Naralon Forests

The Naralon Forests stretch right into the depths of the Central Empire, but no fubarnii or devanu are known to live beyond the very outskirts. Even in these enlightened times there are innumerous myths and rumours telling of mighty demons or capricious spirits that haunt the woods and all attempts to build settlements further into the forests have met with disaster. Few expeditions have ever returned from the depths of the forests.

The Delgon have been boasting of penetrating deep into the forest, and their maps reflect this. However, their actual encroachment is much less, and the boundaries a lot more fuzzy than they claim.

The forests of Anyaral have always been seen with fear by denizens of the vast continent, even the devanu choose not to venture far into the shelter of the ancient trees. Across the clans of the Empire there are countless different stories that tell of unwelcoming, corrupted spirits and beasts slumbering within the forests that could devour the mighty lorsaan in a single bite.

None outside the forests truly know of the Kedashi, for the ancient queens chose long ago to shun the outsiders, reaching an understanding that the borders were sacred and those who dared to enter their lands would suffer a swift death. For centuries the understanding has been followed, even if the outsiders do not remember their agreement. There have been those that would cross the borders, whether in desperation, greed or curiosity, but few have ever returned.

Within the forests dwell the ancient Kedashi queens, living in the canopy or in caves carved into the great cliffs.

These creatures have overseen the forests for countless generations of the short-lived fubarnii. The queens have fought their own wars for control of the forests, carefully breeding the trebarnii to serve them as warriors and caretakers. The queens are so focused on their world within the forests that they pay little more than cursory attention to the world beyond the shadows of their trees. They were aware of the fall of the devanu towers and the rise of the Fubarnii Empire, but cared little as long as the outsiders did not venture across their borders. Those devanu that fled to the forests found no sanctuary. In the years since the rise of the fubarnii, there have been those that ventured into the forests. Some queens were generous and merely guided those travellers subtly, but firmly, away from their lands. Others have followed a more strict approach, ensuring that most that broke the understanding would never leave, occasionally allowing a handful of terrified survivors to flee as a reminder.

The Delgon warmachine continues to grow and demands feeding. The factories and engines require fuelling and the Enguan shipbuilders need vast quantities of timber to supply the growing Delgon navy.

The Delgon first ventured into the forests shortly after they started opening their borders. At that time Aaral led an expedition to explore their depths. He never returned and those few survivors who made it back to Peygarl spoke of the horrors of the forests and many of the priesthood argued that they should honour the old understanding. However, the great Enarii Garabon is not one to fear mythical spirits and beasts that would stand in his way. So the armies of the Delgon have ventured back into Naralon, carving their way deep into the forests. The logging crews have felled countless ancient trees, hauling them out, to the ravenous factories. The courts of the ancient queens have been slow to respond. For a long time either they did not truly believe the reports, or they trusted the younger queens to deal with these incursions. This all changed when the first of the ancient nest trees fell to the Delgon axes. The Tarku, a queen who had been old when the Devanu towers fell, was butchered by the aggressors; her favoured kaopi fled to carry word of the tragedy. When the Kiterak heard the news, she crawled down from the council tree, that she might see with her own ancient eyes the devastation that the Delgon had caused. The message that the agreement had been broken has rippled across the forests and the queens have been mustering the swarms. The Delgon believed that they had learned to defend themselves against the dangerous beasts of Naralon. They cut great swathes through the forests ensuring that there was nowhere from which they could be surprised. They hunted down the mighty predators, cornering them and eradicating the threats one by one. They were not aware that they had just been experiencing a tiny uncoordinated portion of the power of the Kedashi swarms and could never have predicted the devastation that would occur. The queens summoned forth their swarms, sending millions of their children to tear apart the transgressors. They sent their legions of trebarnii to lure the greatest of the beasts from the deepest and darkest parts of the forests and unleashed them on the hapless Delgon. The alarm has spread throughout Naralon and the queens do not care which of the outsiders have dared to break the understanding. Peaceful villages that have lived close to the forests for generations have vanished overnight. The packs of devanu who hunted in the shade of the forests have found themselves driven from their nests, clashing with Imperial patrols as they fled.