The Great Forest of Kelderwood, also known as the Kelderwood Forest, is an immense untamed forest, as large as a country, and whose centre is unexplored. It forms the greatest part of the Kelderwastes. It is home to various Agarashi and dark creatures, and is corrupted by the power of Funghaarn the Witherer, a Child of Agarash.
Geography[]
The Great Forest of Kelderwood is located on the mainland of the Kelderwastes, near the south-westernmost point of Magnamund. It occupies the vast majority of the mainland, barring the eastern and south. The Dammerdons mountain range separates the Kelderwood Forest from Lunarlia, and a similar mountain range separates it from Telchos to the west. The River Huomi leads to the Kelnerin Lakes, a narrow set of lakes that follow these mountain ranges.
The Forest is uninhabited by humans, with the only human settlements of the Kelderwastes based on the isle of Sheasu. However, it is infested with lizards, Agarashi and mutants, some of which possess a degree of intelligence.
Around MS 5102, a series of earthquakes erupted in the region, causing a mountain range and gorge to be created, reminiscent of the Maakengorge.[1]
History[]
Ancient history[]
The lands of the Forest were once ruled by the Elder Magi. As time progressed, however, the power of the Elder Magi waned, and the Great Plague wiped out most of its numbers.[2]
During the Age of Eternal Night, the Elder Magi invaded the Agarashi Empire from Telchos via the Great Forest of Kelderwood. The Elder Magi and their allies prevailed against an army of mutants and Agarashi led by Yoz'Naga the Petrifier, a Child of Agarash.[3] In the Kelderwood Forest, Scaldar made a bargain with Pyrash, Lord of the Flame: In exchange for the power of the Scarlet Fire, he would watch over the Fire Elementals enslaved by Pyrash's tyranny. The Scarlet Fire helped defeat Agarash's physical form, with Agarash learning how to wield it, but unwittingly opening a pocket dimension to seal himself away with its power, and at great cost to the Elder Magi and its allies. After the battle, Scaldar returned to the Forest to meet his side of the bargain, although he helped remove the corruption of Agarash from a small number of Carsayans in the final years of his life. He was buried here, in a place known as Scaldar's Rest, although his spirit was unable to move on to the Plane of Light.[4][3]
Bhanarian incursions[]
Around MS 5083, the Bhanarians became more ambitious, and began to deforest the northern parts of the Forest, to build temples in Bakhasa.[5] Autarch Sejanoz of Bhanar desired to use these temples to communicate with Agarash, trapped in the Pit of Eternal Pain.[6]
In MS 5083, during the events of Mydnight's Hero, the Starstrider, carrying Grand Master, Prince Karvas and the ship's captain Acraban, flew over the Forest to Siyen. During the journey, the Starstrider encountered an electrical storm near the Kelderwood Forest, causing it to crash.[7] Grand Master and Karvas opted to continue their journey on foot, while Acraban repaired his skyship. However, Bhanarian soldiers ambushed Acraban and his crew. Acraban was forced to bargain for their lives with the Zhakka commander: To retrieve a Power Crystal from the Temple of Ghazam, to enslave a tribe of Agarashi. Acraban encountered many horrors during his trek across the Kelderwastes, confronting its horrors, and powerful sorcery in the Temple.[8] After this, his crew were let go, and Acraban succeeded in repairing the Starstrider and returning to Sommerlund.[9]
Funghaarn's control[]
In MS 5102, earthquakes struck the region, causing hordes of Agarashi to emerge and swarm Vaduzhan and Sheasu. Some of these Agarashi carried a wasting disease, capable of spreading to humans.[10] The earthquakes caused a molten massif to form, whose volcanic activity caused a violent storm to cover the region.[11] These earthquakes may have caused Funghaarn the Witherer to awaken and take control of the region, after hiding underground after the fall of his master, Agarash.[12] Funghaarn corrupted the Agarashi, taking control of them with Kelderyceps Fungi, turning them into zombie-like creatures.[13][14]
Grand Master explores the Forest[]
- This section is only canon if Grand Master chose to explore the Great Forest of Kelderwood in The Dusk of Eternal Night.
In MS 5103, during the events of The Dusk of Eternal Night, Grand Master, Blazer and Grey Star chose to visit the Great Forest of Kelderwood to find out how and where the Naarvakim planned to open a Gate of Doom to the Pit of Eternal Pain (over Sejanoz's palace in Otavai and Shasarak's lair in Taklakot). In the Forest, they intended to seek information from Scaldar.[1] They were taken there by Acraban and the Starstrider, marking a traumatic return for Acraban. Nevertheless, he recognised the effects of the Kelderyceps Fungi on the Agarashi, which he had researched and was responsible for his rise to Magemaster. He believed, however, that they were rendered harmless — almost-immediately contradicted by a horde of zombies afflicted by the Fungi.[14]
After defeating the zombies and a Mutaska, Grey Star's shoulder was pierced, infecting him with the Kelderyceps Fungi. As Acraban tended to Grey Star's injury, Grand Master and Blazer progressed with their investigation. Grand Master eventually found Scaldar's Rest, obtained the Scarlet Fire Rod and obtained information from Scaldar's spirit. Scaldar informed them that the Naarvakim likely intended to open a Gate of Doom in Naaros, Agarash's throne room, by causing a powerful explosion, enough to reopen the pocket dimension where he was sealed away.[15] Grand Master either then forgave Scaldar, allowing his spirit to pass on to the Plane of Light,[16] or chose not to, but allowing his spirit to depart this world and reach the Neverness.[17]
As Grand Master made their way back to the Starstrider, further earthquakes tore open the Forest even more, creating an immense gorge that threatened to swallow Scaldar's Rest, and flooding the area with even more zombies. As Grand Master and Blazer fled back to the Starstrider, an avatar of Funghaarn himself attacked, surrounding Blazer in a cocoon of Kelderyceps Fungi.[18] Grand Master defeated this avatar and freed Blazer from the cocoon, who had protected himself with a trance to prevent the fungi from progressing. However, this avatar was not the real Funghaarn, and his power still lurked deep beneath the Forest, and was threatening to consume them all. Funghaarn's power continued to tear open the land, and large tendrils of Kelderyceps Fungi erupted from the ground, attempting to destroy the airborne Starstrider. Grey Star freed the skyship with a blast of his own power, and they escaped. However, Funghaarn's power had created a fiery gorge of over a hundred miles, swallowing up much of the rest, with an evil black pillar rising in the middle.[19]
Flora and fauna[]
The Great Forest of Kelderwood is home to various lizards, worms and Agarashi. It is uninhabited by humans, although half-breed human-Agarashi also live in the region.
After Funghaarn the Witherer took control of the Forest, he covered the forest in Kelderyceps Fungi, capable of turning any creature into a mindless zombie under his control.
Known fauna[]
- Nabha Worms[20]
- Sligza[21]
- Tentacled Men[22]
- Keldrathe[23]
- Shape-changers[24]
- Carsayans[25]
- Mutaska[26]
In the gamebooks[]
The Great Forest of Kelderwood is encountered in Mydnight's Hero, although only in relative passing from Grand Master's perspective. It can also be explored in The Dusk of Eternal Night, in the split arc if Grand Master chooses to explore this Forest to look for clues on the Naarvakim's plans. This route provides lore about Scaldar and the most direct history on how Agarash became The Damned, sealed away in the Pit of Eternal Pain.
This route requires Grand Master to obtain the Scarlet Fire Rod, or fail later (each split arc has its own quest item).[27] Due to the nature of Funghaarn (poison and decay), Xenghora is very useful here, as is any Discipline that can counteract poison, such as Deliverance, Herbmastery and Grand Nexus. One of Magi-magic and Kai-alchemy is also recommended to avoid certain encounters or minimise effects.
On this route, Grand Master may choose to forgive Scaldar,[16] or not.[17] Both routes provide benefits:
- If Scaldar is forgiven, all Endurance points lost are recovered, and the player's Platinum Amulet, if they have one, increases their maximum Endurance by +2.
- If Scaldar is not forgiven, his spirit instead passes onto the Neverness, but he will bless the player before departing (only one such blessing can be taken):
- If the player has a Wardstone-imbued weapon, the Combat Skill deduction is -4 rather than -3
- If the player has a Dessi Stone-imbued weapon, the weapon grants a +2 Combat Skill bonus
- If the player has a Blue-steel Sword, it will add +3 Combat Skill instead of +2
- If the player has Star-ska, it will add +5 Combat Skill instead of +4
- If the player has a Power-mace, it will add +3 Combat Skill instead of +2
- If the player has a Platinum Amulet, it adds +2 maximum Endurance
Although forgiveness is a virtue, and possibly the more moral choice (especially if the player discovered Scaldar's final days in the "His Atonement" path in Scaldar's Rest[4]), the benefits of not forgiving Scaldar are arguably more beneficial in the long-run.
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 The Dusk of Eternal Night: §3
- ↑ Dever, Joe [2017]. Bestiary of the Beyond. Cubicle 7, p. 72.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 The Dusk of Eternal Night: §100
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 The Dusk of Eternal Night: §322
- ↑ Mydnight's Hero: §220
- ↑ The Dusk of Eternal Night: §220
- ↑ Mydnight's Hero: §156
- ↑ The Dusk of Eternal Night: §193
- ↑ The Dusk of Eternal Night: §143
- ↑ The Dusk of Eternal Night: Timeline of notable events in Magnamund: MS 5102 Kaltangor
- ↑ The Dusk of Eternal Night: §3
- ↑ The Dusk of Eternal Night: §271/§306
- ↑ The Dusk of Eternal Night: §348/§269
- ↑ 14.0 14.1 The Dusk of Eternal Night: §89
- ↑ The Dusk of Eternal Night: §90
- ↑ 16.0 16.1 The Dusk of Eternal Night: §271
- ↑ 17.0 17.1 The Dusk of Eternal Night: §306
- ↑ The Dusk of Eternal Night: §37/§71/§146
- ↑ The Dusk of Eternal Night: §230
- ↑ Dever, Joe [2017]. Magnamund Menagerie. Cubicle 7, p. 52.
- ↑ Dever, Joe [2017]. Magnamund Menagerie. Cubicle 7, p. 72.
- ↑ Dever, Joe [2017]. Bestiary of the Beyond. Cubicle 7, pp. 23–24.
- ↑ Dever, Joe [2017]. Bestiary of the Beyond. Cubicle 7, p. 25.
- ↑ Dever, Joe [2017]. Bestiary of the Beyond. Cubicle 7, pp. 33–34.
- ↑ Dever, Joe [2017]. Bestiary of the Beyond. Cubicle 7, p. 89.
- ↑ The Dusk of Eternal Night: §139/§314
- ↑ The Dusk of Eternal Night: §25 > §135