The lost woods is a very large. And I mean large. It's landmass as discussed before is about 3.8 million mi² (9.84 million Km²). To give a reference, The whole of the United States of America is about 3.79 million miles squared.
It's big.
There's the central area guarded by Tyr that is a mixture of a great, green verdant forest, four mountain ranges, several large river systems, and smaller plains.
Fjords and glaciers that populate the north and the east are protected by Aegir.
The large northern tundra and small archipelagos past the sea are guarded by Skadi.
Finally a smaller forested land mass lies to the west that is guarded by Ullr, whose currently with us.
Within these lands all kinds of dangers lie. The common threat being demon beasts. They all have different habits and habitats. The king of beasts of course being the dragon. There are other kings but they don't get as much recognition due to them being rare. These can be swift Griffins, Immortal Phoenixes, Island sized turtles, Dragons, Moon Eating Wolves, Giant sea serpent Leviathans, Crows as hot as the sun, Flying Whales who are as free in the air as in the sea, and other similar mythological creatures.
Dragons are large scaly lizards. Typically when talking about dragons there are three types. True dragons who come in several varieties.
You can usually distinguish them by color but the important part is that every dragon always has one affinity and one affinity alone.
A red dragon equals fire, blue is water, yellow is earth, and, depending on the shade, green typically means wind. There are more true dragons besides the basic elements. Some true dragons can be white meaning ice or others Black meaning darkness.
What makes them special is that the command they have over that element is unreal.
Normal demon beasts can only command the mana element in their body to reinforce themselves giving special effects but dragons take that to a whole other extent. They can command their mana in their body to come out and wreak havoc. Not to mention their breathing is usually a weapon.
The second type are pseudo and lesser dragons.
Dragons are known to love to procreate with other species due to their very low birth rates with themselves. Apparently their seed is so strong that they literally give birth to new species.
It's an incredible event that I'd love to study further but I'd have to meet a dragon first and not die.
These hybrid species can be anything from hydra, wyverns, Dragon-Phoenixes, and serpent dragons, to dragonoids who are human dragon hybrids.
Sometimes they can be in equal strength to the true dragon depending on the other parent. Hydras being one example of this due to being a cross of a sea serpent Leviathan and a dragon.
These hybrids are still extremely rare and are usually only found serving a true dragon unless they are stronger.
The last ones are lesser dragons. These basically are dinosaurs. They come in all manner of sizes and are a result of the dilution of dragon bloodlines. These are still very rare because lesser dragons all have one thing in common.
Their cold blooded. Something happens when their blood diluted causing them to always be cold blooded. They hate cold environments and usually stick close to the desert if not out right in it.
That area of the lost woods is described as being similar to a Jurassic park of sorts.
The north has its own share of beasts though.
These are the Fae. Opposite of the first two types of dragons who usually are in smaller quantities and keep to their own territory, Fae are not Demon beasts and are found a plenty.
The tribe considers Fae to be a branch of the Titan Ymir's Bloodline gone wrong. They can come in many forms.
Two headed freakish ettins who love to eat people, Green skinned, super healing trolls who love to eat people, tree guarding, beautiful dryads who love to charm men, the tricky shape shifting changelings who love to kill humans to replace them, the hypnotizing sirens who love to capture sailors to eat, the Boggart who are downright dangerous..
[I get the point]
As you can tell, Fae are dangerous.
If you think about it, being descendent from Ymir, we are all fae but clearly these guys don't think the same as us.
They are known as tricky at the best of times and down right deadly at the worst.
Now the reason they are known as dangerous is due to their nature. For all intensive purposes, Fae are parasites. They can feed off humans. Whether it be emotions like love or even sex to feeding on blood, fingers, or even the dead.
Fae don't need humans to survive but apparently feeding on humans makes them stronger.
It's unsure why the fae get their strength from humanity, but whatever the reason, we have to usually steer clear.
The lantern on our carriage is specially made. It's called a fae ward. Using a special runic sentence, anywhere the light of the lantern touches a fae cannot enter.
There are certain other tips and tricks like using salt circles for protection, garlic to ward off a specific blood sucking fae, and certain actions that cause fae to run. It's all very esoteric but from what I understand, every type of fae has certain weaknesses.
The reason the lantern can scare fae is due to its ingredients.
The rune basically has an script that states the light of the lantern will be the same as the light of helheim should a fae enter it.
Fae are terrified of Hel since there's no place for them there. While it won't do anything to us, it would most assuredly obliterate them.
Problem is that the lantern is extremely rare. The glass has to be imported from the desert tribe and they haven't had the easiest relationship with us.
Even better the light of these lanterns aren't that strong. We would still have to fight a stronger fae. They are still annoyed by it though.
Sometimes runes can't accomplish everything. Runes can do a lot of things usually having to do with the elements but having a weapon shape shift or granting the light of Hel requires a type of catalyst to activate.
A lot of the weaknesses of Fae have already been catalogued and Ullr gave us book on all of it to read. Sif and Nix are currently reviewing it over the bonfire we have in the center of our camp. Sif's dad is currently pit roasting a deer he caught.
This would be a good time for some ghost stories.
"Loki there are some good Fae too!"
I look at her and smiled. Leave it to her to look at the bright side.
I walked over and looked and sure enough she found one good fae.
"Look Loki, there are brownies that clean up after you! Maybe I can get one to do my dirty clothes so the maids won't have to work as hard." She said with a bright smile.
I read closely and it did indeed say they will clean your house when your asleep.
"Did you also read that they will only do so if you leave milk out at night and if they clean your house with no reward they will try to burn the house down?"
Sif looked at it again and noticed the small line at the end explaining that.
"It looks like I have to leave milk out everyday!"
Besides the fae, the last threat in the forest is likely the most dangerous of all. Other humans of course.
Humans will always be their worst enemy. Apparently evil witches who practice all sort of evil arts can be found now and then along with Warlocks who conduct experiments.. Secret cults who have crossed the desert and slave traders who come to this forest to capture lone wonderers. All manner of people can be found here.
The tribes have a strict policy when it comes to these evils, Death. Even the Desert Tribe don't take Kindly to these actions. Slavery is outlawed in the tribes even in times of war.
Around the bonfire I begin to have fun to everyone seeing the mood was right.
[Yea like a dark forest is a great place to have fun. Why don't you go find a kappa by a river or a wendingo to have fun]
Well obviously I'm going to tell scary stories. Looking at the two children I smile innocently.
"There was once two siblings Hansel and Grettel...