The Witchwood

The Witchwood is a magical forest province introduced in the Eye of the Vortex campaign for Total War: Warhammer II.

It is located in Naggaroth and is home to the Heralds of Ariel playable faction.

Healing mechanic
See also: Forest health

The Witchwood is connected with several nearby settlements, known as "heathlands". These are indicated by the green titles. Capturing or razing heathlands can increase The Witchwood's forest health. In the case of The Witchwood, its adjacent heathlands are Ice Spire, Temple of Addaioth, Tyrant Peak, and Ancient City of Quintex (in Iron Peaks/Titan Peaks, under the control of Cult of Pleasure). Its also causes more trees to appear when you capture the heathlands.

Sometimes, the player may face the Forest Encounters event, when the player should send an army towards the indicated area to ambush an oncoming enemy army. The amount of turns before the enemy army appears is indicated by the colour of the tree icon over the location of that army: green for three turns, amber or yellow for two turns, and red for one turn. Completing the forest dilemma (whether by picking a choice or defeating a specific enemy army) also heals The Witchwood.

The Witchwood can lose health at higher difficulties.

The reward for healing The Witchwood is increased research rate; reduced unit upkeep; and reduced Deeproots teleportation cooldown.

Once the Witchwood reaches 100 percent health, Ariel becomes available for the player to command.

However, when The Witchwood or any magical forest reaches 100 percent health, the specific Ritual of Rebirth is unlocked: it is indicated by the sapling-like purple icon next to the forest's health meter. Once you start the ritual, you will have to fight three or four Forest Encounters around the forest's region, otherwise several enemy armies with full stacks will appear to attack you. The ritual lasts for eight turns.

Other magical forests
There are three other magical forests that the player can travel to using the Deeproots system. Healing these magical forests can stop The Witchwood from gradually losing health and increase global recruitment capacity.


 * Oreon's Camp (Heart of the Jungle) - experience gain per turn; increased campaign movement range
 * Healing Oreon's Camp will allow the Bowmen of Oreon to confederate with your faction.
 * Gaean Vale (Avelorn, Ulthuan) - increased hero and lord recruit rank; increased income from all buildings
 * The Sacred Pools (Lustria) - increased casualty replenishment rate; increased growth

In addition, in Mortal Empires, you receive more bonuses after you heal these additional magical forests. It also causes Athel Loren to become a second "main" magical forest:


 * Oak of Ages/Athel Loren - 	increased growth; reduced unit upkeep; reduced Deeproots teleportation cooldown
 * Laurelorn Forest - increased income from all buildings
 * Gryphon Wood - reduced recruitment costs
 * Forest of Gloom - increased campaign movement range