A large forest to the east of Freehold, the so-called Wood of Dark Trees lives up to its name, heavy with an aura of unpleasantness and thick with hostile shadows. It is situated in a vast, deep crater whose origin is as mysterious as the woodland, itself.

Little is known about the forest's interior, notably even by natives of the surrounding region, who view it as a place of bad luck or uninviting spirits; legends vary from culture to culture, but always insist that visitors to the woods rarely, if ever, return. Freehold's lead druid, Ash Nahcomence, is understandably apprehensive of the place, describing it as "calling out" to people, perhaps specifically druids; those drawn inside are never heard from again (including fellow druid Elkas Strifelaughter). Certain others, however (such as Vashiir il Luereth das Ferevan), claim to have heard or felt the forest "calling," describing the sensation as a "song," of sorts.

To date, almost nothing is known of Aerilpar by the Freeholders, save that it is populated by at least some small number of alien humanoids, a fact discovered by Lysander Arkaine—the only person so far to return from any exploration of the woods, however brief. He was forced to climb down into the crater, though, and back up, as the path located by the mine expedition had yet to be discovered at that time. Much later, on 24 Nightal, 1373DR, a wandering loxo druid called Hathibantor and his erstwhile companion Abae Khon followed the dead length of the Darkulh River to the edge of the crater, and saw for themselves the mysterious "waterrise" that climbs out of it, as though the river were fleeing; their use of druidic magic to communicate with the trees nearby confirmed that something unnatural and, very likely, terrible was indeed present in the region, though further details remain an enigma.