The Shadowed Forest (5e Environment)
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The Shadowed Forest[edit]
the shadowed forest is a demiplane that has formed at the borders beetween the feywild, shadowfell, material plane, and some of the ethereal, which holds characteristics of all of them. it largely resembles a dim, colorless forest, where foliage can range from sparse, dead willow trees, to dense forests with ivy creeping up the bark of gigantic trees that touch the sky. the forests are best known for how easy it is to get lost, with trees shifting and spreading, natural landscapes merging and splitting apart, making it even harder to map out than the shadowfell. another thing that this demiplane is known for is its unique flora and fauna. since it borders four different areas of the planar regions, various plants and animals from these planes spread here, creating new species that can be only found there. for example, shadoweed is a fast growing plant that, contrary to the plants name, is one of the brightest and vibrant of plants you can find there. however, once it is picked, it slowly reverts to its actual form, a gnarled grey root. these roots spread to other planes by taking the appearance of other, more useful plants, tricking inexpirienced merchants wishing to sell the valuable plants into spreading the plant to various planes. other plants include shrieking oaks, trees that emit awful howls when touched, etherial roses, large pale plants that whisper snippets of long lost information, and vanishing roots, plants that phase in and out of visibility at random. animals that accidentally wander into the shadowed forest will undergo many changes if they do not leave right away. over weeks, the furs pigmentation will darken, the eyes will begin to glow yellow or white, and horns will often grow wildly. the animals will become more aggressive or mistrusting, striking at a moments notice. these darker beasts, called dire beasts, are simply called whatever their animal was, but with the word dire in front. dire deer, dire toads, dire bear, dire boar, dire moose, and just about any animal that you could find in an ordinary place. if you wish to travel to the shadowfell, you will go through the shadowed forest. if you want to go to the feywild, you will go through the shadow forest. if you walk far enough in any of the inner planes, you could find yourself in the shadowed forest. the areas range from hundreds of miles wide to a few feet, depending on where you are. areas commonly bleed into the shadowed forest, because of how close the forest is to them. these areas most commonly form in areas that are most like the forest. gigantic forests, overgrown swamps, desolate plains dotted with the occasional dead plant, can all seamlessly lead to the shadowed forest. the shadowed forest did not origionally exist on the planes map, but was formed by two things; the increased number of truely vile acts commited by mortals, and the saturation of natures magic in the material plane, resulting from the great number of elves that now populate the material plane. this fracture and diffusion of magic collected in a river of colliding fey and shadow magic.
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