Sentinel Trees
The Sentinel Trees are ancient sacred landmarks planted by Karik the God of Renewal during the Founding Era. These trees possess the ability to take in the souls of those who are buried at its roots to be raised up into seeds that can then be passed on to others.
When a newborn consumes a seed from a Sentinel Tree, they take on part of a soul that was offered up to the tree. This mostly manifests in Elves who were the first ones given the gift from the God of Renewal, and learnt to view their past lives in visions. An older creature who consumes the fruit would already have a fully formed soul so would not take on part of the soul in the seed, only partial memories.
Non-Elves may request a Sentinel's Burial or Sentinel Fruit for a newborn, however most benefits are muted for other races who's biology has not adapted to the mingling of souls in this manner. An elf who does not recieve a Sentinel Fruit when young is known as a "soulclast" who gains their soul from fragments of lingering souls in the air combined into a single soul.
Should a Sentinel Tree come under attack, the souls within the tree can come to the tree's defence, taking bark from the tree to form into Wooden Wardens to attack those who would do the tree harm.
Execution
The Sentinel Trees have deep roots which carve out gaps in the earth. These can easily fit a body within the upper layer of roots. Trained Druids or Priests can perform a ritual which causes the roots of the tree to shift so the body may slip between them below the ground.
Prayers are offered for the departed soul and a small carving is left in the roots that the body was placed into to memorialise the lost member of a family.
The exact time it takes for a soul to bear fruit from the tree is unknown, but the fastest a reborn soul has been noted took five years from burial to a child being gifted the fruit to gain the memories.
In the rare occasion the tree bears no fruit when a new born is ready to recieve the Sentinel's Fruit, the babe will instead by given a draught of sap from the tree. This gives a smaller mingling but from multitudes of souls. This can lead to unexpected results for the individual given the sap, some go onto greatness with a vast wellspring of knoweldge to draw upon while others have gone mad from the mismatch memories.
Components and tools
For a burial, little is needed in the way of the burial itself beyond the body to be wrapped in leaves from the Sentinel Trees without any other adornment or clothing.
A small ritual knife is used by those closest to the deceased to carve a symbol of them into the roots upon the body being taken into the depths of the Tree's roots. An incense of Witchwood and Lavander is burnt during this part of the ritual to calm the roots from the carving being made, so the tree does not manifest its Wooden Wardens.
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