Oswal-Tay

"*I hate Oswal-Tay*"
―Gwyn ap Nudd[[The Ice Plague: Book 3 - The Ice Plague, Chapter 10: Innocence and Accidents]]
**Oswal-Tay** is a dim, dense forest that is considered to be bad luck by many fae, and is located near Arkhel on the way from Ariol-Arten.

## Appears in

Major canon:

*Game Theory*

*The Ice Plague: Book 3 - The Ice Plague*

## Description

Oswal-Tay is a dim, dense forest. Its trees have blackened leaves and there are also 'bone trees' within the forest, made by the Blue Annis, who cobble the trees together from the bones of their victims. Even during the day, the forest is dark, and sunlight doesn't seem to penetrate the canopy. The forest is incredibly dangerous. Mosk Manytrees said it felt malicious, and that the trees wanted nothing to do with him. Oswal-Tay possesses its own magic that stops mages and other magic-users from being able to use it, and it will attack any fae that manage to tear through that magic.

After Gwyn ap Nudd's demotion from King of the Seelie, Gwyn teleported to the forest hoping he would be able to find rest there. However, he shortly came upon a group of blue annis, and since he was too weak and unable to teleport so close together, he was forced to flee from them until he escaped past the forest's border.

During the events of *The Ice Plague: Book 3 - the Ice Plague*, Mosk, Eran Iliakambar, and Julvia Dubna Vajat accidentally fell over a cliff and into Oswal-Tay while escaping from a forest fire. Upon retrieving their map, Mosk noted that Gwyn never wanted them to come to Oswal-Tay, as the forest had skulls drawn around it along with a warning from Gwyn not to go there under any circumstances. While traveling, they encountered several Blue Annis and were forced to run deeper into the forest. They were pursued until they encountered the lights set up by the local miskatin, at which point even the Blue Annis fled in terror. The party traveled north, now avoiding the lights, which become more numerous as time passed and thus more difficult to avoid.

After a couple days, despite their attempts to avoid the light, the group was attacked by about 15 miskatin, and Eran was badly wounded by the miskatin spears. This enraged Mosk, and he forcefully used his magic to pull roots from the ground and stab through all the miskatin, killing them and causing their lights to extinguish. Once the miskatin were dead, Mosk forced the forest to form a wooden barrier around himself, Eran, and Julvia, for protection. Mosk pulled the spears from Eran's body and healed him before passing out, and Julvia made sure Eran drank more medicine afterward.

They spent almost three days inside the wooden pod Mosk grew before Gwyn, Augus Each Uisge, and Ash Glashtyn found them. Mosk, Eran, and Julvia left the pod and the group traveled north toward the forest's edge. They were again attacked by miskatin, and though Gwyn killed some, and Mosk was able to use his magic to slow others, the party was forced to flee. They then encountered a pack of 50 Blue Annis and Gwyn began to fight them, only for Mosk to use his magic once more to kill them with wooden spines. A nearby fae family of seven drew Mosk's attention, and in a daze, he killed them, too, before realizing who they were. The shock of the act caused him to blank out, and he was unaware of the next two days of travel it took to leave the forest.

## Inhabitants

Oswal-Tay is home to creatures referred to as 'the blue owls of Coswick' as well as many other fae, including the Blue Annis, a hive-mind species that are cousins of the Black Annis. The Blue Annis make sport of chasing down any fae they come across, telling them to run before going after them, though the Blue Annis will not follow prey past the border of the forest. The forest is also home to miskatin, who work together to hunt whatever fae wander into the glow of the lanterns, chandeliers, and other light sources they set up throughout the forest.

There are numerous undescribed fae and/or beasts who live in the forest as well, who are often seen only as glowing eyes watching from a distance but not coming closer. Whether these creatures are hiding, waiting for an opportunity to attack, or simply observing is unknown.

## Quotations

* Davix to Mosk: ‘No, naught is like Oswal-Tay.’

## Trivia

* Due to his experiences in it as an underfae, Oswal-Tay is the only forest Gwyn has ever said that he hated.
* Davix implied that someone other than he and Olphix made Oswal-Tay what it is through magic or a curse.

## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 not\_poignant. “Game Theory.” *The Fae Tales Verse. Archive of Our Own,* 25 January 2014. https://archiveofourown.org/works/915296/chapters/2338138. Chapter 38: Underfae.
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 not\_poignant. “The Ice Plague: Book 3 - The Ice Plague.” *Fae Tales Verse. Archive of Our Own,* 17 December 2020. https://archiveofourown.org/works/26266345/chapters/68919276. Chapter 9: Oswal-Tay.
3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 not\_poignant. “The Ice Plague: Book 3 - The Ice Plague.” *The Fae Tales Verse. Archive of Our Own,* 1 January 2021. https://archiveofourown.org/works/26266345/chapters/69779910. Chapter 10: Innocence and Accidents.
4. ↑ not\_poignant. “The Ice Plague: Book 3 - The Ice Plague.” *The Fae Tales Verse. Archive of Our Own,* 3 December 2020. https://archiveofourown.org/works/26266345/chapters/68206945. Chapter 8: The Ratcatcher of Hameln.
5. ↑ not\_poignant. “The Ice Plague: Book 3 - The Ice Plague.” *The Fae Tales Verse. Archive of Our Own,* 15 January 2021. https://archiveofourown.org/works/26266345/chapters/70548654. Chapter 11: Debts Unclaimed.
6. ↑ not\_poignant. “Game Theory.” *The Fae Tales Verse. Archive of Our Own,* 7 February 2014. https://archiveofourown.org/works/915296/chapters/2390892. Chapter 40: Accidents.
7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 not\_poignant. “The Ice Plague: Book 3 - The Ice Plague.” *The Fae Tales Verse. Archive of Our Own,* 7 July 2022. https://archiveofourown.org/works/26266345/chapters/100527858. Chapter 36: The Light Fades.