The Blightbark

The Blightbark

The Blightbark is a damaged woodland in the south-central Vale, near the Plaguelands. It sits where blight and scarcity overlap. Rivers and lakes are gone, and nothing here grows clean. Control is weak, violence is common, and survival is temporary.

Trees, Ground, and Air

The trees grow thin and crowded. Bark is gray and split with black seams where bitter sap leaks and hardens. Cutting these trees ruins tools and gear. Leaves are sparse and often mold-flecked. The ground is cluttered with dead brush, snapped limbs, and collapsed pits from failed digging. Smoke hangs from constant burn piles. Fog settles low and hides distance, making travel unsafe.

Food and Survival

The soil near the trees no longer holds crops. Fields fail within a season. People rely on fungus beds, trapped animals, insects, and scavenged roots. Meat spoils fast and must be dried or smoked hard. Grazing animals sicken if they stray too close to the trees. Most livestock does not survive long here.

Settlements and Collapse

No large towns exist inside the Blightbark. People live along the edges in small villages or short-term camps. Refugee camps rise in abandoned clearings, fenced with scrap and cloth. Most fail quickly. They cannot keep sickness contained or defend themselves at night. When a camp collapses, it leaves broken carts, shallow pits, and debris. Raiders and beasts use these remains as cover.

Travel and False Markers

Paths are hard to follow. Deadfall blocks old routes, and new growth hides lanes. Markers exist, but they cannot be trusted. Raiders move them. Cultists alter them. Patrols change them without warning. Many groups refuse to travel without a guide who has walked the route recently.

Taking Value From the Wood

People still work the Blightbark because they have no choice. Bitter sap is collected and boiled into pitch used to seal wood and slow rot. The work burns lungs and eyes, so crews rotate fast. Timber is cut mostly for fuel and repairs. Charcoal pits operate near the edges under guard, because one raid can wipe out a season’s work.

Human Threats

Orc warbands use the outer thickets for cover. They strike caravans, villages, and isolated sites, then vanish into the trees. Their goal is short-term control of a single resource before moving on. Plague cults hide in abandoned clearings. They trade false cures for food and loyalty. Some sabotage vital sites, then offer salvation in exchange for obedience.

Quarantine and Burn Practice

Disease response here is crude and brutal. Villages build holding pens downwind using fence rails and wagon panels. The sick are guarded and fed last. When deaths rise, burn trenches are dug and ash lines marked to warn others away. Many settlements keep carts ready for fast removal and burning, because delay brings punishment or worse.

Plaguelands Influence

The Blightbark shows daily signs of Plaguelands damage. Mold spreads fast on cloth and stores. Small wounds swell and refuse to heal. Insects carry sickness. Some clearings feel wrong. Animals avoid them. Dogs refuse to enter. Birds stay away. These “shut clearings” often sit over old pits or buried burn sites. Digging there uncovers blackened wood and sealed scraps of clothing.

How Failure Spreads

Every threat here feeds the next. Broken supplies force movement. Movement creates trails. Trails draw predators. Raids leave wounded and scattered gear. Fog and panic break discipline. One mistake becomes many. The woodland keeps the evidence visible: broken markers, empty containers, and ash rings where bodies were burned.

What Locals Watch For

• Bitter sap on bark means tools and animals will fail.

• Fog that lingers too long means danger nearby.

• Chewed leather and black drool signal plaguehogs.

• Sudden quiet and new fungus caps warn of Spore-Callers.

• Dragged brush near pits means a large snake is close.

• Cut saplings or moved markers often mean orcs are near.

The Blightbark feeds nearby roads with small but vital supplies, and it kills many people for them. Every guarded haul is a gamble. Every patrol returns thinner and harsher. It is a survival belt under constant pressure, with no recovery in sight.