The Forests of Silence

The Wennbar is a gross beast whose territory is First Wood — the Forest of Silence which is most near to Del. Its slaves are the Wenn, a strange tribe of cold-blooded beings over which it seems to exert complete control.

The Wenn, which themselves eat only the leaves of certain bushes, trap humans and animals that stray into their path so as to provide the Wennbar with the warm flesh it prefers for food. By rubbing their lower legs together they make a high-pitched ringing sound unbearable to the ears of more advanced creatures.

They then sting and paralyze their disabled prey and offer it to the Wennbar as a helpless, living sacrifice.

This partnership between Wenn and Wennbar is mysterious, and does not seem to be an equal one. According to The Deltora Annals, the Wenn worship the Wennbar as a god. The monster’s pleasure at receiving food is their only reward. Its anger when cheated of prey usually means the death of one or more of them. Yet they do not rebel, but glory in their slavery.

Generally slow and heavy in its movements, the Wennbar is said to move extremely quickly when hungry or filled with anger. In addition, its neck, usually hidden in folds of flesh, can rapidly extend to enormous lengths, so that it can snatch creatures from trees and birds from the air.

By all accounts, there has only ever been one Wennbar, and the Wenn have always lived in the bushy grove called Wenn Del that guards the entrance to its territory. Legend has it that every hundred years the Wennbar goes into a deep sleep and, having been bathed in special oils by the Wenn, dies giving birth to several young.

The young fight each other to the death over the motionless body of their parent. The victor is the new Wennbar, destined to be tyrant over the Wenn for the next century.