Volume Three: Into the Woods

Though the tall hills of the land would make conquest difficult, beyond the walls of Kratylos lay perhaps its greatest natural barrier in the Hyle Forest. The forest completely encompasses the outer city limits and stretches for miles in all directions. Dense clusters of Grey Oak trees provide a canopy that shadows a myriad of beasts and creatures of wonder.

Of note are the Hyleids, from whom the forest gets its name. They are beings that some call gods and few do not fear, who are said to reside in the Hyle Forest’ sacred kandara groves. Numerous tales have been told of this odd race throughout history and their true nature is difficult to determine. Some of these stories portray them as simple pranksters that shift the very trees to delay travelers. Others consider them the defender of the forest capable of meting punishment on any that do not treat the forest with respect.

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And still the majority of stories tell of their ferocity. They are said to drain the blood of any that stray from the safety of the road. It is also said that they feed off the blood of children. One event recorded in the Old History of Kratylos claims that on one inauspicious moon, the Hyleids escaped their cursed forest and invaded the town, slaughtering over two-hundred children in one night. Whether this story is true or not, the commonality between all the tales suggests that the Hyleids possess a mischievous to sinister temperament.

Despite the various portrayals of their nature, oddly their physical descriptions are quite consistent in all sources that they are found, which beyond anything else lends credibility to their existence. Hyleids are said to have the appearance of small children with skin the color of clay, similar to the kandara tree, and hair wild with twigs and foliage. It is said that the only true way to distinguish them from a child up to no good, is to find the leaves that grow from their limbs like trees in the rainy season.

Excerpt from The Stories Around Us by Diantha of Kratylos