up, using the dead dragon to nurture the plant.

In 1.750 ABE, the florinthian botanist Luchi Calvanni began her studies about the mysterious Thornwood. After many years of trials and experimentations, she discovered that all seemingly distinct thornwood plants were, in fact, joined together by the roots. This has led many to speculate that the Thornwood is, in actuality, a singular mega-organism, the biggest living being in all of Giantstep. Calvanni also studied the reactions of the thornwood to many different stimuli, and she reached the conclusion that the plant is somewhat intelligent, capable of differentiating different levels of threat and acting accordingly, though to which level it can be considered intelligent (or as some of the more radical experts on the matter defend, sentient) is still subject of discussion. Whether the origins of the thornwood are natural, magical or alchemical, is also unknown, showing enough signs and evidences to point to all of them at once.

Many legends surround the area, with plenty of speculation about mysteries could hide within it. The forest is extremely thick, and there is barely any space to allow going through and exploring it further. The growing and ever-changing shape of the forest, constantly twisting upon itself, has allowed from time to time what seemed to be passageways to the depths of the forest. Many campaigns have been launched to explore its depths, but so far, not a single one of them have returned, with the exit closing not long after the party has gone deep enough to not be able to react quickly enough. Nowadays, it is considered folly to try to explore it any further than a couple of meters once a passageway opens.