The mayor looked at the group of people before her and seemed a bit reluctant to answer the question that Tarvek had voiced, but smiling warmly she drew a deep breath then sighing faintly.<strong>"There are creatures here and there that seem capable of inflicting part of their condition upon others. It seems that the lands also have some abilities. I think the lands can be changed slightly, but there's some form of limit."</strong>She looked at everyone seriously.<br/><br/><strong>"Back in time a few people thought of expanding the area our settlement holds. Burning the forest to clear some ground, just enough to make room over to a stream further inland. Thinking it'd open up farmland for us. Unfortunately, when they set the place in fire, there was both a strong fire going on for a while, and a rise of magic twisting them. Several good men and women were first paralyzed, then starting to change, shift into more beastly things, some of them actually becoming trees though. I am not sure what was the cause of what happened next but a massive storm raged and put out the fire, though also leaving a fair stretch of land exposed. The forest before came almost to our walls. Since then, its kept some distance. People can chop wood occasionally, especially the dead trees, but we avoid the area where people are still standing in tree form."</strong>The mayor looked down a guilty look on her face. She seemed unsure what more to say for a while, before adding a little with a tenseness in her voice.<strong>"Though this place is rich in many kinds of wealth, there seems to be some powerful traps and magic left by whoever was here before, and I would advise caution. We keep to the roads because those seem <em>mostly</em> safe."</strong>