Cuddlewood

Cuddlewood is at once a wood, a village and a community. Few Animals pass through. The influence of the great cities, such as Huggle, Corktown or Cat Tree City, does not reach this far.

The forest, long tended, has reclaimed its rights. It has spread and thickened, and now covers the remains of the old human occupation: cracked stretches of tarmac, rusted fencing, moss-covered bollards, vehicle hulks slowly dismantled by the roots. A small stream, the Frisson, runs through the wood and the village before continuing toward a nearby valley.

The village

The settlement is half perched, half buried. Huts hang in the tall trees, burrows are dug into the ground, and roosts are linked by rope walkways and monkey bridges. The buildings mix plants, earth and material salvaged from the surrounding ruins: satellite dishes, cables, keyboards, electrical boxes, robotic arms.

The inhabitants

The community is made up mostly of hedgehogs, whose families descend from exiles who came seeking refuge in this remote wood several generations ago. They hunt with the bow, follow traditions handed down from their original tribe, carve totems and paint patterns on the spines of their backs.

Their elders eye strangers with curiosity and suspicion, but the tribe is hospitable once trust has been earned. Their leader is Yrna, an albino hedgehog of extraordinary longevity, worshipped by generations of villagers.