Tree Lords and the Tree of Souls

[OldeTymer 322]

There was a great and powerful Druid.  He walked the wood with his gnarled staff and ancient wisdom, and with each step his energies encouraged the flora around him to flourish.  He was a true soul of the forest; his great longing not to live in the company of others yet to spend an eternity serving the Aspects of Nature in any way he could.

 

This Druid was clever-his mind was sharp and he knew that his body was just a vessel for his soul which connected all Nature in some way.  With this in mind he traveled the forests, the plains, the rolling green hills spread with verdure, and he found a Sacred Grove, filled with the natural energies of the world, and he picked a sapling from a most ancient tree.

 

He took this sapling in hand, and harnessing the power of his Druidic arts, he began to grow it, first binding his hands, binding his arms,legs, wrapping around him as if a spindly, gnarled, oaken rope. As the elder Druid let out a final gasp, a cry to the Aspects, he pierced his very body with the roots of this tree, and with the last of his effort drove the roots into the ground, stained with his blood and sucking out the tasty nutrients of the earth.

 

There was a great tree in his place, gnarled, beautiful.

 

 

For many weeks, even months this tree stood, tall, resilient, silent, until one quiet morn with the rise of the sun-its great trunk began to bow outward, and like wax from a candle, or a great boiling ball of water something began to take shape.  The nearby wildlife did not retreat, rather they came to bear witness to such a momentous event-it was a miracle of Nature.  The boiling blob took shape, and bare before the wildlife stood the ancient Elf, his complexion that of bark yes but still very much alive.  And this, is the ancient and tightly kept secret of the Soul Tree.

 

~The Druii’ithirn, Arcanum of Ancient Secrets

 

 

~*~

 

Soul Trees

 

Soul Trees are an ancient, heavily guarded secret of the Druids.  Existing even before the origin of shapeshifting, the Soul Tree was a way for powerful elder Druids to maintain their commitments to the Druidic Order and Nature despite the dangers of their profession.  The Soul Tree effectively maintained the life of the Druid until such time as they willfully forfeited it, or the tree itself was destroyed.  But the creation of such a thing was no easy task, and many Druids who were unprepared have perished in the attempt.

 

 

Creation

A Druid who endeavors to perform this technique OOCly accepts the risk of potential permadeath.  The process involves killing the original body and capturing the soul before it escapes inside of the tree.  Theoretically a 100% success rate could be achieved by 2 Druids, but the knowledge of such is so rare that those who know would understand the risk is necessary to weed out the Druids who have not placed their faith in the Aspects.  It would be a low failure rate, but an existing one.  The rate would be determined by an OOC overseer (typically the elder Druid passing on the knowledge of the Soul Tree), something similar to how magic is taught (to ensure fairness and accountability).

 

A Druid must ICly have gained extensive experience over Control of Nature, and Nature’s Communion in order to perform this technique.  He would have to be experienced and confident not only in his magical abilities, but also in his faith in the Aspects and Nature, as well.  It is advised that he finds a safe place to place the tree, and only informs the most trustworthy of people.  Additionally, sacred groves or natural areas filled with Druidic energy and power knock off modifier points for that permadeath, so it is always a good idea to look for places where you are most likely to succeed.  (IE Growing a tree in a cave with very little dirt will likely not succeed.  Although Druids have been known to sow seed in the most odd of places, it is difficult and this is incredibly unlikely.)

 

Once the modifier is decided, the Druid begins the process of growing the tree around and through his body, and proceeds with a roll (typically out of 100, with a certain window set for potential permadeath - this window is decided between the person attempting to create the Soul Tree and an overseer).  If he succeeds, he become a Tree Lord and proceed with building the tree.  If they fail, they die midway through, and... well... it is not pretty.  Though with all that good compost the tree will likely grow into a magnificent beauty anyway!

 

 

Death and Physical Attributes

Because the Druid's soul now exists separate from their bodies, he is not resurrected by the monks.  Instead of waking up at the cloud temple, the Druid is "regrown" from their Soul Tree.  The time by which this process takes could be anywhere from moments after the death until years later (IC time).  The event of a Tree Lord's death is very unique, modelling after their obtained physical livelihood.  The Tree Lord is foremost identified by his race - although he is concurrently race and tree, as much one as the other. Though, the flesh takes on a bark-like appearance and substance, typically more noticeable at the arms and legs, and the Druid's blood becomes a dark red sap-like substance.  The internal body still functions similar to a normal individual's, but it also adopts a new appearance not unlike that of the flesh.  Death is experienced by the same manner as before, although pain is perceived differently.

 

If a Tree Lord is stabbed through the chest, and because he does not photosynthesize (no leaves - still hair), he would suffocate.  If his sappy wooden heart was cut out, he would die.  A couple unique situations would involve burning (as he would burn much more successfully than a normal, fleshy body) and dehydration (he requires even more water than before, thus dehydrating quicker than other people).  The feeling of pain still exists, but because the Tree Lord is physically both a tree and his race, pain is magnified by some activites (such as being cut or burnt) and dulled by others (being pinched, hugged, choked).

 

Death becomes a spectacle of Nature, as well.  Upon death, the Tree Lord's body does not simply remain for scavengers to come along and pick their meal.  Nature quickly assumes dominion over the Druid's body and often it will be overgrown by moss, grass, mushrooms, etc, and become part of Nature.  The body is then regrown anew from the Soul Tree.  This experience is not pleasant or meaningless, however.  Though his soul is not handled by the Monks, it is not fully present in his body, so the Tree Lord is incapable of recalling events or people involved with his demise.  Although, when he regrows, he returns with the physical memory of the feeling of death (burning alive or being stabbed suddenly becomes terrifying!).  This unique attribute gives some depth and meaning to death and the potential for interesting RP and character development.

 

The Tree Lord cannot take his own life as an easy escape from a situation.  By taking his own life, he willingly severs his connection from his Soul Tree and is incapable of regenerating ever again.  Alas, the Aspects have smitten him and he is doomed to the dreadful PK.

 

 

Saplings

Soul Trees do not generally retain saplings.  Instead, if cuttings of the tree are nurtured for long enough, they become a living part of the tree.  In the event of the destruction of the tree, if the cutting is nurtured by Druid magic, then the cutting would still be alive and the soul would rest there.  At that point it could regenerate once more into a body, consuming the cutting and giving a final body to the Druid, or it can be replanted and over the course of a very long time reach its strength to maintain.  Why is this important, OOCly?  We do not want things such as map changes to cause permadeath for characters.  Again misuse of this will not occur, and those attempting to will be dealt with.

 

 

Pros/Cons
For a Druid, this is a way of committing to a very long life of work to the Aspects and protecting Nature.  As with 99% of all Druidic techniques, this would be incredibly overpowered if not for the years of training and commitment to the Druidic ways that slowly shapes the mindset of a Druid.  The consequences are very real and the Druid knows that each time they regenerate could be their last if the Aspects are displeased with their service.  If anyone misuses the ability for personal gain or anything that does not follow their character or established culture that they should be doing anyways, that life will be their last (blacklisting still applies).  Cultural lore is a big part of Druidism and the Druidic Order.  Members are not expected to all act the same, but they are an Order of people with principals, and there is an understanding of things trained Druids at this level would not do.

 

 

Pros:

1. The player is not resurrected by the monks. While they do not remember the events and people associated with their death, they do regrow from their Tree with the physical remembrance of the feeling of death (i.e. remembering the feeling of being stabbed in the chest or burned alive).
2. Essentially live until their tree is destroyed, or they commit suicide and sever their link with the tree.
3. Body of wood! Resistant to cold, and while pain is felt it is perceived differently, the body does not have "blood", lots of different and fun things can be thought up with this for RP.

 

Cons:

1. Body of wood!  Flammable!  Breakable!  Lack of flexibility in extreme temperatures! The body has many elemental weaknesses due to its composition.  It is more flammable than most trees, and the body can snap under pressure pretty easily.
2. If somebody RPly destroys the tree, or the character kills himself, the character permanently dies.  This is so unless a sapling of the tree has been kept. The Soul Tree is naturally resistant to weapons and flame, but it is destructible - their destruction must be RPly done and the owner notified, as the attack on the tree will immediately cause them to return to the tree to defend themselves instinctively.
3. It can take from within the day of death to multiple IC years to regenerate from a tree.  The time frame typically depends on the intensity and meaningfulness of the death.
4. More to come involving soul tree saplings - stay tuned!

 

Note that an overseer is typically the Druid who passed the knowledge onto a particular Tree Lord, but an overseer may also be somebody like Arik, Callax, or a knowledgeable LM that would only make judgements upon request and gauge situations to help with the RP.

[OldeTymer 322]

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[Tsuyose 3283]

Accepted and to be implemented.