Inrik Vanderholl

The forest offers dangerous creatures-whether they walk on four legs or two-a place to hide. Dim light, low brush, and fallen leaves conspire to hide their trails. Given these poor conditions, an unskilled eye might spot a sign or two of a creature's passing, but only a skilled tracker can identify several such signs and discern their relationship to each other, connecting one to the next until they form a trail of prints, scat, fur, feathers, and blood that leads to the quarry's lair.

From the managed and cultivated forests that support villages to the tree-covered crown lands where only nobles and their servants are permitted to hunt, forests provide. To communities, forests provide fuel, food, medicine, and raw materials, while royally protected forests provide food for the nobles' table and a source of entertainment in the form of organized hunts. Even the ancient woods untouched by mortal hand or blade provide bards with settings where legends happened and could happen again. Many find the forest depths unsettling, but others live their lives among the trees and alongside the creatures that make their homes there.