For a very long time I wanted to create a fantasy world that is "like #DarkSun (or more recently #Kenshi), but in green".
But somehow, there is some kind of somber dignity in desert settings that forest settings just don't have.
Maybe it's related to being unable to see the forest for all the trees. You don't get the sense of timeless desolation when there's probably hundreds of animals hidden from view just a few dozen paces away.
But what I think a forest setting might be good at is a related theme of the works of civilization lasting only as long as they are maintained, and the forest returning almost immediatly once it isn't anymore. Once you stop cutting the trees and pulling the weeds, it's going to be forest again in a matter of decades.
@SJohnRoss I don't remember where I got the idea from originally. I think it was actually about astronomy, and how the annihilation of Earth would not make any difference to the universe.
But it's also that we don't actually have the ability to destroy all life on Earth. We might have the ability to make the planet unlivable for humans, but after a few centuries a new equilibrium would settle in and life continue like it has for 500 million years.
I have been very self indulgent today, and spent the whole afternoon in #Kenshi. And although, yes, it's a desperately hard game to get started in, it's an incredible piece of work.