Runewood

The mystic Runewood.

The Runewood is a large forest found in eastern Stormheim.^[68, 52] These woods serve as a sacred site for the vrykul, and in particular the Bonespeakers, who practice many of their rituals here. The Runewood itself is located just outside the complex of Haustvald, and both the village of Akstad and the Stonewarden Quarry can be found within the forest. At its heart is Vydhar, a fabled vrykul who became transformed into a tree so that his wisdom could be made eternal.^[1]

History

The Runewood's name comes from the ancient rituals performed there by the vrykul of Stormheim. The Bonespeakers, powerful mystics tasked with tending to the vrykul dead, inhabit the Runewood and nearby Haustvald, and are responsible for these magical practices. Many ages ago, a vrykul known as Vydhar underwent a ritual to become one with the Runewood, to preserve his wisdom forever. With the help of the Highmountain tauren, Vydhar was turned into one of the wood's trees, and occupied the center from that time onward.

The village of Akstad has been a major settlement of the Bonespeakers located in the Runewood's north, while at the Stonewarden Quarry, mystics fashion their runes and minions of stone from the rock of the quarry. A group of ferocious Bonespeaker berserks known as the Runeaxes also traditionally make their home in the Rundwood, at the Runeaxe Training Grounds. The Field of Fallen Kings, at the edge of the Runewood to the north, is an ancient burial ground for legendary vrykul rulers.

By the time of the third invasion of the Burning Legion, the Bonespeakers had become corrupt and hungry for power. They began to forsake their ancient duties, instead trying to silence the Runewood and kill the heart of the forest using their runestones. It was only with the aid of outsiders that Vydhar eventually broke free from the Bonespeakers' magic. Together, they would go on to take revenge on the mystics in the name of the Runewood itself.^[2]