Savalirwood

The Savalirwood (from Elvish: savalir, guilt) is a cursed forest in the Greying Wildlands, historically known as the Veluthil Forest.

Description
The Savalirwood is a cursed forest in the Greying Wildlands. Formerly green, the vegetation is an ashen grayish-purple color that gives off a sense of decay, and the source of its life and color is unnatural. Though the forest appears to be dead, it is still living and "brims with health" in a off-putting manner. The ground seems dead, but there is wildlife, which seems to be in a symbiotic relationship with the forest. The Savalirwood is dangerous, increasingly so as one travels deeper into it.

When Caduceus sees his Light spell's brightness gradually diminished in the King's Cage, he recalled that a similar phenomenon happens in the depths of the Savalirwood.

A bull spirit Umudara was a guardian of the forest and one of the Great Beasts who made it their home.

A throne in the Grandcast Citadel of Uthodurn is made out wood carved from a type of tree native to the Savalirwood: a deep maroon layer covered by a a pale gray bark.

Born from ashes
A great forest once existed that covered much of the region that is now the Greying Wildlands. During the Calamity, conflicts in the region resulted in a slow-burning arcane forest fire that burned for a century. This fire burned away much of the forest, transforming the northern region into a desert of rocky ice now called the Crystalsands Tundra.

Amid the burning forest was a grove that remained un-burned, believed to be a blessing from Melora and Corellon. Here a group of surviving wood elves settled and built a new home, founding the city of Molaesmyr. From this sanctuary, the Veuluthil Forest sprang, with fey magics reclaiming the burnt wood, expanding over the centuries into a mighty forest. The skull of Jourrael was entrusted to the elves of Veluthil, presumably during this time.

The corruption
In 585 PD during an Apogee Solstice on the night of a Ruidus flare, a mysterious corruption related to Aeorian relics brought to Molaesmyr spread from the heart of the elven city and into the surrounding forest. Many elves perished and in the corruption, the survivors fleeing north to Uthodurn and south into the Dwendalian Empire where they founded Bysaes Tyl.

The forest came to be known as the Savalirwood, from the Elvish word savalir for "guilt". The corruption has warped many of the native animals of the forest into dire beasts and the spirits of elves killed in Molaesmyr linger as ghosts.

The Savalirwood's corruption, and the rumors of its nature, have allowed the city of Shadycreek Run, founded circa the 730s PD to hold off attempts by the Dwendalian Empire's to expand into the region. As of 835 PD, the Empire had given up on the area around the Savalirwood as a potential conquest, letting it remain independent.

Points of interest

 * Shadycreek Run: A city of outlaws located at the southern edge of the forest.
 * The Sour Nest: Iron Shepherds's stronghold two hours northeast of Shadycreek Run.
 * The Blooming Grove: The home of Caduceus Clay, also known as the Bone Orchard, it is an ancient burial ground.
 * Ruins of Molaesmyr: The ancient home of the northern elves of Wildemount. After its fall and the resulting corruption of the surrounding Savalirwood, the elves divided into two groups, Uthodurnian and Western Wynandir (including Bysaes Tyl).

Trivia
While they were exploring the ruins of Aeor, the Mighty Nein noticed that the corruption of trees in the aboretum found there was very similar to that of the Savalirwood, although Caduceus was reluctant to investigate further. Though Caduceus did not feel the two were related, relics of an Aeorian experiment were indeed brought to Molaesmyr, where it was accidentally detonated and corrupted the wood. Sentinel and druid refugees from Molaesmyr, now living in Bysaes Tyl, cut back the forest to prevent the corruption from spreading. Though they are researching a means to return the forest to its former state, progress has not been made because of a combination of lack of funding and interest in the Empire.