Deep Forest

The great Deep Forest north of Serpent's Spine covers much of the northwestern part of the main Britannian continent.

Description
This forest is rich in animals, as well as several breeds of monsters. Nonetheless, the populace of the forest are important for Britannia. In the midst of the forest lies Yew, the city of Justice, and its Moongate. West of it lies Empath Abbey and the Bee Cave, while north of it lies the Shrine of Justice. Also within the forest live the emps in their village,

Age of Enlightenment
The Deep Forest grew after the great upheavals that formed Britannia, but only in did it gain importance as the place where the Avatar entered Britannia and had their first confrontation with the Shadowlords. Two companions of the Avatar, Iolo and Shamino, lived in Iolo's Hut, which was also located within the Deep Forest, and joined the Avatar at the start of the adventure in said hut.

The Avatar's companion Iolo and his wife Gwenno would from that point on continue to live in the forest. Their hut could be found in Ultima VI. During that time the Avatar also had to search through the forest to find the logger Ben, in order to purchase special wood for panpipes to play Stones on for Selganor.

Age of Armageddon
Over the next two centuries, Yew slowly dissolved into huts strewn throughout the forest, though the forest itself only seemed to grow wilder instead of getting tamed. By the time of Ultima VII, the Avatar found that a race named Emps had made the forest their home, but were threatened by extensive logging of their special silverleaf trees. Stopping the logging by making a contract with logger Ben, the Avatar would gain a vital whistle that could attract wisps.

In later years, due to the Great Cataclysm, the Deep Forest was destroyed. What was labeled as such on maps in Ultima IX at best was a small remnant of the once huge forest.

Places of Interest

 * Abandoned Fortress
 * Bee Cave
 * Empath Abbey
 * Emp Village
 * Iolo's Hut
 * Shrine of Justice
 * Yew

Trivia

 * In Ultima V, a sign not far from Iolo's hut actually warns (in runic) "Beware the Deep Forest".