Reaching Woods

The Reaching Woods was a large forest in Elturgard.

Geography
The forest was located to the west of the Sunset Mountains. It was separated from the Forest of Wyrms by the Trielta Hills. In 1372 DR, it was approximately ninety miles from east to west at its widest point and one hundred and eleven miles from north to south. The River Chionthar passed through part of its western reaches.

Geographical Features
The Reaching woods was a hilly forest, with densely packed trees (mostly duskwoods and shadowtops) that contained a lot of pools and streams, owing to the natural dampness of the atmosphere. Much of the water drained downhill into the Chionthar. Although no maps of the forest's interior were ever known to have been made, a line of pools, linked to each other by creeks ran northeast to southwest through the length of the forest and could be used to navigate through. This line was known alternately by locals as “the String of Gems”, “Arlaveir”, or “Raryntar’s River”. In the far southeast of the forest, fires had encouraged the growth of more sparse, but also much more varied trees.

History
The forest was the site of many burials of important humans, elves and half-elves who, according to ancient Sunset Vale tradition (“vigor should be returned to the forest, that vigor spring forth anew.”), were buried unshrouded in the natural earth with all of their weapons and magic.

The gnomish town of Arghenrock, somewhere in the eastern forest, was a frequent destination for other gnomes who came to trade with its inhabitants and each other. Unfortunately, it had to be abandoned to attacking monsters and became only a destination for adventurers.

Several large forest fires burned down the southeastern forest in the 1340s Dalereckoning. Around ten years afterward, hobgoblins began exterminating the native centaur and hybsil populations. Just prior to the Spellplague, there were less than twenty centaurs still living in the forest and there was no sign of any remaining hybsils, however a group of satyrs still lived in the northwestern forest.

In 1459 DR the High Observer of Torm, ruler of Elturgard, learned that shrines to unapproved gods existed in the forest and declared that no one could enter or exit the woods. By 1479 DR the gnolls of the forest had exterminated all other humanoids.

Inhabitants
The centaurs of the woods kept careful watch on all people who came to collect wood from the forest. They would shoot anybody who cut down trees that weren't already dead.

The satyrs seemed isolationist in nature. They were rumored to have the ability to command treants and were said to use this power to block off potential entrances to their territory, known as the "Satyrshadow". Inhabitants of Corm Orp however, claimed that the satyrs would shelter and guard both refugees and important items (property deeds and magic items for example).

Harpers from Berdusk used the woods to train rangers and probably knew the woods better than any other outsiders, but they were careful to limit their activities to the south and east of the String of Gems.