The Family of the Still Pond have been among the most influential nobles in the Shadow Wood for the past half-millennium.  They control a broad stretch of vital woods and crop lands along the southeastern border, shared with the Vanishing Swamp.  The Still Pond family pride themselves on efficacy, stealth, and restraint: their idealized founder was said to be able pass into a pond too deep to wade across without so much as sending a ripple through it.

Leader:  The longtime head of the Still Pond (Cevaxa) ceded her position to her son Shinjo not long ago.  The young (323) assertive Lord has since been a vocal proponent of expanding the borders of the Shadow Wood, and their military forces.