Sartha Wood

Sartha Wood is a legendary enchanted forest somewhere in the Castali Riverlands whose exact location is unknown even to well-travelled magi. It is described as an enchanted forest at the center of an otherwise perfectly ordinary wood, a place where knights, heroes, magi, demigods, and bold peasants would stumble across its territory. Legends attached to the name run back to before the Narasi Conquest.

The wood is the seat of the figure known to humanity as the Sorceress of Sartha Wood -- in truth the ancient Alka Alon physician Lilastien, called Elre ("Rebel") by her own kindred and L'lasail in her youth. She dwells there in effective exile, having practiced magic proscribed by her people.

The wood is protected by a barrier spell, within which the weather is noticeably calmer, warmer, and more peaceful, though the air hangs heavy with a lingering, expectant force. It is markedly unnatural in its order -- very little deadfall and underbrush that looks almost cultivated -- and is dotted with marble stones and ruins, including the tower Arth Noafa, the Tower of Refuge. Its frontier is guarded by animate "tree knights" -- trees enchanted to appear as armed warriors that speak in flat Narasi and turn away travellers -- and it is also associated in legend with famous baths.