Folkmoor

The Folkmoor is one of the three principal wetland valley within the Harking Hills, beside the Elmoor and the Harkmoor.

Etymology

The element folk- is likely a folk-etymological alteration of Olgish folkin ‘sorcerer’, relating to an association of the desolate area with arcane magics as also evident in the name of the Sorcerer’s Climb. The designation as a moor follows the in the Harkings common practice of applying this label to inaccessible areas of uncultivated land irrespective of whether it includes actual moorland.

Geography and Ecology

The southernmost of the three moors, it is located between the Paling Downs and the hill chain formed by the Sorcerer’s Climb, Hammin Tor, and the Brimstone Sickle, in relative proximity to the pales of Múris and Cas Bennor.

Like the Elmoor and the Harkmoor, it forms a largely impassable bog flat, albeit with an even more forbidding reputation. This is possibly aided by the abundance of sulphur springs along its southern boundary and the presence of various wild animals, included deer and wolves and occasionally bears and dragons, and carrying varying associations with devils, hidden magic, and hermit sorcerers. Largely avoided by the local population, it forms a refuge for wildlife even within the relatively untouched Harking Hills.