Prince-Bishop Leonard I’d instructions, followed throughout his long reign and that of his successor, placed the Fyrewood off limits to hunting or development. With one exception, the area was patrolled by ducal game wardens empowered to seize, expel, or even execute trespassers.

The one exception was for scientific inquiry, which the Prince-Bishop supported wholeheartedly. As such, provision was made for a single small settlement in the interior of the Fyrewood, the town of Kindling, to serve as a base of support for forest and science. Tradesmen and merchants were permitted to settle there under strict rules, and a rotating group of scholars also took up residence at the Prince-Bishop’s pleasure.

Thanks to these protections, the Fyrewood soon began flourishing again and by the 100th anniversary of its protection it had largely regrown, and was a haven for many plants, animals, and other creatures that had been put under pressure by the intense settlement elsewhere nearby. Birds, especially, flourished, and the second Prince-Bishop, Leonard II, encouraged their study. An amateur ornithologist, he personally introduced several rare and endangered birds to the preserve and presided over the first Flight Festival.

With Leonard II’s recent death at age 86, his distant cousin Leonard III has inherited the Prince-Bishopric, and while he has not made his feelings known on the matter, many suspect that he would be more open than his predecessors to allowing the Fyrewood to be developed.

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