Architecture & Districts

The Heart Tree rises at Greenhaven’s center, its trunk so massive that a hundred people stretching hand-to-hand could not encircle it. Living architecture spirals upward within and around the trunk itself—chambers carved from the living wood, sealed with natural resins, shaped by generations of careful cultivation. Bridges of woven vines arc between districts, reinforced with heartwood and enchanted to bear considerable weight without fraying.

Spiraling platforms of polished wood ascend like natural steps, each level hosting different functions. Lower levels contain markets, craft halls, and residential quarters. Middle levels house the administrative centers. The uppermost platform, accessible only by the most trusted druids, hosts the Moonpool—a perfect circle of still water that reflects not only the moon, but also prophetic visions of the forest’s future.

The Great Root Library occupies three massive root chambers beneath the Heart Tree, where scrolls carved from bark-paper and volumes bound in leather chronicle thousands of years of forest history, druidic knowledge, and celestial observations.

Notable Features

• •The Council Chamber: Where the leaders of all settlements gather for biannual assemblies to discuss matters affecting the entire realm
• •The Moonpool: Sacred pool said to hold prophetic visions and allow communion with the deepest magics of the forest
• •The Great Root Library: Repository of all major druidic knowledge, astronomical records, and forest histories
• •The Singing Bridges: Living vine pathways that hum with natural harmonics when the wind passes through

Atmosphere & Structure

Perpetual mist clings to Mistwood, the result of the healing spring’s waters rising as warm vapor through the cool forest air. This mist is not oppressive but rather ethereal, carrying the scent of hundreds of medicinal herbs and creating an atmosphere of calm that aids in healing and contemplation.

The village itself arranges in terraced gardens carved into the forest floor, with each level dedicated to different plant families. Root crops occupy the lowest levels, benefiting from shade and moisture. Climbing vines and herbs that favor dappled light occupy middle terraces. The highest terraces host sun-loving plants that require the most light.

Apothecary shops line the main thoroughfare—places of quiet industry where alchemists carefully prepare tinctures, grind roots, and distill essences. The scent of drying herbs hangs perpetually in these establishments, creating an olfactory tapestry of forest medicine.

Training & Innovation

Mistwood serves as the primary training ground for healers across Ardenweald. The Shamans’ Guild maintains a network of scholars, researchers, and practicing herbalists who constantly work to discover new applications for forest plants. Their work is not merely practical but deeply academic, with careful records kept of plant properties, preparation methods, and outcomes of treatments.

Training Grounds & Facilities

Thornwatch features extensive training grounds protected by naturally grown thorn-walls—dense barriers of thorny branches that provide both defense and a training challenge. Archery ranges stretch between the trees, with targets positioned at various heights and distances to accommodate different training levels.

Camouflage exercises take place within specially designated areas where students learn to blend with forest environments. Silent movement training occurs along root-paths, where fallen branches and dense undergrowth test each ranger’s ability to move undetected. Combat training utilizes wooden weapons and harmless dueling grounds to ensure students graduate with both skill and restraint.

The settlement maintains observation towers positioned at high points throughout the surrounding forest, creating a network of watchers capable of spotting threats from considerable distances.

Mission

Rangers trained at Thornwatch are expected to be the eyes and ears of Ardenweald, reporting threats, monitoring animal migrations, and tracking unusual disturbances. Yet they are equally trained in conservation—to observe the forest without disrupting its natural cycles, to defend without destroying, and to resolve conflicts with the minimum force necessary.

Astronomical Infrastructure

At Starfall’s heart lies a perfectly circular clearing roughly half a league across—an open circular space with the canopy forming a perfect ring at its perimeter. Stone circles have been carved and positioned throughout this clearing, with careful attention to astronomical alignments. Standing stones mark significant celestial points. Smaller circles serve as precise observation platforms.

Extensive charts have been carved into vast stone tablets, showing star patterns, seasonal positions, and predicted celestial events. These charts span hundreds of feet and represent centuries of careful observation. Some areas show fading marks from millennia past, suggesting this site has held astronomical significance longer than current civilization has recorded.

The Starlore druids maintain a complex system of astronomical instruments crafted from meteoritic iron—compasses that align with celestial poles, viewing tubes ground from crystal brought up from the deepest places of the earth, and recording devices that capture light from distant stars.

Celestial Practices

Starfall serves as the primary site for celestial rituals and prophecy reading. Major ceremonies align with equinoxes, solstices, and significant planetary movements. The druids conduct detailed astronomical calculations to predict when celestial events will occur, and they believe certain arrangements of stars and planets open pathways to deeper magical understanding.

Many druids from other settlements journey to Starfall to participate in these rituals or to consult with the Starlore specialists regarding questions that astronomical analysis might illuminate.

Craftsmanship & Facilities

Silvergrove features extensive tree-shaping workshops where master craftspeople teach apprentices the patient art of encouraging wood into useful forms. Rather than cutting, these artisans use careful applications of growth-promoting preparations, strategic pruning, and magical guidance to encourage trees to grow into desired shapes. Chairs, bowls, musical instruments, and architectural elements can all be grown rather than carved.

Underground chambers beneath the silver birch groves provide ideal conditions for cultivating medicinal fungi. These damp, cool caverns maintain perfect temperature and humidity year-round. Networks of fungi beds spread across multiple chamber levels, tended by expert cultivators who understand the specific needs of each species.

Healing sanctuaries scattered throughout Silvergrove provide refuges for those seeking treatment through concentrated exposure to the settlement’s healing properties—a combination of medicinal fungi preparations, proximity to the silver birches, and druidic healing magic.

Trade & Export

Silvergrove is renowned throughout Ardenweald for its shaped-wood crafts—items that have developed a reputation for exceptional durability, beauty, and subtle magical properties. Furniture from Silvergrove is highly prized, both for its functionality and for the gentle healing energies inherent in wood grown under expert druidic guidance.

Craftsmanship & Innovation

Whisperwind features extensive musical instrument workshops where master craftspeople create instruments of exceptional quality. Wind instruments are a specialty—pipes, flutes, and horns carved from bone and wood that capture the voice of the wind itself. But the craftspeople also create stringed instruments with unusual construction that naturally resonates with ambient breezes.

Beyond musical instruments, the Wind Callers have developed wind-powered mechanisms—wheels, generators, and propulsion devices that harness wind energy for practical purposes. These mechanisms often incorporate musical elements, so practical tools frequently create pleasant tones as they function.

Apprentices at Whisperwind learn not merely to craft instruments but to understand wind as a fundamental element—its seasonal patterns, its relationship to temperature, its emotional resonances.

Bardic Heritage

Whisperwind maintains Ardenweald’s greatest library of bardic traditions and historical songs. The settlement serves as the primary training ground for bards and performers. Master singers teach students not only to perform but to compose and preserve songs—the oral history of the realm encoded in melody and verse. Performances at the natural amphitheater attract visitors from across Ardenweald, creating a cultural hub where traditions are celebrated and evolved.