Merlinwood (location)

The Enchanted Oak Tavern

The **Merlinwood** was the Arthurian inspired setting of the defunct Merlinwood section of the *Lost Continent* in Universal's Islands of Adventure.

## Description

The Merlinwood is a magical domain, watched over, named and protected by the sorcerer Merlyn. The Merlinwood appears to be a magical and medieval land. Merlinwood also acted as a kingdom, and was one of "The Three Kingdoms" with the other two being the *Cindered Lands* to the South, and the *Land of Hellfrost* to the North.

### Features

* **Enchanted Oak Tavern**: The Enchanted Oak Tavern is a tavern in in the Merlinwood, made from the giant oak-tree which Merlyn was transformed into by the Lady of the Lake. The inside contained an ornate ceiling of astronomical symbols and devices.
	+ **Alchemy Bar**:
* **The Fairy Forest**: The fairy forest is a magical forest inhabited by fairies, located between the Enchanted Oak and Merlyn's Castle.
* **The Flying Unicorn**: "The Flying Unicorn" was a ride created by an unidentified wizard where using the shed horn of a baby unicorn, he created a flying cart-system resembling a unicorn which they parked at a cottage/stables like building in the Merlinwood.
* **The Lady of the Lake's Lake**: This was a lake which was the domain of the magically powerful Lady of the Lake. She used the waters of the lake to transform Merlyn into the Merlinwood's *Enchanted Oak* tree.
* **Merlyn's Castle**: This was the castle home of the wizard Merlyn before he was transformed into the Enchanted Oak by the Lady of the Lake. After that, the castle was temporarily taken over by Pyrock and Blizzrock, a pair of rival warlocks turned duelling dragons who killed any knights who entered the building.

## History

### Background

#### Origins

The Merlinwood is a domain named for, and presided over by the sorcerer Merlyn. At some point, Merlyn was enchanted and deceived by the Lady of the Lake into entering her lake where her magic transformed him into a giant, bound, Enchanted Oak.

#### Dueling Dragons: Choose Thy Fate

Merlyn's imprisonment was noticed by the rival warlocks Pyrock and Blizzrock, who then travelled to his domain from the neighbouring kingdoms to try and steal the spell book from his cast. Once they found the book, the curse which Merlin placed on it transformed both of the warlocks into dragons with Pyrock breathing fire while Blizzrock breathed an icy breath.

As dragons, the two would fight and terrorize the kingdom with Merlyn too weak to stop them. Merlyn warned many knights about them, only for the knights to try and slay the beasts then be killed in the process. The two dragons frequently fought in Merlyn's castle, reducing it to rubble.

#### Later history

Merlyn recruited several individuals to assist him in a plan to train the dragons via magic. He had his recruits choose their fate on which dragon to mount then subdue via riding through the air amidst a battle. Merlyn's oak form was used to create the Enchanted Oak Tavern. At some point, an unidentified wizard within the Merlinwood found the shed horn of a baby unicorn. This wizard used the unicorn horn to create flying carts, modelled after unicorns.

### Development history

Part of the Lost Continent used to be themed to the "Merlinwood", inspired by Arthurian mythology and fantasy stories set in medieval times. This was closed down and replaced with the Wizarding World of Harry Potter in 2014.

In 2023, elements of the Merlinwood were brought back and expanded upon by the Halloween Horror Nights 32 house *Dueling Dragons: Choose Thy Fate*, and its associated story *Dueling Dragons: Choose Thy Fate* on the Spotify series *Halloween Horror Nights: Haunted Tales*.

## Appearances

### Halloween Horror Nights

#### Dueling Dragons: Choose Thy Fate

This haunted house was a prequel to the Merlinwood area.

### Lost Continent

The Merlinwood was setting of part of the Lost Continent.

## Trivia

* Merlyn's castle and spell book in *Dueling Dragons: Choose Thy Fate* contained several easter-eggs:
	+ In Merlyn's book is the magic symbol used by occultist HHN icon, Doctor Rich Oddfellow. The opposite page bore the symbol of the demonic "Collector" from *The Darkest Deal* horror house.
	+ A shield bore the symbol of *Terra Cruentus*, the setting of *Halloween Horror Nights: Tales of Terror*. Another had the symbol for the Terra Cruentus location of *Dragon Forge*.
	+ One of the Necronomicons from the Evil Dead franchise appears in Merlyn's library.
* It is unclear if the Merlinwood is part of, or otherwise connected to the Lost Continent's setting.
* The original Cindy Caine storyline for *Halloween Horror Nights: Islands of Fear* would have had Knightmare's presence tie into some of the Merlinwood attractions. Along with having Medieval/fantasy theming, the Flying Unicorn would have been given a storyline about saving the unicorn from Knightmare while Knightmare's executioners roamed Merlyn's castle in the queue for Dueling Dragons.

## References

1. ↑ https://www.coaster101.com/2020/06/07/20-in-2020-flying-unicorn-at-universals-islands-of-adventure/