Periculand.

  A land that is both hailed as a great blessing of prosperity and feared as a harrowing land of danger. A hotspot for brave souls to enter, where great monsters and great treasures alike wait to be discovered. The myriad environmental magics here cause said monsters and treasures to be created with abundance like nowhere else on the continent.

  Along the woodland edge that divides the natural wonder and the rest of the continent lies an adventuring town, aptly named Periculand Town.

  Here, everything one intending to fight, loot and conquer could need is found- inns, armouries, hospitals and more. Many people reside here permanently, as all sorts of professions are required for the continued operation of the town.

  It is a place loved by all kinds of people. Nobles for the artifacts inside they can purchase once extracted, adventurers for the life-changing profits they can earn from selling what they find, and commoners for the many jobs provided.

  It is always bustling with activity as people go about their day to day. There is a huge amount of trading, both importing and exporting- the exports are mostly monster parts, the imports a substantial amount of food and raw materials for the service providers.

  Of course, nothing comes free. The area is profitable because of the concentrated magic, and for the very same reason it is dangerous. Periculand’s forest environment becomes more hostile and oppressive the deeper one treads, the monsters becoming progressively more powerful.

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  Along the perimeter, all one might find could be a few Spidercrabs, or if they are unlucky, a Medium Ooze. Deeper, you'll encounter threats the average human is incapable of handling or in some cases even escaping, such as a Fungal Giant or a flock of Quickfeather Piercers.

  Periculand Town has several hospitals stationed around the forest edge because of this fact, as adventurers often take fights above their power level and receive grave injuries.

  The healers and medics are able to significantly lower the death rate of those choosing to explore the forest. Despite this, people who enter are occasionally never heard from again as they may encounter something leagues above them in power.

  Another potential issue is monsters wandering from the depths of the forest to the village. This is rare but not unprecedented, and so a number of elite fighters are stationed permanently by the Emperor, in addition to the adventurers who stay in the town to protect the citizens.

  Additionally, the Emperor sanctioned a research facility that has spent the past year since its formation improving the understanding of Periculand. Notably, they have detected a small region at the centre of the forest that has been designated, “The Eye of Periculand.”

  The Eye is an area with extremely low levels of environmental magic, standing out in extreme contrast to the pattern of increasing magical density. It is theorised this zone has something to do with the party of heroes sent by a previous emperor over a century ago into Periculand, who never emerged from it.

  Unbeknownst to the adventurers and citizens, the heart of the forest contains an innocuous hamlet, consisting of a number of tents and small buildings. In this place, and further out around it, the atmosphere is nearly devoid of anything magical- even more so than outside the forest. Many of the people here can't use mana and have never trained, and almost none have even left Periculand.

  Protecting the people from the few monsters that wander into the area is a man known as the Elder. He has been training an apprentice in magic for years to replace him once his age finally overcomes him.