ooc: The Korcari Wilds

[arcaneadvisor]

The Korcari Wilds are described as being filled with tundra, a cold southern expanse of forests, the full extent of which is not actually known. What is known is that they're dangerous and home to very few: Flemeth, her daughter Morrigan and nomadic barbarians known as Chasind Wilders. The Chasind say that there is snow to the south but few believe anything that comes out of the mouth of the Chasind. There is a mist surrounding the Wilds that is said to be unnatural and the result of a curse involving werewolves; this simply makes navigation complicated and risky because it reduces visibility and makes the shadows confusing. There are numerous marshes and bodies of water present too and the odd little area of camp belonging to the Darkspawn as well as Chasind trail signs.

They were deep in the Korcari Wilds now, he knew. The forest's dangerous reputation had yet to prove itself, but it certainly looked unlike anything he had ever seen before. The giant trees twisted like they were frozen in the throes of agony, and a perpetual mist clung to the ground.

-- The Stolen Throne

Maric collapsed in a natural alcove formed by the roots at the foot of a fallen tree. It was an elder poplar, papery white and ten times as wide as himself, and some unknown force had ripped it out of the ground. Massive exposed roots snaked around the alcove like giant tentacles, and a bed of thick moss and delicate white flowers grew in the shade.

-- The Stolen Throne

Map of areas the Warden is able to go in the first visit to the Wilds.

Deep within the Wilds is Flemeth's hut; it's a small hut, made of wood and raised from the ground, surrounded by marsh and some old ruins. It's not much to look at. Beyond that, it has an invisible magical barrier erected by Flemeth that repels Darkspawn but other than that, there' s nothing special to note. The hut will be locked and there is nothing of value left inside anyway.

Deep in the thick of the forest, where the white mist turned into an obscuring fog and the sun barely reached, there stood a simple weathered hut with a roof of brown moss and old branches. It lay on the end of a short path, and thick, dark ivy crept up the walls on all sides. More significant were the ropes of skulls hanging along the path: rat and wolf some Loghain couldn't even identify, all tied together with feathers and sticks and mud. They dangled ominously, a sign staking claim to this land. Maybe there was magic here, too, for Loghain felt a strange sensation running up his arms and into the back of his neck. The air bristled with power, and the way the mist flowed seemed to beckon them in farther.

-- The Stolen Throne

Loghain paused, unease growing as he noticed what were surely human skulls hanging in the ropes.

-- The Stolen Throne

As they walked down the path, the shadows seemed to deepen. The trees towered more ominously overhead, and the mist twisted and danced around them. A trick of the light? In front of the hut sat a small rickety rocking chair as well as an old fire pit that had not seen use in many days. Small moldy bones surrounded the pit in neat piles.

"Is that...?" Maric's voice trailed off in horror, and Loghain followed his gaze up into the trees. There hung a corpse, a human man with clammy white skin like a fish. He was strung up by his neck and arms, dangling like a broken marionette, with flies and the smell of turning meat hovering in the air. There was no sign of injury, but he had been dead long enough to discolour, the skin glistening slightly as if sweating. The doughy, swollen face and bulging eyes were not enough to hide the corpse's identity. Loghain knew exactly who he was.

"Dannon?" Maric whispered.

Loghain nodded. There were other bodies hanging farther in, just a few that he could see, hidden in mist and shadows. Most of them were skeletons with nothing more than tattered cloth and scraps of wispy hair clinging to them.

-- The Stolen Throne

Loghain heard Maric's sharp intake of breath behind him but turned only in time to see one of the giant trees reaching towards him with lightning speed. Great branches wrapped around him like giant hands, pulling him up into the air. Leaves fluttered all around while flies buzzed angrily through the air. He struggled and shouted, but it was useless. The tree stepped back into line with its brothers, and Loghain became another dangling trophy only a few feet away from Dannon's bloated corpse. Panicking, he tried to shout to Maric, only to have smaller branches wrap around his mouth and hold his head still.

-- The Stolen Throne

An instant later, something long and white slithered out from the shadows and snatched up the core. It was buried under the leaves, almost out of sight, but still Maric got the impression that it wasn't a snake at all.

-- The Stolen Throne

The hut was empty of everything but dust and rot, as if nobody had lived there for years. They searched about, but there was no sign of the witch.

-- The Stolen Throne

There may be many huts like this in the Wilds owing to Flemeth's habit of moving around when discovered by Templars and due to her magic – all will be empty except maybe a few things, all shabby and rundown. Some might still have skulls etc lurking around. Without Flemeth it is very likely that the trees attack as there are no sylvans that will attack the Warden at all until much later in the game in a completely different forest.

There are many ruins found in this place, most of them Tevinter in origin and sunk into the water so that only domes or spires can still be glimpsed.

There were no more unexpected encounters, though on the third night they found the remains of an overgrown ruin. It was a sight to behold, tall stone pillars jutting into the sky like rib bones, presumably having once held up a great ceiling. Part of the foundation remained, along with a set of long stairs, all of it cracked and almost reduced to rubble by encroaching greenery. Maric seemed awed by the structure and poked around it at length. He found the remains of an altar that held a great carving of what once might have been a dragon's head. It was faded now, though Maric seemed to see where the eyes and teeth might have been and traced them out. Excitedly, he told Loghain that this was probably a temple of the ancient Imperium, from back in the times when they had encroached this far south and warred with the barbarian tribes.

-- The Stolen Throne

There is the ruin of the Grey Warden's Cache but there's nothing there save a bunch of rubble.

Korcari Wilds
Codex: Korcari Wilds

The Korcari Wilds are dangerous. Morrigan mentions early on in conversation that she knows of fifteen poisonous plants growing at the swamp the party is stood at which happens to be right outside her mother's hut.

There are some wolves encountered by the Warden's party and they're pretty generic wolves, white and grey and very bitey. They shouldn't be too difficult to deal with.

There are black snakes known as Silent Crawlers (The Stolen Throne) that can be found, poisonous but tasty, at least the length of an arm. Ignore the smell if you eat them.

Some members of the Alamarri tribe, called Chasind, resisted the unification of Ferelden, retreating to the Korcari Wilds in the south. There they continue a peaceful life if misunderstood life in small communities. Their leaders are shamans, respected in Chasind culture for their magical abilities.

-- World of Thedas

Chasind and Codex: Chasind