Ashenwood
This ancient forest is primarily ash, aspen, fir, and pine. Mighty spirits live in the stones and trees, capable of imparting great wisdom to listeners or exacting terrible vengeance on those who trespass. By ancient tradition, the Ashenwood remains unpopulated, both as a precaution against the anger of the spirits and as a promise to preserve this most sacred and pristine part of Rashemen. While no Rashemi live here permanently, some enter for a short time to hunt or to complete a quest. These visits always begin with prayers and small gifts for the spirits to ensure their favor. A typical offering is a flask of clean water, a handful of fertile earth from a garden or farm, and a meal consisting of several kinds of food that would appeal to the creatures of the forest. The meal is burned on a smoky fire in the middle of a circle of stones so the smell of it will reach the spirits.
The subjects of a hunt are usually perfect specimens of a particular kind of animal (such as a stag), although dangerous dire animals are common prey as well. Whenever a hunt is successful, the hunters make offerings so that the creature’s spirit will become a telthor or at least will not seek vengeance against the hunters. In addition to mundane creatures and spirits, fierce monsters inhabit the forest, such as annis hags, ettercaps, owlbears, stirges, and trolls. Some of these creatures are very old and cunning and have grown to unusual size. Rashemi legend tells of Hornclaw the Gray, an owlbear bigger than most giants and said to be over a hundred years old, and of Dar-Guran, a fell troll who can take off a man’s head in one bite.
Not all of the unusual residents of the Ashenwood are so dangerous. Bristlebeard, an awakened dire boar with patches of bright red hair, listens to the telthors and watches over Rashemi who become lost in the forest. Stormwind (NG treant of 20 HD) is a huge and ancient treant who sleeps for decades at a time but awakens to speak to the Witches when they need his council. Stormwind is so large that he has been mistaken for the Wood Man, a legendary embodiment of the power of the forest that is said to defend Rashemen against invaders.
