Dunam Forest
Shire: Semethshire Status: Wild forest hundred Administration: Nominally under Semethshire; effectively contested land patrolled by the Army of the Chelmarch
Dunam is the central forest hundred of western Semethshire, lying in the Kathela Hills northwest of the Kald River. The terrain consists of rough, broken foothills covered with light woods of alder and oak, interspersed with bracken-choked clearings and rocky stream valleys. Elevations range from around 800 feet along the eastern fringe to well over 1,500 feet on the higher ridges.
The rough foothills of Dunam Forest hold a mix of light woods of alder and oak dotted with box canyons and steep ravines treacherous to mounted knights. Part of the region is contested Kath land and is patrolled by the army of the Chelmarch. Dunam is rich in boar and deer and contains the ruins of Chelena, a fortified manor destroyed by the Kath in 689.
Like its neighbours Calushid and Semethe, Dunam was once part of the settled kingdom of Kephira but was laid waste by the Kath in the second century and never recovered. No permanent Kaldoran settlement exists in Dunam, though charcoal burners and hunters from the eastern hundreds occasionally work the forest fringe during the warmer months.