“One of the very first things we drilled into the minds of new prospective kids who wanted to be adventurers is the ability to live off the land. If they came from smaller villages, then they usually got some skill in it already. The city-dwellers amongst them definitely needed the crash course badly though, otherwise those kids would not even survive a week on their own in the wilds.” - Garania Nedouw, Guild Leader of the Adventurer’s Guild in Levain, circa 319 FP.

Aideen spent her time in the Forest of Despair living off the land as she explored further and deeper than any had done before. After the first few unpleasant encounters, she also noted her dwindling store of spare clothes, and made makeshift ones off leaves and grasses instead, as she lived like a native in the jungle.

She sampled all sorts of vegetation, herbs, fruits, and animals she ran into, the results of which she jotted down in her notes. Whenever a book was filled with notes to the last page, she switched to a new one, and carried on, as she had brought dozens of them in her storage ring for this exact purpose.

Seasons changed as the months passed on, though Aideen paid little heed to it. She kept exploring regardless of snow or rain, as she went deeper and deeper into the Forest. She took notice of how the vegetation and animals shifted from dangerous, but relatively mundane, into more and more magical as she went deeper.

Where by the outskirts of the forest most of the creatures were mostly mundane creatures, they shifted to monsters, beasts that had awoken their own magical affinities and were in turn altered by it, as she went deeper in. Further inside, at the region she termed the “core” regions of the forest, barely any mundane creature remained as everything around her was populated by formidable beasts.

No wonder the nations nearby had never managed to colonize the forest, Aideen thought. Just the more mundane beasts on the outskirts would have likely harried a team of pioneers to death on their own, much less the beasts further inside. In her mind she also upped the amount of people she would need to gather for her plans by a notch, should the forest prove suitable for their needs.

In terms of terrain, other than the thick forest itself - which was a valuable source of lumber for building - there was little of note in the forest. The few rivers and lakes in the region mostly on the smaller side, though smaller streams were aplenty and fresh water was easily found.

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That said, the waters were pretty infested with vicious predators themselves, as Aideen had watched how a large, moose-like animal easily twice her height was reduced to a pile of bones within minutes by a school of fish no larger than her palm. Their small size belied their ferocity as they devoured the unfortunate creature.

As she went deeper, Aideen decided to check out the location of the four mana veins deep in the forest, as they would likely prove to be the most valuable areas, with likely fertile soil enriched with mana, which would be an ideal place to live for unliving like herself.

She lost count on the passing of seasons by the time she reached the first of the mana veins, the westernmost one. The mana vein was one that felt closer to earth affinity, she thought, and it was located under a rocky hill, probably the largest in the region, as most of the forest was located on flatlands.

Aideen climbed the hill and kept note of its inhabitants, as she weathered attacks from the local predatory birds and other inhabitants of the hill that had not taken well to her intrusion. Unfortunately, the hill was mostly solid rock, which made it unsuitable for agricultural purposes, though the solid ground made it a good option to build on, on top of the readily available supply of stone.

From the hill, Aideen proceeded to the north-east, where another of the mana veins were located. The mana vein was more of a nature affinity there, and the forest was lush and dense, with plenty of beasts that called the region home.

It was a good place, she had to admit, though it would take quite a bit of effort to clean up the area since the trees grew so closely together, notwithstanding the many ferocious beasts that inhabited the region. Even so, with a large enough group of unliving, it would not be an impossible task to do.

After she kept note of it, Aideen left for the third mana vein’s location. She found it deep within a lake, the largest and deepest lake in the region. She made a few dives into the lake to check closer, and had to rip her way out of the belly of a beast in one instance, before she decided she had learned enough.

The vicinity of the lake itself was quite a good location, she noted down in her book, as the land was fertile and being located next to a large source of water was always a good thing. Even so, she persisted with her survey, and decided to check the fourth mana vein as well.

Aideen took a detour back to the west from the lake, as the fourth mana vein was located roughly in between the other three, and when she finally saw the location, her eyes lit up.

It turned out, the fourth mana vein was located within a massive clearing, almost like a prairie sprouted deep within the forest. Various beasts large and small roamed the land, which given the prodigious amount of fruit-bearing bushes and trees that grew on it, was even more fertile than the other locations she checked.

The flatlands were also perfect for both construction and agricultural purposes, even if it would take a bit of a trip to secure building materials. As for water, the small streams that criss-crossed the prairie was plenty enough.

More importantly, the place just felt right to Aideen somehow, almost as if she had returned to a home she never knew about after a lifetime of wandering. She decided right then and there, that the prairie would be where she wanted to build the place she had in her plans.