"As the last one in a long line of venerable sorcerers, I submit to you these records.
Don't let this knowledge lull you into false confidence."
Fellow villager,
Since the founding of our village until today, few of our tribesmen have ever set foot into Radgost's sacred forest. Even fewer returned to tell their tale.
Fortunately, each one of those tales has been passed on from one generation of village sorcerers to the next.
As the last one in a long line of venerable sorcerers, I submit to you these records. They reveal our accumulated ancestral knowledge of the forest's strange dwellers.
Don't let this knowledge lull you into false confidence. These creatures are capricious. Their actions will defy your expectations. Stay alert. Otherwise, we have no chance of rescuing the missing children.
Besomar
Besomar is a powerful demon, an elderly to all evil spirits. An evil spirit enters the chosen man or animal, and such a man or animal is no longer itself but is of pure anger and evil in its purest form in a shape of its host. This state ends once evil spirit decide to leave the host. However, the damage that Besomar caused is strong as all evil spirits joined in one. His rage can leave a man out of his mind for the rest of his life and that end would come very soon...
Todorci
Todorci are a troop of horsemen that grow from the back of their horses. They were led by Todor the Great, who had a completely white limping horse, the most powerful in the group. The sound of hoofs and rattling chains announces the arrival of these riders. If a man finds himself in their path or if he disobeys the rules certain death awaits him: death under the horses' hoofs or from Todorci’s swords, or getting tied to a tree and left to die slowly in great pain.
Lesnik
Found only within forest boundaries. Lesnik is lively and loud while deep in the forest, but becomes quiet and unnoticeable when he is near the forest outer boundaries.
Lesnik has an ability to transform himself and he readily uses it. He can take the shape of anything in the forest, and enjoys confusing anyone that sees him. He can turn into an animal, human, tree, butterfly or any combination, the weirder the better. For example, he can transform into a man with goats’ feet with horns and a goatee. He can vary his size as well. He can be as tall as the highest tree, or as small as the shortest grass. The forest is the only thing that dictates his power: his power is low when he is near its outer boundaries, and it grows as he goes deeper inside the forest.
The god Radgost
Radgost, the god of hospitality and fertility, is the protector of our village and the forest around it.
When we trespass into the forest, which is his home, we will be acting against his bidding. But we must not do anything to further provoke his ire. This is why we must not, under any circumstances whatsoever, harm or kill any of the forest creatures. I do not wish to risk offending Radgost with my writing so I'll say no more.
Ivan's call
"...you will encounter the many creatures and beings that spawned from the unconscious minds of my Slavic ancestors."
Fellow boardgamer,
While developing Forest of Radgost I discovered that my son’s imagination has a capacity for creepiness that far surpasses mine.
He's the one who came up with the design concept for one of the creatures who live in the forest of Radgost.
For some reason, the description of Besomar captivated Dimitrije.
Eventually his lego prototype evolved into a splendid miniature thanks to our creative director — a master sculptor well versed in Slavic mythology.
Our creative director developed concepts for all other miniatures. But still, Besomar is special to me because it germinated in Dimitrije's head first.
The same way they germinated in the heads of my pagan Slavic ancestors.
Which leads me to this conclusion:
All of us have a talent for myth-making. It's just that children are more in touch with theirs.
"The unconscious sends all sorts of vapors, odd beings, terrors and deluding images into the mind — whether in dream, broad daylight, or insanity."
Joseph Campbell wrote that, in "A hero with a thousand faces".
In Forest of Radgost you will encounter the many creatures and beings that spawned from the unconscious minds of my Slavic ancestors. Each one is described in great detail in the accompanying book of encounters.
The game will also let you get in touch with your inner demons. We included a nighttime mode. In it, players take control of the forest creatures and are forced to deal with trespassing humans.
It's still not too late to join the tribe.
Forest of Radgost began as a family project.
In the end, it took a whole tribe of board gamers, sculptors and painters, scholars and writers, and 3003 Kickstarter backers to shape the game.
And we are still growing -- you still have a chance to join our tribe.
