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This article, The Dark Forest, is the property of Glitchee123z. |
The Dark Forest is an entity within the Anomalies universe.
Introduction[]
Some people like to explore. Some people like to adventure into the unknown. But take caution when decide to explore a forest. It could very well be your last trek.
The legends say that somewhere, someplace, there is a forest veiled in shadow, impossibly wide and ever-changing. They say this forest is cursed, in that those who venture into it often never leave. But nobody has truly proved the existence of this forest, for none have returned to tell the tale.
Description[]
From the outside, the Forest resembles any ordinary forest. However, once you have entered it, the Dark Forest is completely different. It is, as you would expect, almost devoid of any sunlight with thick, tall trees. There is very little noise within the Forest, and it is devoid of almost any creatures whatsoever, making it all the more unnerving.
The interior of the Dark Forest is vast, so vast it is practically infinite in scale, but from the outside, you wouldn’t be able to see just how boundless it really is. The landscape of the Forest is constantly changing, and does so without any notice. Time also works differently within the Forest. For example, a single second in the Forest would be a minute outside of it. A single minute in the Forest would be a whole hour outside, and so on.
The Forest, and everything in it, constantly jumps from place to place every three outside days, but it is not a physical location. Rather, it is actually an interdimensional plane which intersects normal space, and only manifests in forested areas. This is why the Dark Forest looks completely normal from the outside; where and when it appears, the forest it has appeared in becomes a sort of “portal” to the Dark Forest itself, and when you enter said forest, you’re crossing through a portal into the Dark Forest dimension.
Due to the Forest being infinite in scale, it is pretty much impossible to leave once you’ve entered it - at least, normally. For as long as you try to or have hope to leave, you can’t ever leave. But if you manage to lose hope of ever leaving, it actually becomes possible to leave, but even then it would still be difficult for a multitude of reasons, due to the constantly-changing landscape, lack of any food or water, and the tendency for those trapped to eventually lose their sanity from the isolation and desperation, or commit suicide.
The Lost Ones[]
Lost Ones are the only creatures that wander the forest, apart from all the unfortunate souls that ended up trapped in it. They are deranged, vaguely humanoid monstrosities with glowing white eyes. It is rare to actually encounter a Lost One due to the vastness of the Forest, but they are dangerously unpredictable, either attacking on sight, running away, or just sitting and staring from a distance. It is even rarer for more than one Lost One to be seen.
Sometimes, the distant nonhuman screams of a Lost One can be heard echoing through the Forest, momentarily breaking the smothering silence it is often submerged in.
Trivia[]
- The Dark Forest is based off of hylophobia, the fear of forests.
- The Forest usually instills an encroaching sense of fear and dread in all those who enter it, like the feeling you are never really alone, and could be attacked at any moment.
- Wild animals cannot enter the Dark Forest, only humans.
- It is extremely rare to encounter another human while wandering the Forest.
- Credit goes to Rosie Fraser on Unsplash for the infobox image.