Skeletal Pines

Skeletal Pines have one of the most interesting growth cycles of most trees in Isekai due to these trees beginning as one species and becoming another entirely. Once a Deeproot Pine, these trees have undergone a process similar to petrification that changes the hardness of the tree as well as grants them other properties.   Deeproot Pines can live for millennia if they are not harvested by the Dwarves or suffer from some disease. These trees grow extremely quickly, replacing those that have been removed in a matter of weeks so that the forest remains full. With such an interesting cycle of growth, it could be assumed that the Deeproot Pines cannot die as other trees can.   Scholars have confirmed that Skeletal Pines are the dead husks of Deeproot Pines, but no cohesive theory on how the trees died has been formed. Over millennia of observation, no one has witnessed the death or even harm of a Deeproot Pine other than the harvest that the Dwarves complete rather frequently. Even this process requires the use of special axes to pierce the bark and hardy wood of the Deeproot Pines and it is believed that these trees do not truly die until they are placed in the heat of Dwarven forges.   Skeletal Pines seem to appear nearly as if by magic. Over the course of a night, a Deeproot Pine can be transformed from the vibrant green of life to the white bone-like visage of death. This transformation hardens the wood, a process similar to petrification, and makes it impossible to cut, even with blades made of Adamantite.   Little else is known about the life cycles of the Skeletal Pines as these trees seem to be both living and dead, presenting signs of growth over time and repairing any injuries to the wood over the course of a few evenings. Scholars have determined there is little explanation for the trees than the deep magic of the world that sometimes works in mysterious ways.  

Ecology and Habitats