Mother Tree

The oldest and largest known tree on Vesarca , the Mother Tree spreads its vast canopy over an area of nearly ten acres, the extremities of its branches drooping nearly to the ground under their own weight. Far wider than it is tall, its silhouette is rather like an umbrella sheltering the land. Its shade is an eternal twilight, the canopy so thick that hardly any sunlight reaches the ground.

Believed to be nearly twelve thousand years old, the Mother Tree is an object of great reverence for the serfs of the Duchy of Streussen  and in ancient times, it was worshiped as a mother goddess by the Stregi people. To this day, some villages still syncretize the old beliefs with the worship of the Menhir of Fomalhaut , assigning a masculine character to the Menhir as a counterpart to the divine femininity of the Mother Tree. This is, of course, heresy, and these cults are rooted out by Messengers wherever they are discovered.

Even among those who do not worship the tree, however, it is still considered spiritually significant, perhaps even a wonder created by the Menhir directly (for no other of its species has ever attained the miraculous size and longevity of the Mother Tree). Although burning firewood for heat or cooking has been rendered obsolete even for the poorest serfs, the habit remains for many in Streussen, for burning the fallen branches of the Mother Tree is believed to bring good fortune. Specifically naturally fallen branches; to cut from the Mother Tree would be an unthinkable blasphemy.

According to legend, the tree has many miraculous powers. It is said that the crippled crown-prince Hadar, son of Chertan V, liked to nap beneath the tree’s shade every day, and even built an estate nearby where he spent most of his time. One day, it is said, he awoke to find his legs healed. In gratitude, he ordered the sacrifice of one hundred sheep to the roots of the Mother Tree, and while the area was deeply unpleasant to visit for a while, the tree did show signs of invigorated growth for a time. The Listeners looked askance at this as possible heresy, but the Menhir gave no guidance on the matter, and it was dropped. Hadar I would go on to become a great and powerful king, which he ever after attributed to the blessings of the Mother Tree alongside the Menhir of Fomalhaut, to the great displeasure of the Listeners (who were perpetually frustrated by the Menhir’s continued lack of guidance on the matter). Some argue that Hadar I is wholly to blame for the survival of Mother Tree worship into the modern day, although he claimed to be entirely faithful to the Menhir.