Gardenfolk of the Sovereign Garden

Whisperroot Arch

An enormous arch formed by two ancient roots that have grown upward and twisted together over centuries. The air beneath the arch carries faint vibrations from the deeper root network below.

Gardenfolk claim that standing beneath the arch allows one to feel the subtle presence of the Sovereign more clearly.

Many guides consider Whisperroot Arch a boundary marker between the safer outer forest and the more dangerous inner regions.

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The Root Path

Hidden among thick fungal growth is a narrow descent into the earth where ancient roots have split the ground open. This passage leads downward through natural caves and fungal tunnels that eventually connect to deeper structures of the Sovereign.

The air becomes thicker with spores the deeper one travels.

Most people turn back long before reaching the lower chambers.

Only the Gardenfolk—and certain creatures of the forest—can safely follow the path all the way down.

At its deepest point lies the Root Cathedral, the immense underground cavern where the Sovereign’s network is most dense.

The Rustfields

Not a settlement but a massive region of collapsed vehicles, old industrial debris, and scrap piles stretching for miles. The Scrap Guild frequently sends expeditions here to recover usable machinery and rare pre-collapse technology.

The Rustfields are dangerous but extremely valuable to scavengers.

Landmarks of the Black Garden

The Fallen Wing

Deep within the forest rests the broken wreck of a crashed aircraft, now half-consumed by vines and fungal growth. The twisted metal frame hangs between massive roots like the bones of a long-dead beast.

Predatory plants and scavenger creatures have made the area their territory, and the site serves as a reminder to outsiders that the Garden is hostile to machines that fly too close to its canopy.

Gardenfolk rarely visit the wreck unless they need salvage.

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Lantern Grove

A wide clearing filled with enormous lantern cap fungi that glow brightly once night falls. When darkness spreads across the forest, the entire grove becomes illuminated in soft green and blue light.

Glow moths gather here in massive swarms, making the clearing appear like a sky full of drifting stars beneath the trees.

Lantern Grove is one of the few peaceful places deep within the forest where Gardenfolk often rest during long journeys.

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The Mossback Hollow

A low basin of thick devouring moss and nutrient-rich soil where the massive mossback creatures often gather to graze. From a distance the hollow appears like a living field of slow-moving green hills.

The moss itself rapidly breaks down organic material, making the hollow one of the most efficient decomposition zones within the Garden.

Gardenfolk approach this place with caution but respect, as it is an important part of the forest’s cycle.

Ironhaven

A fortified industrial town built within the shell of an old factory complex. Ironhaven survives by salvaging metal from surrounding ruins and producing tools, ammunition casings, and machine parts.

The settlement is heavily defended with scrap walls and watchtowers, making it one of the safest towns in the region.

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Riverfall Crossing

A bustling trade settlement located where a major bridge once crossed a wide river. Caravan routes and river traders meet here, turning the town into a lively marketplace filled with merchants, guards, and travelers.

Goods from distant settlements often pass through Riverfall before heading toward Myrroot and the Black Garden.

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Dustmarket

A sprawling open-air trading hub built among the ruins of a collapsed highway interchange. Dozens of stalls, workshops, and caravan camps fill the area, making it one of the largest markets in the wasteland.

Almost anything can be bought here—for the right price.

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Hollowridge

A quiet farming settlement located on a rocky plateau outside the deeper wilderness. Hollowridge grows hardy crops and maintains livestock, providing food shipments to several nearby towns.

The people of Hollowridge avoid the Black Garden entirely, viewing it with superstition and caution.

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Ember Post

A small but well-defended military outpost controlled by the Steel Order. Located near the outer perimeter of the Black Garden, Ember Post serves as a monitoring station where patrols observe the forest and collect environmental data.

Soldiers stationed here have strict orders not to provoke the ecosystem.

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Driftport

A floating settlement built from barges and wooden platforms along a slow-moving river. Driftport is home to river traders and fishing crews who navigate the waterways connecting distant settlements.

Many goods bound for Myrroot arrive by boat before continuing inland.

Lumenberries

Small translucent berries that grow in clusters on low creeping vines. They contain faint bioluminescent compounds produced by fungal symbiosis. Found in rare berries growing only under exact conditions within the garden making them precious.

Uses • mild sweetness with earthy flavor • eaten fresh or fermented into glowing alcohol • sometimes used by travelers as natural trail markers at night

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Mycoapples

Pale green fruit that grows on twisted fungal-tree hybrids. The flesh is firm and slightly tart with a mushroom-like aftertaste.

Uses • staple fruit for Garden fauna • can be dried into long-lasting travel rations • used in stews by wasteland traders

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Sporecaps

Large mushroom caps that produce edible spores along their underside. When roasted, the flesh becomes dense and savory.

Uses • high protein fungal food • dried and powdered as seasoning • base ingredient in many Garden meals

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Root Pears

Bulb-like underground fruits that grow at the ends of thick fungal root systems. Their flesh is starchy and slightly sweet.

Uses • eaten roasted or boiled • useful carbohydrate source • popular trade item due to long shelf life

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Glowseed Pods

Thin hanging pods that contain small glowing seeds surrounded by sweet pulp.

Uses • eaten raw for energy • seeds used by Nyra and traders for medicinal extracts • faint illumination when crushed

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Velvet Plums

Dark purple fruit growing on small shrubs integrated with fungal roots. The skin has a velvety texture caused by fine spores.

Uses • rich, tart flavor • used in preserves and alcohol • mild antifungal compounds helpful against infections

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Moss Nectar

Certain moss beds produce tiny droplets of sugary liquid formed by fungal metabolism.

Uses • natural sweetener • fermented into Garden mead • attracts insects and small fauna

Dreamcap Mushrooms

Tall pale mushrooms with wide caps that release a faint mist of spores when disturbed.

Hazard Fresh Dreamcaps contain psychoactive compounds that can cause vivid hallucinations and disorientation.

Preparation When dried and roasted, most of the psychoactive compounds break down, leaving a mildly nutty mushroom used in soups and teas.

Use Pilgrims of the Verdant Path sometimes consume small amounts during meditation rituals.

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Bitterthorn Fruit

A small black fruit that grows along thorn-covered vines climbing through dense vegetation.

Hazard The raw fruit contains bitter alkaloids that irritate the stomach and cause nausea.

Preparation Boiling the fruit removes most of the toxins, producing a thick, sour paste rich in vitamins.

Use Often made into a preserved travel ration due to its long shelf life.

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Lantern Pods

Bulbous glowing seed pods hanging from long vine tendrils in shaded areas of the Garden.

Hazard The pulp contains mild neurotoxins that cause temporary numbness and slowed reaction time.

Preparation When fermented or cooked thoroughly, the toxins degrade and the pulp becomes sweet and energizing.

Use Used by traders to make a mildly intoxicating drink.

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Devourer Moss Bulbs

Occasionally, the carnivorous Devourer Moss produces small underground nutrient bulbs.

Hazard The bulbs contain digestive enzymes capable of irritating skin and stomach tissue.

Preparation After careful washing and roasting, the enzymes deactivate and the bulbs become soft and starchy.

Use Emergency survival food within the Garden.

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Widowcap Fungus

A dark shelf fungus that grows along old fallen logs and root clusters.

Hazard Raw consumption can cause severe nausea and dizziness due to fungal toxins.

Preparation Long slow cooking breaks down the toxins, turning the fungus into a rich savory ingredient similar to wild mushrooms.

Use Considered a delicacy among experienced foragers.

Prominent Figures of Myrroot

Elder Rowan – Keeper of the Grove

Rowan is one of the oldest Gardenfolk and serves as a quiet voice of guidance within Myrroot. Rather than ruling the village, Rowan helps settle disputes and interpret the subtle changes within the Black Garden. Known for patience and deep knowledge of the forest, Rowan rarely leaves the inner grove where the oldest roots surface near the village.

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Lysa Thornwalker – Chief Guide

Lysa leads the village’s network of Guides, the Gardenfolk who travel the deeper paths of the forest. She knows the safest routes through shifting root paths and spore zones. Outsiders seeking passage into the forest must first earn Lysa’s trust, as she decides who may enter—and who should turn back.

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Darrin Mosswright – Builder of Living Homes

Darrin shapes the living structures of Myrroot. Using root training, vine weaving, and fungal timber cultivation, he helps grow the village itself. Many of Myrroot’s homes, bridges, and walkways were guided into shape by his hands.

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Mira Sporeweaver – Herbalist and Healer

Mira studies the medicinal properties of the Garden’s plants and fungi. Her small apothecary hut is filled with drying herbs, glowing mushrooms, and jars of spores used to treat illness and infection. She is both healer and researcher, constantly experimenting with new remedies derived from the Garden.

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Tomas Reed – Warden of the Outer Path

Tomas patrols the forest edges near Myrroot and keeps watch for dangerous wildlife or outsiders approaching the village. A calm but capable fighter, he understands when to drive threats away and when to simply observe. Tomas maintains a respectful distance from the forest’s deeper regions.

Sela Brightcap – Lantern Keeper

Sela tends to the bioluminescent fungi that light the village at night. She cultivates lantern caps along the pathways and maintains the glowing groves that surround Myrroot. Though her work appears simple, she also tracks seasonal changes in fungal growth that help predict environmental shifts.

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Corin Vale – Storykeeper

Corin preserves the oral history of the Gardenfolk. Through stories and memory, he recounts the early days of Myrroot and the legend of Nyra, known as the First Root. Children of the village gather around him at night to hear tales of the forest’s past and the world before the Garden grew.

Type: Friendly Traders

The Driftwood Traders operate small riverboats and floating barges along nearby waterways. They specialize in transporting goods between settlements that are otherwise difficult to reach by land.

They maintain one of the most reliable trade routes connecting the wasteland to Myrroot.

Leader: Captain Mara Holt – A practical and sharp-witted river captain who respects the Gardenfolk and maintains a profitable trade in medicinal plants and fungal goods.

Type: Cult / Hostile

The Ashen Choir is a strange religious sect that believes the world should have remained dead after the great collapse. They view the Garden’s regrowth as an unnatural corruption of the wasteland.

Members wear ash-colored robes and masks made from burned wood.

Leader: Prophet Malvek – A charismatic and unsettling figure who preaches that the Black Garden must be burned away before it spreads further across the world.

Type: Dangerous Researchers / Morally Grey

The Spore Seekers are independent scientists and explorers fascinated by the Black Garden’s biology. Unlike the larger scientific factions, they operate with little oversight and are willing to take extreme risks to gather samples.

Some settlements consider them reckless.

Leader: Dr. Callum Vey – A brilliant but obsessive botanist who believes the Sovereign could revolutionize medicine and agriculture. Vey has led several dangerous expeditions into the forest’s deeper regions.

Type: Raider Gang / Hostile

The Iron Jackals are a brutal group of wasteland raiders who prey on caravans and isolated settlements. They favor salvaged armor and crude mechanical weapons.

Recently they have become obsessed with the rumors of strange resources within the Black Garden.

Leader: Rex “Ironjaw” Maddox – A towering and violent raider chief who believes the forest hides weapons or power sources from the old world. Rex is determined to force his way into the Garden despite the dangers.

Type: Spiritual / Neutral Good

A small philosophical order that believes the Black Garden represents the next stage of the world’s recovery. Members meditate within the forest and seek to understand the Sovereign’s natural balance.

They are not cultists—they simply believe humanity must adapt rather than dominate nature.

Leader: Mother Elara Thorne – A soft-spoken elder who spends much of her time in the old greenhouse sanctuary near Myrroot. Elara teaches that the Sovereign is neither god nor monster, but a living system humanity must learn from.

Type: Good / Protective Rangers

The Rootwardens are a loose group of Gardenfolk and allied outsiders who patrol the outer forest to prevent reckless intrusions into the Black Garden. They guide travelers away from dangerous areas and occasionally escort caravans through the safer edges of the forest.

They believe the Garden must be protected from exploitation.

Leader: Tarin Willowstep – A calm but vigilant ranger who knows the outer forest better than anyone except Nyra. Tarin once saved an entire caravan from a spore bloom and now serves as the unofficial guardian of Myrroot’s borders.

The Scrap Guild is made up of scavengers, engineers, and mechanics who specialize in salvaging technology from the ruins of the old world.

They recover machinery, vehicles, weapons, and power systems from abandoned cities and industrial zones.

Members of the Guild are constantly searching for new areas to explore, and rumors of strange biological structures beneath the Black Garden have made the region particularly interesting to them.

They often compete with other factions for access to valuable discoveries.

Jax Cutter

Faction: Scrap Guild Role: Master Scavenger

Jax Cutter leads the Scrap Guild, a group of salvage experts who recover valuable technology from the ruins of the old world. Scarred from decades of dangerous expeditions, Cutter is known for his fearless approach to exploring abandoned facilities and collapsed cities.

The rumors of massive root structures beneath the Black Garden have captured his attention. Cutter suspects the forest may be growing through old underground infrastructure—and where old infrastructure exists, valuable technology may still be hidden.

He has already begun planning expeditions to the forest’s outer edges.

Across the wasteland lie dozens of independent towns and fortified communities collectively referred to as the Free Settlements.

Each town governs itself, often through councils, elected leaders, or local militias. These settlements trade with one another but rarely unite under a single authority.

Some settlements view the Black Garden as a dangerous anomaly, while others see it as proof that the land itself may be slowly healing.

Travelers from these settlements sometimes pass through Myrroot when attempting to explore the region.

Mayor Eliza Harrow

Faction: Free Settlements Role: Council Speaker

Eliza Harrow represents the loose coalition of independent towns scattered across the region. As Speaker of the regional settlement council, she works to maintain fragile alliances between communities that often struggle to cooperate.

Harrow is a practical leader who focuses on stability, trade, and defense. While some settlements fear the Black Garden, Harrow believes maintaining peaceful relations with Myrroot is the safest course.

To her, the Garden is simply another powerful neighbor in an already dangerous world.

The Caravan League is a loose but powerful alliance of traders and transport companies that maintain the major trade routes between settlements.

While not a military faction, the League hires experienced mercenaries and guards to protect caravans from raiders and dangerous wildlife.

The League has begun cautiously trading with the village of Myrroot, acquiring rare medicinal plants, spores, and fungal compounds from the Gardenfolk.

For them, the Black Garden is not a threat—it is a valuable and unusual source of goods.

Marcus “Ledger” Halden

Faction: Caravan League Role: Trade Master

Marcus Halden earned his nickname by remembering every deal he has ever made. As Trade Master of the Caravan League, he coordinates the movement of goods, guards, and routes between dozens of settlements.

Halden sees opportunity where others see danger. The Black Garden’s strange plants and medicinal spores have become some of the most valuable commodities in regional trade.

While he respects the Gardenfolk’s boundaries, Halden always keeps one eye on the possibility of expanding trade deeper into the forest.

Deep beneath the ruins of a former research complex operates a secretive group of scientists known as the Relay Collective.

They rarely travel openly across the wasteland, instead relying on experimental teleportation technology known as the Relay to move between hidden locations.

The Collective studies the surface world from the shadows, quietly collecting biological samples and technological artifacts. Reports of the Black Garden have drawn their interest, and several covert observation missions have already been conducted near the forest.

If the Sovereign truly represents a living network of biological intelligence, the Collective considers it one of the most important discoveries since the collapse.

Director Selene Kade

Faction: Relay Collective Role: Head of Surface Research

Selene Kade leads the Relay Collective’s surface operations from deep within their hidden research facility. Brilliant and intensely analytical, Kade views the wasteland not as a tragedy but as a massive living laboratory.

The Collective’s teleportation relay network allows her teams to appear and disappear across the region with precision. The discovery of the Black Garden has become her highest priority, as she believes the Sovereign may represent a new form of biological intelligence.

Unlike other factions, Kade does not fear the Garden—she wants to understand it.

The Steel Order is a disciplined technocratic military that believes advanced technology must be preserved and controlled to prevent humanity from repeating the mistakes of the old world.

They operate from fortified airships and heavily defended bases built within the ruins of pre-collapse military facilities. Their soldiers often wear powered exoskeleton armor and patrol the wasteland searching for dangerous technology.

The Steel Order has recently established patrols along the edges of the Black Garden, sending scribes and research teams to observe the strange ecosystem while soldiers maintain security.

Marshal Alaric Voss

Faction: Steel Order Role: Regional Commander

Marshal Voss commands the Steel Order’s operations across the region and oversees the patrol lines surrounding the Black Garden. A veteran soldier who rose through the ranks through discipline and tactical skill, Voss believes technology must be strictly controlled to prevent another global collapse.

Though cautious about the Garden, he does not view it purely as a threat. Voss suspects the Sovereign may be the result of forgotten bioengineering and has authorized scientific observation rather than immediate eradication.

Calm, pragmatic, and intensely protective of his soldiers, Voss treats the Garden as an unknown battlefield—one that demands patience before action.

Outside the dense forests of the Black Garden, the wider world remains a rugged and partially rebuilt wasteland shaped by the collapse of the old civilization two centuries ago. Ruined cities still stand in skeletal form across the landscape, their broken towers and crumbling highways slowly being reclaimed by nature.

Small settlements and fortified towns have formed among the ruins where survivors have learned to rebuild with what remains. Scavenged technology from the old world still circulates through trade routes, though much of it is poorly understood or difficult to maintain.

Travel between settlements is dangerous and slow. Caravan traders move along worn roads guarded by hired guns, transporting scrap metal, preserved food, ammunition, and rare pre-collapse artifacts. These caravans serve as the lifeline that connects scattered communities across the region.

Several organized groups have emerged from the chaos of the wasteland. Some attempt to restore order and preserve old-world knowledge, while others focus on controlling resources or salvaging advanced technology from the ruins. Their patrols, expeditions, and rivalries shape much of the political landscape outside the Garden.

Despite the slow return of civilization, vast areas of the land remain untamed. Mutated wildlife roams the wilderness, old industrial zones still leak dangerous chemicals, and forgotten facilities from before the collapse occasionally reveal strange or dangerous discoveries.

To many people living in these settlements, the Black Garden is considered one of the strangest places in the region. Travelers speak of a forest that seems alive, where the plants move, the air is thick with spores, and a small village of people lives in quiet harmony with something deep beneath the soil.

Most choose to stay far away from it.

Spore Bloom

Occasionally the forest releases massive bursts of airborne spores. What begins as a faint mist can quickly thicken into a dense cloud that drifts through the canopy and forest floor.

Spore Blooms often occur when the ecosystem is disturbed by large animals, machinery, or aircraft. Visibility drops rapidly and breathing becomes difficult for anyone not accustomed to the forest’s air.

Gardenfolk treat these events as a warning that the Sovereign has become aware of unusual activity.

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Lantern Nights

On certain nights the forest becomes filled with glowing light as bioluminescent fungi, lantern caps, and swarms of glow moths illuminate the trees.

During Lantern Nights the entire Black Garden can appear softly lit in shades of green and blue. Gardenfolk often travel more easily during these nights, while predators tend to remain hidden.

To outsiders the sight is both beautiful and unsettling, as the forest appears almost alive with drifting lights.

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Root Shifts

Deep underground, the Sovereign’s massive root network slowly grows and reorganizes itself. Occasionally this causes subtle changes in the terrain above.

Paths that were once safe may disappear as roots push upward through the soil. Small hills form where none existed before, and sections of forest floor may crack or sink slightly.

Gardenfolk have learned to recognize early signs of Root Shifts and adjust their travel routes accordingly.

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The Silent Fog

Sometimes a thick white fog settles into the lower forest, carrying dense concentrations of spores and fungal scents.

Unlike normal fog, the Silent Fog moves slowly and quietly through the trees, muffling sound and limiting visibility.

Animals often become unusually still during these events, and even experienced guides move carefully until the fog lifts.

Many Gardenfolk believe the Silent Fog marks moments when the Sovereign is particularly active beneath the forest floor.

Birds of the Black Garden

Birds in the Black Garden often act as early warning sensors for the ecosystem, reacting quickly to disturbances in the forest.

Spore Crows

Dark-feathered scavengers that nest in the upper canopy. Their feathers often carry fungal spores, spreading them across the forest as they fly.

Root Owls

Silent nocturnal hunters that nest inside hollow root structures and fungal towers. Their pale feathers allow them to blend into the misty spore-filled air at night.

Canopy Drifters

Small gliding birds that ride the warm air currents rising from the dense fungal growth below. They feed on insects and glowing moths.

Moss Jays

Curious greenish birds that follow Gardenfolk through the forest. They are known to react loudly when unfamiliar creatures enter the Garden.

Plants of the Black Garden

Plant life within the Black Garden grows unusually dense due to the Sovereign’s underground nutrient network.

Bitterthorn

A thorn-covered shrub that produces small dark berries. Raw berries are mildly toxic to outsiders but safe for Gardenfolk when properly prepared.

Lantern Caps

Large mushroom-like growths that emit a soft bioluminescent glow. They provide natural light throughout the forest at night.

Devouring Moss

A thick moss bed that slowly breaks down organic material, including fallen animals. Gardenfolk sometimes cultivate patches of it for waste decomposition.

Coil Vines

Long climbing vines that wrap around trees and structures. When disturbed they slowly tighten, making them dangerous for anyone moving carelessly through the forest.

Root Pears

A hardy underground tuber that grows along major root networks. One of the most reliable food sources cultivated by the Gardenfolk.

Glow Moths

Glow Moths are delicate nocturnal insects that gather around bioluminescent fungal growths. Their wings reflect faint green light, creating drifting clouds of soft illumination at night.

Though harmless, they are an important part of the ecosystem, spreading spores across large areas of the forest.

Entire swarms can sometimes be seen drifting through the trees like floating lanterns.

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Bark Striders

Bark Striders are tall, insect-like creatures with long limbs that allow them to move effortlessly across tree trunks and vertical surfaces. Their bodies resemble twisted bark, making them extremely difficult to spot.

They primarily hunt smaller animals and insects but will defend their territory aggressively if disturbed.

Gardenfolk avoid provoking them, as Bark Striders are known to strike quickly and disappear just as fast.

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Mossbacks

Mossbacks are massive, slow-moving herbivores covered in thick moss and fungal growth. From a distance they can resemble moving patches of forest floor.

They feed on plant matter and fungal beds, slowly traveling through the deeper forest over the course of days or even weeks.

Their presence helps spread spores and nutrients throughout the ecosystem.

Because of their calm nature, Gardenfolk often consider them gentle giants of the forest.

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The Silent Swarm

Occasionally, the forest itself releases what Gardenfolk call the Silent Swarm—vast clouds of spores and tiny insects that move through the canopy like fog.

These swarms are not truly creatures but a natural defense mechanism of the ecosystem. When large disturbances occur, the swarm spreads rapidly through the affected area.

For most animals it is harmless.

For outsiders unprepared for the spore density, it can quickly become overwhelming.

Life within the Black Garden has adapted alongside the Sovereign’s fungal network. Many animals exist in symbiosis with the ecosystem, acting as hunters, scavengers, or living sensors for the forest itself. Some creatures are harmless, while others make the deeper regions extremely dangerous for outsiders.

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Vinecats

Vinecats are stealthy feline predators that live within the dense undergrowth of the Garden. Their fur is streaked with green and dark brown, allowing them to blend almost perfectly into moss-covered branches and vines.

They move silently through the canopy and forest floor, hunting small animals and occasionally larger prey. Vinecats appear unusually calm around Gardenfolk, though outsiders often become targets.

Many believe vinecats are subtly guided by the Sovereign’s network when responding to disturbances.

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Spore Stags

Spore Stags resemble large deer with branching antlers that often carry clusters of harmless fungi. These animals graze on fungal growth and low plants throughout the forest.

When threatened, they can release bursts of spores from the fungal growth along their bodies, creating thick clouds that allow them to escape predators.

Spore Stags are generally peaceful and are sometimes seen near Myrroot, where Gardenfolk consider them a sign of a stable ecosystem.

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Root Burrowers

Root Burrowers are pale, mole-like creatures that spend nearly their entire lives underground. They travel along the Sovereign’s root systems, feeding on insects, fungal tissue, and decaying organic matter.

Their tunneling helps aerate the soil and maintain the health of the underground network.

While rarely seen, their movements can sometimes be felt as subtle vibrations beneath the forest floor.

Not every Gardenfolk is comfortable traveling deep into the Black Garden.

Those who are become Guides, individuals who know the safe paths through the forest and understand the shifting patterns of the Sovereign’s ecosystem.

Guides are often responsible for escorting traders, explorers, or researchers along the forest’s safer edges.

Few guides ever lead outsiders beyond the deeper fungal regions.

Some places are simply not meant for visitors.

To most wastelanders, the Gardenfolk are mysterious and slightly unsettling. Their comfort within the Black Garden gives them an aura of strange familiarity with the forest.

Some outsiders believe the Gardenfolk are mutated.

Others believe they are protected by the Sovereign itself.

The truth is simpler.

The Gardenfolk survived where others could not—and in doing so, they became part of the ecosystem rather than its enemy.

Among the Gardenfolk, stories are still told of Nyra, often called the First Root.

She was the first known human to walk freely through the Black Garden and return alive after entering its deepest regions.

Though generations have passed, many Gardenfolk still believe that her connection to the Sovereign shaped the path their people walk today.

Whether legend or truth, her story remains at the heart of Myrroot’s identity.

Gardenfolk do not worship the Sovereign as a god. Instead, they view it as a living ecosystem that must be respected and understood.

Their guiding philosophy is simple:

Take only what the Garden allows, and never fight the forest itself.

Gardenfolk learn from a young age how to read the subtle signals of the environment—changes in plant movement, animal behavior, and spore patterns that indicate how the ecosystem is responding.

Those who ignore these signals rarely survive long.

Life in Myrroot revolves around cooperation with the surrounding ecosystem.

Gardenfolk spend their time: • cultivating fungal crops and edible plants • gathering medicinal spores and botanical resources • maintaining living structures grown from roots and vines • guiding rare travelers safely through the forest’s outer regions

Bioluminescent fungi provide light at night, and soft moss beds replace traditional bedding.

Most tools are simple, though salvaged technology from the old world is occasionally used when it can be safely integrated into the environment.

The Gardenfolk are the people of Myrroot and the only humans known to live comfortably within the Black Garden. Over generations they have adapted—both culturally and biologically—to the spore-rich environment of the forest.

Though still human, their bodies have developed a tolerance to the airborne spores and fungal compounds that fill the Garden’s air. This allows them to breathe, travel, and live within regions that would quickly overwhelm outsiders.

Because of this, the Gardenfolk act as intermediaries between the Black Garden and the outside wasteland.

Deep beneath the forest rests the Root Cathedral, a massive subterranean cavern completely filled with the Sovereign’s ancient root structures.

Towering root columns rise from the cave floor, intertwining with enormous fungal growths that stretch across the ceiling like living architecture. Soft bioluminescent fungi cast a dim green glow throughout the chamber while clouds of spores drift slowly through the air.

Here the Sovereign’s network is at its most dense and active. Nutrients, signals, and biological information pass constantly through the massive root structures that fill the cavern.

For the Gardenfolk, the Root Cathedral is not a place of worship but a place of understanding—the deepest point where the presence of the Sovereign can truly be felt.

For everyone else, it is a place they will never reach.

The air itself belongs to the forest.

The Black Garden hosts a unique ecosystem built around fungal symbiosis.

Plants grow unusually large and dense, fed by the Sovereign’s underground nutrient network. Animals within the forest often display unusual behaviors, acting as part of the ecosystem rather than independent predators.

Birds, insects, and other creatures act as living sensors for the Sovereign, reacting quickly to disturbances in the forest.

Gardenfolk themselves have developed partial tolerance to the spores and biological compounds present in the air. While they are still human, their bodies have adapted enough to allow them to breathe the spore-filled atmosphere and survive where most outsiders would quickly become ill.

Because of this, the Gardenfolk serve as the only reliable guides through the deeper forest.

At the southern edge of the Black Garden lies Myrroot, a small settlement inhabited by people known as the Gardenfolk.

The village is built using a mixture of salvaged materials and living plant structures. Homes are often grown from shaped roots, fungal timber, and woven vines, blending naturally with the surrounding forest. Bioluminescent fungi provide light at night, and soft moss pathways wind between the dwellings.

Myrroot functions as both a village and a boundary settlement. It is the last safe place for outsiders before the deeper regions of the Black Garden begin.

The Gardenfolk live in balance with the ecosystem rather than attempting to control it. They harvest fungal crops, medicinal plants, and rare biological resources that cannot be found elsewhere in the wasteland.

The Black Garden is a vast, mutated forest ecosystem that has taken root in the wasteland over the past two centuries. At first glance it appears to be a dense, overgrown woodland filled with strange fungi, towering plants, and unusual wildlife. In reality, the forest is only the visible surface of a far larger organism.

Beneath the soil spreads an immense mycelial network known as the Sovereign, a fungal superorganism that connects plants, animals, and soil into a living ecological system. The Sovereign senses vibrations, chemical changes, and movement across miles of underground growth.

The Garden defends itself through natural means—spore blooms, predatory plants, and symbiotic creatures that react to disturbances. While the forest is hostile to most outsiders, those who learn its rhythms can move through it safely.

To many wastelanders, the Black Garden is feared as a biological anomaly. To others, it is proof that the world may be healing itself in ways humanity never intended.