Forest of Denial

The **Forest of Denial** is a massive forest located near the southern border of the human territory, no more than four or five days worth of travel from Haramark, and is home to the tomb of Flonecia, the last born daughter of the Rothschear family, as well as her late husband.

A powerful magic spell, commonly mistaken for a curse, is cast over the forest, centred on the tomb, and causes any intelligent lifeform to begin to randomly deny the existence of something, particularly strong emotions.

Depending on what is denied, the consequences can turn out to be relatively harmless to outright death. For instance, if one begins to deny the existence of a someone, they will likely attempt to kill them. If one begins deny their own existence, they may go mad and commit suicide. However the spell can be used inversely to potentially positive effect such as denying one's own despair and fear, transforming it into courage and hope.

## Background

Several centuries ago, Flone was betrothed to the scion of a noble family that once resided in the forest. However due to an illness suddenly afflicting the fiancé, the marriage was pushed ahead to ensure the bloodline was passed down. However her husband-to-be died as soon as the ceremony was complete. Historically, it was said that she chose to voluntarily follow after her late husband to the grave and was canonized as a Saintess by the Empire in recognition of her chastity.

Contrary to the records, Flone was instead forcibly buried alive in the tomb, to ensure her status as a Saintess and help improve the reputation of the family of the husband. As a result of her accumulated and festering resentment that she carried even after she was forced into the coffin, she arose from her grave as a fearful and vengeful spirit.

Fearing she would take revenge, the husband's family did all they could to prevent her corpse—and by extension her soul—from being taken out of the tomb. In order to do so, they invited an renowned sage from the Empire, who incidentally was also a Magician, to cast an barrier over the forest to stop Flone's spirit from leaving. The method that was chosen was a spell capable of interfering the thought process of intelligent beings, causing them to deny their cognition of something. In Flone's case, this was her undying wrath and was what consquently granted the forest its present name.

The medium for the spell was engraved onto Flone's body, tying her soul to her body and her body to the forest, effectively confining her to the vicinity of the tomb. It was only until Seol Jihu returned with an artifact, containing the power of the Seven Gods, capable of canceling barriers and spells, that Flone was freed from her centuries long prison as well as lifting the fearsome spell plaguing the forest. However the effect was not as Seol expected. While he freed Flone from the confines of her tomb as intended, she unexpectedly did not pass onto the afterlife.

## History

Shortly after Seol Jihu's first arrival to Haramark, he took up an offer to be a porter for an expedition to the Forest of Denial organized by Samuel's team which was also responding to requests from both Sicilia and the Haramark Royal Family to scout out the area. What Seol did not expect however, was the involvement of Carpe Diem which he had just returned from, having been just rejected from joining their team. Another team, lead by a High Ranker known as Kahn, denied the request although Samuel vouched for their trust to keep secrecy.

Alongside the information and aid of the reputable yet perverted Level 4 Alchemist, Ian Denzel, the expedition initially proved harmless as well as a fruitful learning experience for Seol to understand the assembly and execution of a expedition team.

TBA.