Verdant Expanse

The Verdant Expanse is a massive, rampant forest, which covers much of southwestern Tal'Dorei, west of the Stormcrest Mountains. These dense forested lands are traversed by few aside from the elves of Syngorn. The enchanted nature of this wood halts the progression of the usual seasons, causing trees to bloom evergreen year-round.

Description
The ley energies that shifted here following the Calamity brought vibrant, accelerated growth and rampant magical flux to the region. This has attracted to the forest numerous factions of stranded fey folk, as well as displaced aberrations that call the darker groves their home. Ruins slowly fall to the swelling overgrowth, and some claim to have witnessed parts of the wood that moved and hunted on their own, claiming the lives of those who wandered too far from the points of civilization. Even so, much of the Expanse is under the watch of Syngorn's elven scouts, granting a measure of safety to those who travel beneath its dusky boughs, provided they travel through the right zones.

The Gladepools, incorporating a mix of saltwater from the west and freshwater from the east, are located in the southern reaches of the Expanse, bordering on the Mornset Countryside. The odd ecosystems created in this marshland support odd, dangerous creatures that draw Syngornian hunters; the pools themselves also draw fishermen from the Rifenmist Peninsula to the south.

Demographics and Politics
Aside from being the homeland of many wood elves and high elves, the Verdant Expanse also has a half-dozen small, hidden communities of forest gnomes.

The Verdant Expanse is a dangerous place to be a dwarf or especially a drow.

Trivia
Joran the Sea-Speaker, wielder of the Spire of Conflux until he ventured into the Abyss and was devoured by Yenk, was a hero of the Verdant Expanse.