Cloak Wood

[Maecius]

CLOAK WOOD

This wood, north of Candlekeep and south of Baldur's Gate, is ancient and thickly overgrown with elms, beeches, felsul, and hiexel trees.

The Cloak Wood is an old, thickly grown forest marking the southern end of the Sword Coast. Just south of Baldur's Gate, the Cloak wood is a perilous place, and home to quicklings, satyrs, stirges, kampfult, and other less common monsters. This high number of creatures has turned the wood into a battleground between rival races. The sages of Candlekeep have sufficient evidence to indicate at least one gate exits in the wood, but the exact numbers and/or destination of these gates is unknown. They may lead to other parts of the Realms, to an Alternate Material Plane where such creatures are common, or to the Beastlands (Happy Hunting Grounds) (1). Few who have investigated the matter have returned to report on it. (Cyclopedia of the Realms, 31)

South of Baldur's Gate and north of Candlekeep, the Cloak Wood is a thickly overgrown ancient forest that looms along the shore south of the Sword Coast. Unlike the cliffs to the north, the Cloak Wood's shoreline theoretically allows a ship to moor and send a small boat to shore for water and supplies. In practice, only desperate mariners dare the wood's nasty population of beasts, monsters, and vicious fey.

The sages of Candlekeep assert that Cloak Wood contains portals to several other parts of Faerûn. (Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting, Third Edition, 222)

(1) The Beastlands are an artifact of the Second Edition Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting, which used the default D&D "Great Wheel" cosmology. Since our game is set in the Third Edition Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting, which replaced the "Great Wheel" cosmology with the "World Tree" cosmology; the equivalent plane in our setting would be "The House of Nature."

[Maecius]

Strangeness In Cloak Wood

The following story is cited from the Second Edition Player's Guide to the Forgotten Realms, and occurs on page 57 of that text:

We made the mistake of camping too near the borders of Cloak Wood. But we needed fresh water, and we had found a nice spring there, and comfortable grass to sleep upon. Oh, well. Learn through living, I always say.

The nervous stomp and whinny of our horses woke us. Samkin had been on watch.

But the halfling was missing.

We began a search. It was not long before Trothgar found the tracks of a troll. From the signs left in the soil and grass, the fell creature had crept out of the forest and made off with Samkin. The hapless halfling had no doubt fallen asleep on guard duty.

We quickly helped our warriors don their armor, gathered our weapons, and headed into Cloak Wood. Soon, the tracks led to a cave set in the side of a low, rocky hill. Approaching, we heard the rumbling voice of the troll.

"Me like yer shiny teef, little man-thing," it said. "Me take!" This was followed by a high-pitched squeal of pain from none other than Samkin Silvertooth.

Rushing into the cave, we caught the troll completely off guard -- a mighty hack from the axe of Lorrick, a slash from Trothgar's blade, deadly spells of flaming missiles by myself and Bublim, and the troll lay dead.

Samkin was excited to see us, but obviously embarrassed at allowing himself to be featured on a troll's menu for a midnight snack. He was unhurt, except for the fact that one of his silver front teeth had been yanked from his jaw.

With a malicious grin, Bublim called him Samkin Gaptooth. 'Tis the first time I have seen the halfling too embarrassed to offer a snappy reply.

Apparently, the troll had made a habit of robbing and killing travelers on the road. We found an assortment of valuable jewelry amongst the litter of its foul lair.

However, our troubles in Cloak Wood were just beginning. I have heard of magical gateways to other worlds hidden in the forest, and I doubt such tales no longer.

Shortly after departing the dead troll's den, unearthly trumpets raised a bleating cacophony through the forest. Drawing nearer, they recalled the tones of common hunting horns, yet were unique.

Woodland animals crashed through the forest toward us, ahead of the mysterious trumpet-blowers. Conjuring his magic, Bublim Barboast concealed all of us under a spell of invisibility. We waited quietly.

It still seems as a dream, for the beings I saw were utterly fantastic. There were thirteen of them, and they raced through the trees on horses made of steel. The beings wore armor of a silver-like metal, yet the armor hugged their humanoid bodies like supple cloth. Their heads were covered with round helms, and their faces concealed by visors of black glass. The short, metal lances they carried belched beams of red light to deadly effect, slaying the terrified animals running before them.

As the silver hunters swept past on their mechanical mounts, I was gripped with the realization that I was witness to something not of my world. After the sounds of the strange trumpets grew faint, we made our way out of the Cloak Wood. I don't think any of our company slept well that night.