Dunwood

Dunwood, known as The Rawlinswood prior to 1479 DR, was a large forest in the north of the Great Dale that also encroached on south-eastern Damara.

Geography
Merchant's Run passed along the forest's western edge. Impiltur lay to its southwest, while Damara, the Giantspire Mountains, and Narfell were to the north. The Cold Road and Firward Mountains were to its east, the Great Road and Easting Reach to its south.

The River Lench flowed west from the Rawlinswood into the Great Imphras River. The Rawlin River and the Forest Blood River flowed south through the Rawlinswood from the Giantspire Mountains to the Easting Reach.

The Rawlinswood was larger than the Forest of Lethyr and together they covered 70,000 square miles. Winters were bitterly cold, while summers were cool with abundant mosquitos when the permafrost thawed.

Flora & Fauna
The woods were dense with firs, oaks, and pines thinning to taiga and muskeg in the north. Woodsmen took lumber from the Rawlinswood for construction in Impiltur and Damara.

A diverse assortment of forest creatures, magical beasts, the undead, and demons including Green abishai, banedead, baneguards, greater barghests, bheurs, blightspawned, darkenbeasts, dire bears, dire rats, dire tigers, adult white dragons, young adult green dragons, fell trolls, giant stag beetles, gray renders, hell hounds, Hellcats, juju zombies, mur-zhaguls, myrlochars, night hags, night hunters, phase spiders, shadows, sinisters, spectres, trolls, black unicorns, uthraki, vampires, werebats, werebears, wereboars, werewolves, wights, winter wolves, wolves, worgs, and wraiths all could be encountered there.

Notable Locations

 * Denderdale was north of the forest's narrowest point and travelers sometimes used the area as a shortcut.
 * Tellerth was on the forest's northwestern edge in Damara.
 * Dun-Tharos was in the central portion of the forest.
 * Clymph Tower and Tower Threespires were a pair of towers in the eastern forest linked by portals.
 * Fortress Clymph was situated in the Dunwood's southeast, northeast of Bezentil
 * Nighthawk Tower was at the edge of the forest near its eastern end.

Settlement by Elves
Clan Sethomiir dark elves constructed Narathmault in -10400 DR beneath what would become Dun-Tharos. Sun elves and moon elves from Shantel Othreier settled the forest as part of Lethyr in -9750 DR.

The Rise and Fall of Narfell
In -1020 DR, raids by the Nars caused the elves of Lethyr to abandon the portion of the Riildath that became the Rawlinswood and an arm of the Great Glacier began separating it from the Forest of Lethyr. In -970 DR, the Nentyarch built Dun-Tharos near the Soleine River headwaters and began uniting the Nar kingdoms. The Great Conflagration between Narfell and Raumathar took place in the area from -160 DR to -150 DR. The Great Druid of Leth, claiming the title Nentyarch, raised a living tree-fortress over Dun-Tharos in 722 DR.

Conflicts with Impiltur
In 726 DR, demons of the Scaled Horde from the western Rawlinswood and Forest of Lethyr overran Impiltur. Impiltur slew and dispersed the western Rawlinswood's demon survivors of the Fiend Wars and the Battle of Moaning Gorge in the Scouring in 850 DR, driving the remainder to Narfell. Soneillon took refuge in abandoned gnome mining tunnels beneath the Rawlinswood circa 940 DR and began recruiting hobgoblins in the Giantspire Mountains who used the tunnels to attack Impiltur in 1095 DR.

Rumors & Legends

 * Sentient trees from a past age took up residence in the Rawlinswood and the Forest of Lethyr in response to deforestation elsewhere.
 * Legend in the Great Dale suggested a dragon cleared the valley between the Rawlinswood and Forest of Lethyr with fire.

Inhabitants

 * The forest was known to be haunted by demons who dwelt in the ruins of Dun-Tharos. The defeat of the Rotting Man released demons into the Dunwood that the Empire of Narfell had bound underground. Demons of the Dunwood sometimes abducted individuals from surrounding villages.
 * The Dag Nost tribe of Nars inhabited the northern edge of the forest in Narfell. The Qu'encesta tribe sometimes ranged that far south as well.
 * Centaurs led by the Prancer inhabited the forest's northwestern edge. They were known to tolerate a group of druids who worshiped Silvanus in the northwestern forest outside Tellerth. The druids prevented the inhabitants of Tellerth from encroaching on the forest.
 * Volodni pine folk, native to the Forest of Lethyr, also lived in the Rawlinswood, though they rarely interacted with the surrounding communities.
 * Small bands of individuals descended from fiends could be found in the Dunwood.
 * In relation to the Rotting Man's activities, Talontar blightlords, blightspawned, druids of the Circle of Leth, Witches of Rashemen, and human and volodni rangers all were active in the area.

Notable Individuals

 * Lothchas operated out of the forest in Impiltur.
 * The Nentyarch lived at Dun-Tharos in the central forest until being driven to Yeshelmaar by the Rotting Man in 1371 DR.
 * The Rotting Man appeared in the Rawlinswood in 1362 DR and was subsequently driven out by a servitor of Lurue in 1373 DR.
 * Hensoi lived at Nighthawk Tower.

Appearances

 * Forgotten Realms: Demon Stone