In every era, the forest of Kithicor itself is confusing: all the trees and hills look the same, there is no sky to see, and there are few paths to follow. There are also no guards to save you, and usually few players as well.

The south-west corner of the zone is controlled by the Shralok Orcs. They are also by far zone's the toughest non-undead (other than Thumper), and they often attack unwary adventurers travelling along the southern wall between West Commonlands and Highpass Hold.

Haunting of Kithicor

Following the opening of the Plane of Hate, this zone changes to become much more dangerous, especially at night. From 8PM-6AM (in-game) ordinary NPCs (eg. Shralok Orcs) despawn*, and are replaced with numerous highly aggressive level 35+ undead (a few undead also appear during the day).

During the day goblin workers and will-o-wisps (low teens) get added, as do Shadowed Men. Groups of these mobs can be difficult to see until close, and are powerful, so keep your eyes peeled!

Finally, Dark Elf Dragoons are also added, causing still more problems during the daytime hours.

As I mentioned above, people think that there are few benefits to playing in this area. When playing my ranger, I had to disagree. This area provides some of the best untouched hunting in the game, all readily accessable. It is possible to track around and find any monster you want, and I guarantee you nobody else will be after it. This goes for the newbie area as well as the higher level area that covers most of the southern edge of the zone. As a 10th level ranger, everything in that area /con'ed comfortably blue to me, and lower level groups could hunt there and make good experience. The largest problem with hunting here is the lack of money, as none of the creatures are sentient and carry cash with them. This is still true since the addition of the more powerful monsters, but is much more dangerous.

The other big plus in the game is that there seems to be some interesting quests available (or soon to be) in this area. The items that I mentioned above can be obtained from Ged Twigborn, a roaming NPC in the vein of the more famous Baobob Miller. He is occasionally accompanied by his non-speaking companion Irin Lunis. To find him, you either have to be able to track him down, which still requires some footwork, or to find Irin Lunis and follow her when she moves, because if she's by herself, she's walking towards him. He generally appears randomly in the southern half of the zone. It also appears that there is a Kithicor Residents faction. I haven't been able to increase it other than by doing the above quests, although you can increase it by killing orcs in Highpass Hold. There are several more NPC's (including the enigmatic Thumper) who don't speak to me yet, who I think will if I can get my standing higher.

The newest quest is that rangers can now obtained Ivy Etched Armor from a ranger outside of Morin Shadowbane's house in the northwestern section of the forest. This is a class-specific armor for rangers, and appears as green chain armor.

On the eastern edge of the zone lies the entrance to the West Commonlands, a mid-level zone that most people duck their heads and run through on their way to Freeport to the east.

On the northern edge lies the halfling starting city of Rivervale, a remarkably well-developed city (in terms of quests and talking NPC's), and beyond lies Misty Thicket and Runnyeye and the Gorge of King Xorbb, along the alternate route between Qeynos and Freeport.

On the western edge lies the entrance to Highpass Hold, a high mid-level zone. My recommendations are to not attempt this zone unless you are invisible, know the zone extremely well (and I mean like the back of your hand) or are at least 15th level or higher. Once you step in and see the trail of bodies leading off down the narrow, windy path, you might get an idea of what I mean. When you look up and see the orc shaman casting Root on you you'll definitely know what I mean.

Lore

This forest was cursed on Halloween night, October 31, 1999 after the "Battle of Bloody Kithicor" which coincided with the initial opening of the Plane of Hate. The GM event was mentioned in the follow-on patch message on November 3, 1999. Thereafter, the undead will rise when the sun sets in the forest.

The legend tells of a stone that was found by a goblin of the pickclaw tribe named "Nurgal" in the mines of Highkeep. This stone was an artifact of great power, and once the Dark Elf ambassador took possession of it from Nurgal, Neriak soon sent an army to Highkeep to find more. The humans and high elves of Highkeep discovered the plot and met them on the slopes of the Serpentspine Mountains in Kithicor Forest. The battle that ensued, Bloody Kithicor, came to an end when Lanys T`vyl (Child of Hate) was wounded by Firiona Vie. A dark elf shadowknight named Laarthik took Nurgal's stone and supplicated for Innoruuk to aid them. When Innoruuk found his only child wounded, he cursed the forest and had his servant Hate destroy all living things. The undead of Innoruuk's plane appear at night in the forest because that is when the portal is strongest.