The Grimwood Glades

The Grimwood Glades

The Grimwood Glades sit in the southeast of Oblivion Vale, where human border lands press against dragonborn territory. They are not a true forest. They are scattered clearings cut apart by dense trees, thorn growth, and broken ridges. Old roads still cross the Glades because there are few safe routes left, and abandoning them would isolate entire regions.

There is no surface water. Camps cannot last long. Movement through the Glades is constant and dangerous, because stopping means dying. Every path is watched, contested, or trapped by someone who needs control.

Ground and Cover

The land shifts between open clearings and tight brush. Trees grow low and close, with hard roots that split the ground and slow travel. Thorn belts choke side paths and force movement onto exposed roads. Ash and grit coat the soil and work into skin, gear, and wounds. Small cuts fester fast.

The roads show signs of violence. Broken wagons, burned supplies, and bodies dragged off the path are common. After raids, patrols burn remains to prevent sickness or scavenging. The blackened circles stay visible for years.

Watch Points and Control

Low ridges hold watch posts and crude towers. Side paths are blocked with rope lines, spikes, or false markers meant to push travelers into narrow ground. Some signs warn of controlled territory. Others are traps set by raiders.

Hidden pits and sealed shafts lie under many clearings. Locals mark them in subtle ways outsiders miss. Guards control access and keep crowds back with force. Any gathering draws attention. Any delay invites attack.

Border Tension

Human fortlets and dragonborn outposts watch the same roads and distrust each other completely. Each side accuses the other of sabotage, theft, and covert raids. Old border wars still shape behavior. The land is dotted with execution sites, burned clearings, and hanging frames left as warnings.

Travel between borders is treated as hostile by default. Violence often starts over suspicion alone. No side wants open war, but no side yields ground.

Fortlets and Outposts

Human fortlets are small and brutal. They are built to endure raids, not comfort people. Punishment is public and harsh, because fear is cheaper than mercy. Suspected thieves are held in cages or left on display.

Dragonborn outposts sit higher and watch farther. They favor stone platforms, gates, and long sightlines. Discipline is strict. Betrayal is answered without delay. Both sides keep lists of approved escorts and trusted crews, but those lists are stolen, sold, and forged constantly.

Plague Clearings

Some clearings are used to isolate the sick or unwanted. They are fenced spaces where people are left to survive or die. Guards stand outside, not inside. When a camp collapses, it is often burned or stripped and abandoned.

These sites leave the ground fouled and dangerous. Scavengers move in fast. Survivors carry grief and rage into the Glades, feeding cycles of theft and revenge.

Life Under Scarcity

Those who live here survive by hiding supplies and moving fast. Fires are kept small and covered. Smoke draws patrols and raiders alike. Trade happens quietly and quickly.

Useful goods matter more than coin. Containers, tools, cloth, medicine, and clean skins are worth killing over. Delay at a gate can mean death before the next safe stop. People keep false papers, spare names, and escape plans ready at all times.

Earth Hunger

The broken ridges hide old stone seams and unstable ground. Digging often wakes something below. When blood soaks into salt-rich earth, the ground itself can rise and crush crews, walls, and pits.

When this happens, routes are abandoned. Clearings go silent. No one risks returning.

Wickerwild Presence

A Wickerwild dragon hunts the forest edges and shrine roads. It steals charms, bones, and warded objects from travelers. It stalks quietly and strikes fast, using cover to break sight and formation.

After attacks, twisted offerings are sometimes left near the road. Some dryads tolerate its presence only if it stays away from their tree.

Current State

The Grimwood Glades remain contested and unstable. No force can clear them without starving itself, and no force can hold them completely. Travel continues because it must, and that keeps violence constant.

Hidden water keeps spirits active. Digging keeps the ground dangerous. Control shifts often and without warning. Survival here depends on silence, speed, and leaving before the fighting moves into your clearing.