A dense, ancient woodland marking the eastern boundary of Echem Yiakraxes, the Forest of Avarice earned its name from the prospectors and treasure-hunters who enter seeking fortune and emerge—if they emerge—empty-handed and changed. The Terrogones who dominate the plains refuse to hunt beneath its canopy. Local Aboyinzan peoples consider this the most damning warning possible: if apex predators won't go there, neither should you.
The Boundary
The transition from savanna to forest happens unnaturally fast. One moment, sparse grass and open sky. The next, towering hardwoods with canopies so thick that noon looks like dusk. The tree line runs roughly north-south, separating the Terrogone killing grounds from the Deadloop's eastern shores. It's not a natural forest edge—more like a wall, as if something drew a line and said this far, no further.
This is the only direction the Terrogones don't expand. Family groups that control territory near the forest's edge are notably less aggressive than their inland cousins, as if they've learned that some boundaries shouldn't be tested. Prey animals that flee into the trees rarely come back out, but neither do the Terrogones pursue them. An unspoken truce, enforced by something inside.
What Lives Within
The forest hosts a predator ecosystem entirely separate from the plains—and possibly more dangerous. Confirmed inhabitants include:
- Greenwing stalkers: Six-legged ambush predators that mimic fallen logs until prey steps close enough to grab. Their camouflage is near-perfect.
- Whisper moths: Insects the size of dinner plates whose wing-beats produce subsonic frequencies that cause disorientation and mild hallucinations. Swarms can drive travelers in circles for days.
- Something that speaks: Multiple survivors report hearing voices calling their names from deeper in the forest. No one who followed the voices has returned to describe the source.
The deeper one goes, the stranger the wildlife becomes. Trees grow in spirals. Clearings appear and vanish between visits. Time behaves inconsistently—travelers have emerged after what felt like hours to find days have passed, or vice versa. Fae influence is suspected but unconfirmed.
The Name
"Avarice" didn't come from nothing. Early explorers reported finding things in the forest—coins, jewelry, weapons of exceptional make—lying in plain sight on the forest floor. Those who picked them up found more treasures deeper in. Those who kept following the trail didn't come back.
Current theory holds that something in the forest baits intruders. Whether this is a predator's hunting strategy, fae mischief, or something more purposeful is unknown. What's clear is that the forest rewards greed with disappearance.
The few who've resisted temptation and turned back describe an almost physical sensation of wanting—a pull toward the forest's heart that had nothing to do with the treasures visible and everything to do with treasures imagined. Some survivors develop lasting compulsions, dreaming of the forest for years afterward, convinced that what they truly desire waits inside.
Relationship with the Plains
The Forest of Avarice and Echem Yiakraxes exist in strange equilibrium. The Terrogones control the open ground; whatever inhabits the forest controls the canopy. Neither encroaches on the other.
Some scholars speculate that this arrangement predates the Terrogones—that they were drawn to Echem Yiakraxes specifically because the forest created a defensible border. Others believe the forest's presence is what prevents the Terrogones from expanding east toward more populated regions, making it an accidental bulwark protecting the Deadloop settlements.
A minority theory suggests coordination: that whatever guards Nyavminthk Castle and whatever lurks in the Forest of Avarice serve the same master, or at least the same purpose.
For Adventurers
The Forest of Avarice offers:
- A back door into Terrogone territory, for those willing to trade one danger for another
- Treasures that may or may not be bait—risk assessment is the adventure
- Fae or fae-adjacent mysteries for parties interested in the strange over the violent
- The voice calling from deeper in, which someone eventually has to investigate
- The question of what could make Terrogones, creatures that fear nothing in the natural world, refuse to enter