The Ganthic Wood is a dense forest (or a collection of them) to the west of the HHH hills. It separates (and comingles with) all nations in the region. The woods are dense, and the lands around it benefit from the wood's plentiful natural resources. Ancient ruins can be found in the woods, crumbling with age.
The history of the Ganthic Wood lies far back in history to a period before Ossav, to what is known as the Five Empires era of Melarna. Ganthia was one of five great empires which eventually destroyed each other, reducing the people to a tribal way of life. Little is known about that era, but some small bits of lore has been preserved in some truly ancient songs.
Ganthia was the first of the five empires to fall. Prior to that time, Ganthia controlled all lands between the Khravest mountains, the HHH hills, and the Veldis sea. During the final war, most of the cities were destroyed. Most of the support was destroyed at this time, and the survivors fled the cities.
They grouped into small camps and hid in the woods to avoid detection. Messengers became the only means to keep in touch with other camps, and the Ganthic people learned to live off the land out of necessity. Over time, writing fell into disuse, replaced by an oral tradition. Runes were used to pass along some information, while other more complex writings vanished.
The woods grew thicker over time, and slowly became home to some of the refugees. The people had seen their larger farms and villages destroyed, so they learned to keep their farms small. The druidic faith flourished, and the people lived in harmony with the elves of Theluran.
Ossav's forces entered the Ganthic woods for the first time in 484. Orcs and ogres from Cuthia pushed into the region, and found little initial resistance. But when they tried to clear the forests, the people responded in force. Over the next 29 years, Ossav slowly committed more troops to breaking the people, finally succeeding in 513. During this time, Ossav's forces learned a number of valuable tactics which were employed even more brutally against the elves of Theluran in the years following.
The druids had gone into hiding, both to preserve their ways, and protect the lands in a more guerrilla-like fashion. The Ossavian families that were given control of the region learned to avoid certain areas of the forest, and Ossav simply could not commit enough resources to eliminate the problem.
Even after Ossav fell, it took several centuries before the druids were ready to re-emerge. Several noble families still had strong control over the area. Finally in 2146, the druids and elves began an organized campaign to drive out the remnants of the Ossavian forces. Several small strongholds continued to resist the druids for centuries. the territories of Chand and Warret (the latter now destroyed and overrun by forests) held out until 3674.