Wavewood Tree

Wavewood trees are one of the unusual creatures that live in the Middlesea. They are floating trees that grow into living ships, with sails of giant leaves and hulls grown from living wood. They can navigate the seas of their own accord, seeking sunlight and rich waters for their dangling roots. They can also carry a crew, who can direct it almost as they might a normal ship, but the tree will sometimes defy its crew to choose its own course, such as to avoid a storm or refuse to enter a particular port. Wavewood trees are greatly prized for their speed and fire resistance, and are cherished by those who have them.

The origins of the Wavewood tree are a mystery to most, but the Tau Dilaut of Lahat claim to know their origins. According to them, all ships have a spirit that slowly grows in power and awareness over the years. When a ship with a mature spirit is lost at sea, the spirit does not immediately dissipate. Instead, it may choose to quicken a Wavewood seed. These seeds look like round pieces of sea glass that float along the surface of The Middlesea. They can remain inert for years before suddenly sprouting. When they are about to sprout, they begin to glow softly for about three days, and then begin to rapidly put out roots and the beginning of the mast-trunk. After only a few weeks, the seed looks like a small boat, too small to carry any crew. Sometimes they are mistaken for toys during this stage of their life.

Over the next several years, the Wavewood tree continues to grow and develop. The vast leaf-sails grow, and the tree begins to actively seek rich waters for its net-like roots. After a decade of growth, the tree is large enough to support a few sailors, should any come aboard. It also begins to sprout luminescent pods that make it visible from a great distance - some people believe that some stories of ghost vessels are actually Wavewood trees.

The most common way that a Wavewood tree gains a crew is when it rescues a drowning sailor from the water. They respond to the cries and thrashing of a person in distress and will come alongside them, casting vines into the water for them to climb. Once aboard, the sailor and the tree begin to go through a bonding process. This is usually successful, and results in a deep empathic bond between the sailor and the tree. When it fails, it is usually due to some incompatibility in the spirits of the two creatures; it is hard to predict if and when this incompatibility will occur. A ship-bonded sailor can sense the tree's presence, and communicate it with it on a level below that of words. The Tau Dilaut actively seek out these bonds, and will often risk their lives when they see a mature Wavewood by hurling themselves into the water to call it to them. They call these trees the Tadia Lautan.

A bonded Wavewood will frequently stay in a family line, bonding with a few people in each generation. They continue to grow for their entire lives, eventually becoming some of the largest vessels in the ocean. However, they are not immortal. After a few hundred years, age will cause the Wavewood to weaken and fail, and it will seek to beach itself at its home harbor. The family of the Wavewood will have collected its seeds over the years, keeping them safe and healthy in salt water, and will sit vigil over the ship's final days. When it passes, one of the seeds will quicken and begin to glow, and the family will bring it to The Middlesea, where it can grow and develop into a new tree. The Tau Dilaut, assured that the spirit of their beloved ship has moved on to its next life, will then construct new ships from the wood of the old. These ships are thought to be blessed of the Laut (the sea-gods of the Tau Dilaut), and are treasured almost as much as the living Wavewood.