whatthefenriis:

I really want to write a fic about how creepy and haunted the Brecilian Forest is because it’s canon that the Veil’s thin throughout due to how many wars were fought within it and how much blood was soaked into the roots of thousands of trees, how many forgotten ghosts from forgotten battles still walk and cry out for their brothers in arms, looking for a battlefield that was reclaimed by the forest generations ago. There are spirits roaming free of the Fade, angry and confused and lost in this strange static world that isn’t the right shade of green, living trees that can lie dormant for centuries until a poor sod ventures too close. At night, all you can hear is the rush of wind through an unbroken canopy that spans so many miles, but it sounds so regular it’s like some huge beast breathing, or thousands of voices muttering and whispering together as one. The forest is alive.

It reminds me so much of all the stories about the fae that I read growing up, about how the forest twists and turns around you to keep you trapped and walking in endless circles without realising it, you’re not supposed to look over your shoulder if you hear weird noises, the trees are as old if not older than the mountains and they probably know you’re walking past them, they’re aware on some level comparable to an animal. That forest glade looks so serene and peaceful, why don’t you sit down and stay awhile so the sun can warm your skin, the trees were always that tall, there’s nothing hungry and envious lurking in the shadows that will fur your bones with moss for stepping beyond them into the light…

And the Dalish are just… used to it all. They’ve grown up with it, they know how to survive and navigate and which areas to steer clear of if they want to stay alive and whole, no matter how inviting that forest glade looks. They ignore the whispers they swear they can hear in a crackling campfire. They pray to Andruil to give them keen eyes, and Dirthamen to hush the whisperings that the People aren’t supposed to hear. 

I don’t feel like that’s addressed enough by the fandom. If it has been, please please please give me links. And if anyone is inspired by this post and writes something because of it, please @ me so I can read and share it! really want to read about the Brecilian being an actual horror movie/faerie story Ancient forest.