20.7.1 Aalen Forest
Once a mighty redwood forest, secluded from the outer world by means of the Vashnar Mountain Range, the Aalen has since become a shadow of its great glory. As the Dreikathi pursued their invasion upon the continent, they rained a brilliant purple sludge upon the Aalen and the surrounding mountains. Even after they were driven from the lands, the sludge remained for many years. Its presence on the forest was far from benign; mutating the creatures in horrifying ways and causing them to sprout additional heads, legs and filling them with a bloodlust that could not be restrained. Lord Haern finally extended His hand towards the forest - literally. Calling upon Dendaric spirits, he cut his palm and placed it upon the Aalen's ground. Though at a great cost to His powers and the forest's ebbing fertility, the sludge was destroyed. Though the sludge and its terrifying effects were gone, another danger was born as sprouts of red flowers began to crop up in the forest. As they bloomed, they spouted deadly pollen which poisoned and eventually killed anyone who came near them. These flowers have begun to die with time, but not before completing the destruction of the Aalen. Where animals once meandered amid the powerful redwoods, now only ashes scorched tree trunks and the wilting remains of those odd red flowers lie. The natural life, and the Tsol'aa who inhabited the forest, are not to be found.