Ardeep Forest

The Ardeep Forest, also known as the Faraway Forest, was a relatively small but thick woodland of blueleaf, duskwood and weirwood trees a few miles east of Waterdeep, on the south bank of the River Dessarin. Elven scribes usually compounded the name to "Ardeepforest" in order to denote the forest as opposed to the realm that once encompassed a large part of the Sword Coast.

Geography
The interior of Ardeep Forest contained a lot of ridges and steep gullies that were hidden beneath thick vines, dense shrubbery, and cloaking mists that presented a danger to casual travelers. In addition, tunnels, cellars, and vaults constructed by dwarves during a time of alliance became pitfalls centuries later. Thanks to the loamy ground, Ardeep Forest's vegetation was thick and healthy and aided the growth of mushrooms that glowed faintly. Visitors to Ardeep Forest either came to experience a truly untamed woodland or to seek privacy. It was a place with sun-speckled paths and pleasant verges.

History
The forest was once much bigger than the extent shown on maps of the 14–century DR. In the Year of Oaths Forsaken, −626 DR, the trees extended unbroken (except by rivers) from Neverwinter Wood down through Kryptgarden Forest, Ardeep Forest, the Misty Forest, and ended in the Trollbark Forest north of the Troll Hills. Millennia before that, the forest was connected to what eventually became the High Forest.

The dwarvish contributions to the (eventual) hazards of Ardeep Forest were primarily built during the 6–century DR when the kingdom of Phalorm briefly flourished.

During the Retreat, begun in the Year of Moonfall, 1344 DR, the elves left behind many baelnorn and green warder guardians to protect the tombs of their ancestors and guard their legacy, but without the elves themselves, various monsters including assassin vines, tribes of kobolds, nyths, tendriculoses, thirsts of stirges, and other creatures moved into the forest, as of 1372 DR.

About a decade before the War of the Silver Marches, the inhabitants of the neighboring village of Nightstone, led by Lord Drezlin Nandar from Waterdeep, started making hunting expeditions into the forest in an attempt to reestablish the hunting lodge held there by House Nandar two centuries earlier. These incursions infuriated the elves. In the following years, the conflict escalated until the elves assaulted Nightstone and killed Drezlin. In the aftermath, his widow, Velrosa Nandar, made peace with the elves and pledged never to make any such expeditions into the forest again. She kept that promise until her death one year later when the cloud giants attacked Nightstone.

Rumors & Legends
Floating towers have been observed above Ardeep Forest over a good portion of its history. They were attributed to various mages and cloud giants but the owners rarely revealed themselves. Bard-spun yarns of ships from other worlds were also tavern favorites.

Notable Locations

 * The Crypts of the Deepening Moon : The royal vaults of abandoned Ardeep.
 * Dancing Dell : Contained a magical rock sacred to the followers of Eilistraee.
 * The Dungeon of the Shield : The dungeon beneath Harpshield Castle, inhabited by the ancestors of the aforementioned members of House Majarra. It lay within the south-eastern fringe of the forest.
 * The Glen of Aloevan : The site of a portal that led to a pocket plane wherein lay the ghost of the maddened laranla (queen) and Chosen of Mystra and Sehanine, Embrae Aloevan. The site was guarded by an otherworldly dragon and the laranla's attendants, all priests of Sehanine.
 * The Floshin Estates : A lightly wooded expanse of land that bordered the forest proper. Elorfindar Floshin, lord of the lands, guarded the House of Long Silences from his secret fey'ri relatives in penance for his family's actions.
 * The Green Glade: a ring of elm trees that encompassed a minor mythal's effects.
 * Harpshield Lands : Were owned by House Majarra, some of whose members were survivors of a royal family but had forgotten their royal lineage. Their land bordered the south-eastern ridge of the forest.
 * The House of Long Silences : Was located at the bottom of the northern spur of the forest.
 * House of Stone : A huge tower fallen to ruin just east of the forest contained Stoneturn Well that connected to the Underdark.
 * Nandar Lodge : The foundations of a hunting lodge that was abandoned by its stubborn owner after repeated elf attacks.
 * Phylund Hunting Lodge : Known for hosting hunts of exotic creatures, brought from elsewhere.
 * Reluraun's Tomb : The final resting place of a fallen elf warrior, cursed by evil magic during his final battle.
 * Talmost Keep : Located just outside the end of the forest's northern spur and was the royal seat of House Talmost, never reclaimed by its descendants.

Inhabitants
In 1358 DR, Strumferrel, a Tanar'ri posing as a evil human wizard named Glandowr, lived in a tower in the forest.

Ardeep Forest in 1372 DR, like most of the ancient forests of Faerûn, was a lot smaller than it used to be but it still contained large numbers of wild boar and many deer.

Traditionally, the Eldreth Veluuthra had been active in the forest. As of 1374 DR, two cells operated here, one hunting down worshipers of Eilistraee near the Dancing Dell and the Ladystone; and the other guarding the ruins of Phalorm.

By the 1480s DR, in the years surrounding the War of the Silver Marches, the forest was inhabited by a group of wood elves from Evermeet, led by Rond Arrowhome. The elves took it upon themselves to preserve the forest's ruins and wildlife.