| abstract
| - Gnarled Forest is the fifth world in LEGO Universe, based on the pirates theme. Players are first directed to go to Gnarled Forest by Nexus Jay after choosing their Faction. After blasting off from the Gnarled Forest Launchpad in Nimbus Station, players make a landing on an elevated landing pad, with the treetops surrounding them. Down the launchpad's ramp they meet Hugo First, who informs them that the pirates "really made a mess of things here" and that they could use some help. Continuing on, players come to The Ravine, where, due to a broken bridge, they must build bouncers on top of stone spires to cross the ravine without falling into the rapids far below. Once at the other end of the broken bridge, they can either visit the nearby Tortoise Terrace and tame a Tortoise pet, or smash the broken Pirate Archway and continue on into a cave. There, they find Toby Squidbarrel, who tells them that Maelstrom infected treasure transformed most of his crewmates into Stromling Pirates and Stromling Admirals. He then asks players to smash ten Stromling Pirates at the nearby Maelstrom Trench, an infected clearing with a rock mutated into a giant skull, glowing with Maelstrom. After doing so, Toby directs players to Renee Tombcrusher, a Venture League explorer assisting in fighting the cursed pirate crew. She asks players to Quick Build a Siren Stunner for her, a robotic Mermaid device which entrances any nearby Stromlings, rendering them unable to fight. She then sends players deeper into the forest to find Arrrthur Arrrbuckle, a pirate near the Elephant Escarpment in need of help building a Siren Stunner. Arrrthur explains that the Siren Stunner is missing a piece, the head, which can be found in a nearby crate. After building complete Siren Stunner, Arrrthur remarks hearing gunshots further into the forest, at Brig Rock, and sends players to investigate. On the way, they meet Merciless Ned, who was told to shoot and detonate some of the explosive, infected treasure chests, but is unable to do so as he can't find his gun. In return, Ned offers players a bag of peanuts, which can be used to tame the nearby Elephant pets. Arriving at Brig Rock, players find the ninja-holding jail overrun with Stromling Pirates and Stromling Admirals. Speaking to Bert Scurvyburp, players find that a "mad gunman" has pinned the pirates down. Climbing what remains of some stairs to a higher level of the brig, players find that the "mad gunman" is Swabbie the Monkey, who has somehow found a gun, likely the one Merciless Ned lost. Swabbie asks players for five bananas, which can be found by attacking nearby banana trees. In return for the bananas, he hands over the gun. Just around a rock from Swabbie and on a wooden platform built into the cliff face is Ralphie Brig-Eyes, the pirate jailkeeper, who is unable to feed the captive ninja prisoners due to being gunned down by Swabbie. He then asks players to feed bananas to the four ninjas - Hashi, Zashi, Mashi, and Steve - and rewards the player with an Imagination point for their work. Continuing past Brig Rock, players reach the Pirate Camp, and find the leader of the pirate crew, Captain Jack Knife, as well as his ship, the Black Seas Barracuda, oddly sitting in a tree on the beach. Jack Knife congratulates players on their success, and challenges them to get 25,000 points or more in Cannon Cove Shooting Gallery. However, in order to enter the shooting gallery, players must gather ten cannonballs for Black Hearted Kevin, who mans the cannon. In order to get the cannonballs, players must use the pistol gained from Swabbie to shoot caught sharks hanging on rope from the rocks overhead the camp, with the cannonballs - and several bones - falling from their stomachs. Also at the Pirate Camp, players find the complete story of Gnarled Forest on a Nexus Force Plaque: Captain Jack Knife and his crew of pirates somehow found a collection of Maelstrom crystals, and, mistaking them for valuable gems, loaded them onto the Black Seas Barracuda. The Kraken sensed the Maelstrom inside the ship, and flung the entire ship out of the water, landing in a tree. The pirates set up a camp around the tree, and took the "treasure" inland. However, they became corrupted by the Maelstrom in the treasure, and the now zombie pirates packed the treasure chests with explosives as traps. The Maelstrom also began seeping into the ground itself, and formed the Maelstrom Trench. The Venture League arrived to assist the pirates, but only gave them a launchpad to Nimbus Station. After getting the required score in Cannon Cove Shooting Gallery, Jack Knife gives players a pirate hook, which can be used to build Crow's Nests which reach special pirates-only areas. Players then use their new hook to reach Crocodile Corner, through the Brig Rock Tunnel or another Crows Nest near the Elephant Escarpment. Here, players can tame a Crocodile pet, and race at Keelhaul Canyon Raceway under the instruction of Swifty McGurk.
- The Gnarled Forest was a region of Crux that was home to the pirates of the Nimbus Galaxy. Following the explosion of Crux, the Gnarled Forest became a major chunk that could be visited by the Maelstrom and Nexus Force. The Venture League established Gnarled Forest as their main base of operation against the Maelstrom besides Nexus Force. The jungle terrain of the world eventually became twisted by the Maelstrom and powerful pirate and ape Stromlings constantly harass the Pirates and Venture League on the planet.
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