Whispering Woods

"There are SO MANY trees here! And this mountain air is super tasty. It makes my paper heart soar!"

- Olivia

Whispering Woods is a location in Paper Mario: The Origami King, a lush, green forest filled with sentient trees. It is located in the red streamer area and is one of the first areas to be visited in the game.

Layout
After Peach's Castle is uprooted by King Olly, Mario and Olivia fall into the woods. Mario becomes stuck in a tree, in which the player must repeatedly tap to get out of, and Olivia gets stuck head-first in the ground, requiring Mario to pull her out. Giving Mario an empty Confetti Bag, Olivia instructs Mario to collect enough confetti to fill in the Not-Bottomless Hole blocking his path to her. After doing so and pulling Olivia out of the ground, Mario uses his 1,000-Fold Arms technique to knock over a nearby tree, allowing them to reach the other side of a gap in the terrain and continue through to the following area.

In the next area, Olivia remarks at Peach's Castle wrapped in streamers, on top of the volcano, and the two decide to get to the castle grounds in search of Luigi. Entering deeper into the woods, Mario hears whispers coming from surrounding trees, commenting on Mario's arrival. Continuing through the area, Mario arrives at a small group of trees with vines that he can pull. Some drop coins, some drop leaves, some drop confetti, and some drop items such as a Faded Fire Flower. One vine, when pulled drops a withered flower into the nearby spring, reviving the flower when it becomes submerged. Pulling the vine again drops a broken stereo into the spring and pulling it a third time drops Birdo into the spring. After the third pull, a log drops from the tree and creates a path to continue through the area.

A golden ball with a vine can be found on the raised ground. Pulling the lower part of the vine results in it snapping and prompts the on-going whispers to poke fun at Mario's incompetence. However, hammering the tree behind the ball reveals a 1,000-Fold Arms Magic Circle, allowing Mario to pull the upper part of the vine, opening the ball and rewarding Mario with a Shriveled Seed.

The next area, notably more dark and quiet than previous ones, consists of a large log with three trees to the right of it. Trying to leave the area, either by going back the way Mario came or by taking the path to the right, results in Mario looping to the other side of the area. Upon looping three times, Olivia suggests to Mario to sit on the large log. Doing so angers the nearby trees, revealing themselves to be sentient. Introducing the large log as feeble Ol' Grandsappy, the trees exclaim that Mario and Olivia are going to be stuck in Whispering Woods forever. However, Ol' Grandsappy, allows Mario and Olivia to wander the area if they promise to help revive him to his former glory by means of the Soul Seed.

Mario proceeds to continue to the spring, which revives items upon throwing them in. Throwing the Shriveled Seed into the spring results in it turning into the required Soul Seed. Upon doing so, Mario and Olivia hear Ol' Grandsappy groan and hurry back to him, only to find that a Not-Bottomless Hole has been created out of his face. After patching up the Not-Bottomless Hole and giving Ol' Grandsappy the Soul Seed, Ol' Grandsappy grows into a full tree again, and grants Mario a path to continue through the woods.

In the next area, Mario and Olivia encounter a Toad crumpled up and stuck in a bush. Mario must hammer the bush and uncrumple the Toad, who then alerts Mario about saving other Toads and their use in battles. Mario and Olivia then continue on into Toad's BBQ Foodeatery, where many more Toads have been folded and origami Goombas can be found. In Toad's BBQ Foodeatery, there are tents, a swing set, a campfire, some benches, and a log cabin. Many of the wooden objects in the area are made of trees from the woods, and the firewood, which are sentient, seem to enjoy being burnt. After leaving the Foodeatery and Whispering Woods, Mario and Olivia continue to Toad Town.

Toads
NOTE: All hidden Toads are found in the Toad's BBQ Foodeatery area.

Trivia

 * Whispering Woods shares its name with a location in Return to Zork.