Feywilds

The Feywilds is the description given by humans to the vast tracts of overgrown, untamed, magical forest that encircle the northern borders of the Empire. The depth of the Feywilds is unknown; no reliable account exists of a human traveling through the Feywild to lands beyond. Some believe that they are endless, and that if one travels far enough, it is possible to leave the mortal plane and enter a faerie realm.

At one time, the Feywilds encompassed all of what is now the northern half of the Empire, but as the forests have been razed to create pastures and cropland, humans have slowly tamed the lands. This northward progress has at times reversed, as it did during the Age of Warring Kingdoms. With the humans weakened by civil strife, the Feywilds encroached on the borderlands. At one time, the frontier lay well beyond the Great Highway. Now, large lengths of the Highway lay within the Wilds, unsafe for travel by any but experienced adventurers.

The Feywilds equally beautiful and dangerous. The lush forests are rich with life, but many of the animals possess a remarkable intelligence, and the stuff of both dreams and nightmares is routinely manifest. The elves and other higher orders of fey creatures are rawly emotional, near-immortal beings whose customs, values, and intrigues are often incomprehensible to short-lived humans.

Most borderlander settlements are located at a respectful distance from the Feywild, and it is a rare human who willingly wanders beneath their branches. Throughout the borderlands, tales are told of humans who have strayed into the Feywilds, never to be seen again. Those few that do return are often warped in body or mind by their experience.