Crab/Falcon/Hare/Scorpion/Unicorn Lands - Shinomen Forest

[Vutall]

Shinomen Forest
Dwarfing some of the Great Clans’ territories, Shinomen Forest is a sea of trees spanning multiple ecosystems. It is an unconquerable, ancient giant. Through its vast history, this forest has never given humanity a foothold within its borders. Shinomen watched the rise and decline of the Five Ancient Races, it saw the Kami tumble from their celestial thrones, and it will likely persist long after the Emerald Empire has crumbled. Shinomen is nature—wild and untamable. If the people of Rokugan are not careful, the forest could devour them all.

Within the forest depths, the tiered towers of a forgotten civilization sit in eerie silence, their massive size dwarfed by the surrounding trees. All is dark, even at midday. Not a whisper of the wind is heard, nor the rustling of leaves. The air is still, trapped between trunks and filled with the musty odor of decay. In Shinomen Forest, ancient trees grow beyond the limits of their species. They are giants to giants. The mood of the for-est shifts without warning, unconcerned with the mortals creeping ant-like beneath its boughs. Shinomen is not a malevolent place; it does not aim to ensnare victims. It simply acts upon whims that do not accommodate human needs.

Among the many animals and spirits that dwell within Shinomen, there is one creature that defies easy categorization. The rat folk, known as the nezumi to those few Rokugani who acknowledge their existence, are certainly no spirits of Chikushō-dō, but neither are they ordinary animals. The nezumi not only walk like humans but also have their own culture and language. Individual nezumi are short-lived, but their cultural memory, maintained by the Rememberers, stretches back further than humanity

Geography
In the eastern reaches of Shinomen Forest, the ground is made of porous black rock, the spillover from the Spine of the World Mountains’ volcanic birth. Hem-locks drive their roots into this hard crust and their dead needles collect in pits, stewing into a decayed slime. Floating orbs of blue fire, onibi, drift across the landscape in numbers during twilight

To the west the ground softens, making a bed for broad-leafed trees. Here maples act as ill omens. Their picturesque red leaves are a welcome sight in the fall, but during other seasons their bloody hue is more ominous in nature. They share these low elevations with isolated glades and lily-filled marshes.

Farther north, the ground rolls into hills, sending streams into cascades as they cross the landscape. Evergreens dominate the view, littering the ground with huge seed pods. In the colder months, the sharp ,chilled wind from the north brings a thin blanket of snow. Travelers who find ponds frozen in the summer or thawed in the winter must be wary of nearby spirits

The south contains a wondrous collection of fruit trees: groves of apple, plum, and cherry that work in concert to bait travelers into dooming themselves—it is said that any mortal who eats the spirits’ fruit can never again leave the forest. Massively wide camphor trees sit like castles, their low, tangling branches wide enough to support houses

On Shinomen’s eastern border there exists a black blot within endless green. The Shadowlands Marshes are a festering wound, a pool of black mud filled with fan-based cypress and spider-legged mangroves. It is the gravesite of a Shadowlands army struck down several centuries ago by the serpentine guardians they foolishly awoke. Tainted souls writhe in the muck, corrupting the surrounding creatures and spirits.

Tales From The Primordial Wood
Somewhere in the Shinomen Forest is the stronghold of the Forest Killer Bandits.

On the Shinomen border, an entire village sometimes appears. Its inhabitants are always in the midst of a festival, wear incredibly outdated clothing, and believe it is the year 735. It is pointless to try to convince them otherwise. Multiple accounts suggest that the villagers are reliving the same night and do not remember prior encounters.

Bog hags are luring travelers to their death with illusionary inns.

Okuri inu are stalking the paths. If you find yourself being followed by a black hound, take extra care not to lose your footing. If it sees you falling, the apparition will maul you to death. To avoid this fate, pretend any misstep is intentional. Call out “I’m tired, so I’m going to lie down now!” or try to pass off your tripping as an unsightly dance.

Rules Posted In A Shinomen Forest Logging Hut
DO NOT answer the door after dark. NO exceptions.

If it’s going to be a full moon, scatter roasted soybeans and repeat “demons outside, good luck inside” AT LEAST two dozen times.

NEVER forget to bring your omamori talisman when out working.

If the eyeless girl stands by the window again, just throw salt at her.

Make sure all ofudapaper blessings are up to date and that one is placed on the ceiling, door, and EACH wall.

NEVER PET FRIENDLY ANIMALS.

If a tree wasn’t there yesterday, DO NOT TOUCH IT.

DO NOT EAT WILD FRUIT WHILE IN THE FOREST.