--- title: "Settings of Haunted Woods of Malthorin" subtitle: "Dungeoneer lore" author: Seth publish_date: 2025-11-04 00:01 date: 2025-11-04 00:01 hero_classes: text-light title-h1h2 overlay-dark-gradient hero-large parallax hero_image: haunted-woods-of-malthorin-1600x800.webp show_sidebar: true show_breadcrumbs: true show_pagination: true taxonomy: category: gaming tag: [ gaming, dungeon, settings ] --- One of my favourite games is [Dungeoneer](https://mixedsignals.ml/games/blog/blog_review-dungeoneer) by Thomas Denmark and published by Atlas Games, partly because of its carefully crafted ruleset, and partly because of its mysterious lore. **Dungeoneer** is sold as card decks, but it's really a board game, with some cards serving as board tiles. I own 5 **Dungeoneer** decks, so I'm reviewing each of them. In this post, I look at the characters of the **Haunted Woods of Malthorin** set. Read more about [Realm of the Ice Witch](https://mixedsignals.ml/games/blog/blog_dungeoneer-setting-realm-of-the-ice-witch) and [Vault of the Fiends](https://mixedsignals.ml/games/blog/blog_dungeoneer-setting-vault-of-the-fiends) in separate posts. ## Lands We're not explicitly given the name of the planet, plane, or realm that serves as the setting for **Dungeoneer**. t There is strong evidence on the **Haste** card from **Vault of the Fiends** that the name of the world is **Tarnys**. From the back of the box, we learn the premise of this set: > The betrothed of an elven prince was brutally slain > on the day of their wedding. The mad bridegroom now > uses his powerful magic to turn his forest realm into a > horrific haunted nightmare. Do you have the courage to bring > peace to these cursed woods? The set's starting tile is **Arnum Hamlet**. The artwork features green fields and peaceful springs, with what are probably the Taraka mountains lingering in the background. To keep my view of the **Dungeoneer** world tidy, I assume this set's region (which I believe to be Dunwin, more on why in a moment) is situated just south Gabrell, which itself sits precariously on the southern border of the arctic (from **Realm of the Ice Witch**). Obviously, Arnum Hamlet itself lies on the outskirts of the titular woodlands. None of this geography is supported by written lore, but it is supported mechanically. All **Dungeoneer** sets are compatible, we must assume that any land represented in any set are contiguous. ### Dunwin The card **Oaken Staff** bears this flavour text: > One lone enchanted oak tree remains on the Dunwin wastes: its wood is like iron. It's possible that Dunwin is nowhere near the setting of **Haunted Woods of Malthorin**, but that seems unlikely to me. This set clearly takes place within a specific forest, so the text implies that the woods of Malthorin are formally known as Dunwin. It's probable that Malthorin's abuse of the land has begun to take its toll and is deforesting sections of the once verdant woodlands, something reinforced by the flavour text of **Warp to Forest**, which says that Malthorin's forest is "like a sparse grove" compared to the forests in Balikor. ### Balikor Home to giant gray spiders, which Malthorin has imported to guard his forest. According to **Warp to Forest**, Balikor is a densely forested region: > The deep forests of Balikor make this place look like a sparse grove. Here's my head canon, which I don't assert as canon of **Dungeoneer**. It's probably my affinity for **Forgotten Realms**, but I associate dark elves with giant spiders, so to me it sounds like Balikor may be the land of the dark elves. It doesn't help that the artwork on **Gray Spider** appears to be tinted slightly purple, similar in colour tone as the **Dark Elf Captain** art. This is entirely speculation, and it's heavily influenced by what has become some common D&D tropes. ### Taraka The flavour text of **Taraka Falcon** says: > Falcons of the Taraka mountains are reknowned for their loyalty and their battle prowess. For convenience and lacking data to the contrary, I assume the Taraka mountains are those depicted in the art of **Armum Hamlet**. They're close by, so it would be reasonable for falcons from those mountains to appear in the valley and Dunwin forest. Of course there's the possibility that the Taraka mountains are half a world a way, and falcons are bred in captivity away from their native habitat, but frankly this seems unlikely given the wording of the flavour text. ## People **Haunted Woods of Malthorin** is the smallest **Dungeoneer** set I own, containing just 55 cards, but it fits a lot of information in. There are several cultures mentioned in this set. ### Humans We don't know that Arnum Hamlet is necessarily a human settlement, but following common tropes we might assume that the hamlet is home to humans and the woodland is home to elves. Whether or not this is the intent, we can assume flexibility. Nadalia from **Realm of the Ice Witch** is half elven, so the cultures obviously have integrated to some degree. ### Elves Probably not all elves of Tarnys live in forests, but at least some dwell in the woodlands of Arnum. Elves (and maybe other inhabitants) believe that the forest has a soul, as revealed by **Dark Heart of the Woods**: > Malthorin has corrupted the innocent soul of this > once-beautiful forest. We also know that there are a variety of elves in the world. The player character Elendus Sulari is an elf archer, but there are specifically dark elves serving Malthorin. It's difficult to tell from the artwork, but the **Malthorin** card art suggests that Malthorin may be a dark elf himself. Of all magical items in the **Dungeoneer** universe, it seems that boots are the most prevalent. On the **Elven Boots** card, it's explained tha Elven boots are particularly robust because the Elves treat them with Pogwai oil. ### Dwarves There's just one mention of dwarves in this set, in the flavour text of the **Elven Bow** card: > Sure, elves make good bows, but their ale is weak. > > —dwarf saying ### Centaurs This set introduces a Centaur! The player character Karn Darkhoof is a centaur ranger, but he has no flavour text and there's no further information about centaurs. ### Faeries There are also faeries in the world of Tarnys. The quest card **Capture the Faerie** says that "Faeries are hard to catch, and harder to keep." Their allegiance is not explained in the cards, and their presence around the Tower of Malthorin may indicate at least complacency with Malthorin's corrupting influence. However, I think they're actually neutral at worst. We know from the **Bring the Blessed Draught** quest that the Deep Spring is uncorrupted and retains its healing properties despite Malthorin, so there's no reason the faeries couldn't have resisted corruption. More importantly, the game mechanics for **Faerie Ring** suggest that faeries have a protective, or at least concealing, quality. While within the faerie ring, you can pay 2 Glory (and you get 3 just for stepping into the ring) to tip your hero and force all monsters to ignore you. ## Storyline Its instigating incident is provided on the back of the box, but not all details are clear. Some additional information is brought to light from the cards. The betrothed of prince Malthorin is killed on the day of their wedding. This sends Malthorin into despair, and starts to transform his forest realm to reflect his rage. His fortress, the **Tower of Malthorin**, is secluded in a well-protected corner of the woods. It's difficult to reach and guarded by roaming monsters. The forest comes alive to kill intruders, using threats like **Grasping Vines**, a carnivorous tree called the **Dark heart of the Woods**, a malevonlent thorn spirit, a sinking swamp. Malthorin sends out a **Dark Elf Captain** and a **Dark Elf Minion** to patrol the forest, and a **Banshee** haunts the site of the wedding that never happened, with flavour text revealing "I was the bride's maid in life, now I'm the bride's avenger!" Umbar, the thorn god, has contributed to Malthorin's efforts, and it's suspected that some of [Ramalith's fiends](https://mixedsignals.ml/games/blog/blog_dungeoneer-character-vault-of-the-fiends) have migrated into the haunted woods. Whether these are purely opportunistic or intentional, we do cannot know. In my next post, I explore [the characters and creatures](https://mixedsignals.ml/games/blog/blog_dungeoneer-character-haunted-woods-of-malthorin) of the **Haunted Woods of Malthorin** set.

Header and card image copyright by Thomas Denmark and Atlas Games, and used exclusively as reference.