A wide strip of woods backs and surrounds the city, looking dark and uninviting even in bright afternoon sunlight. Very few people have the guts to wander into the dead trees, wary of the hanging vines that look like poisonous snakes ready to bite. Twisted trunks clamour up towards the sky, creating another world entirely in the branches above. Thorns appear on the most unlikely of places, ready to rend and tesar the flesh and clothing of anyone stupid enough to take a dare and venture into what some have come to call 'The Dead Woods'.
A stream runs through the forest, its sound mingling with that of wild animals that seem to be wither deathly quiet or hysterically screaming. The water itself seems to be shifting and changing, not only from the current, but shown clear one moment, murky the next, and maybe, just maybe, the bright red of blood.
