The Shivering Woods is a secluded forest in Western Santharia, just south of the trading town of Horth.

The area is well-known for two things: the Larkentir trees which give the forest its name, and the Tsváen’mol’khár, a dark elven tribe, that once inhabited the area. Many people avoid the woods because they fear the place to be haunted. The shivering Larkentir trees do nothing to counter this belief, nor do the  old legends:

Picture description: View of the eerie Shivering Woods. Image drawn by Enayla.

The legend reports that many, many years ago, a group of sorcerers - calling itself the "Silver Hand" - took up residence in the woods even before the Tsváen’mol’khár settled at the forest. It is further told that the sorcerers erected a great ring of stones to assist them in their endeavour of achieving immortality through a complicated spell they intended to cast with their joined efforts. No one knows for certain what happened to the Silver Hand, but all agree that something must have gone wrong at spellcasting.

The dark elves made their home in the Shivering Woods about approximately the same time the legends claim the Silver Hand tried to claim immortality, so some sages theorize that the drow tribe somehow sabotaged the sorcerers' plans and desecrated the woods with their blood. Others say that the mages indeed succeeded and achieved their goal, but that their souls are now trapped within the stones forming the circle and now long for freedom again, which would bring them mortality too. Well, the legend of the Shivering Woods has birthed many faery tales, and there are countless additional theories and guesses as to what happened to the Silver Hand long ago.

Be it as it is: To this day, the ring of stones still stands, but only few have the courage to go inside the woods for fear of what they might find. True, the Tsváen’mol’khár tribe is long gone from the woods, but they have a number of half-drow progeny in the world, and some may not want the land their ancestors lived on to be claimed by others.

In western Santharia, a strange bounty hunter is starting to make a name for himself. He is a half-elf going by the name of Greywolf. Many of the residents of Horth seem convinced that he makes his home in the Shivering Woods, but this has yet to been proven. In fact, it is difficult to prove anything since Greywolf only shows himself to take a job then returns when he has finished it, promptly vanishing afterward. The arrival of the strange bounty hunter and rumors of his residence in the Shivering Woods cause people to fear the location even more. Whatever secret these woods hold is going to remain just that at this rate. The Larkentir trees have hidden the secrets of the Shivering Woods for millennia, and it seems they will continue to do so for a very long time.