Treant

Children of the Trees

Treants are the native plant-based sapient species on all of Elohey. As long-lived as the forest themselves, they have been recorded across history and time as guardians of the forest and "speakers for the trees". History paints them as parents and shepherds rather than gardeners. Many treant grove communities share this viewpoint, though the details may vary between communities.

On the unusual occasions that members of this species encountered far outside their groves are often young treants, interested in the world and the richness found there. For a treant, they are quite young, often being just barely past the age of maturity of 100 years.

It has been long suspected that treants, like gnomes, are direct descendants of the mercurial Fey from the Outland realms of the Feylands. This is not the case! Other plant-like or plant-based species, such as the Children of the Briar -- a Fey subspecies distantly related to Piskies -- and the Jack-o-Lanterns -- an Undead subspecies of shell-inhabiting spirits, closely related to Leechroot -- indeed originate from an Outsider realm.

Basic Information

Biological Traits

Treants are a plant species, specifically a form of tree. Despite their tree-like texture when in advanced age, treants have a bipedal appearance like that of an orc, human, elf, and so on. Likewise, they also have a face with eyes, nose, mouth and similar parts.

Yet, because of being a plant, they lack an internal skeletal structure. Instead, their internal structure is that of a plant with additional organs to process food they consume. Treants also have 'hands', 'fingers' and similar body parts. Their general appearance, such as leaf colors for their hair and bark patterns on their skin, tends to match the more common species of trees located in and around the grove community where they first sprouted.

Treants, as they age, move through the following growth stages of life: seedling, sprout, sapling, adult, elder. As a seedling, a treant is much like an infant, toddler, or young child stage of life. They are unable to fend for themselves and must have dedicated care. When they become a sprout, a treant is able to venture out with other treants their age.

Saplings, for a treant, is the 'exploration age'. As a sapling, it isn't uncommon for a treant to explore the world, seeing what it has to offer. Many centuries into their life, treants that settle down into groves are considered adults. Elder are the last and most advanced stage of life. Most elders are thousands of years old.

Treants, in their 'natural form', more closely resemble other species such as elves. The myth of a treant being a 'walking tree' comes from the species ability to 'meld' with a tree. Descriptions of that process became embellished with the retelling, turning into "walking trees".

Young treants often have the appearance of a young human or elf with hair that looks like green, gold, or red leaves. Their skin is always smooth and has the appearance of green, gold, or brown bark.

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Gender and Branches of the Ancestral Tree

Treants have three 'genders'. These are male, female, and third that is a mix of both male and female genders. Male treants are referred to by the species name of 'treant'. Female treants are referred to as 'dryads'. The third gender of treants are called 'geiton'.

The natural reproductive partner of a treant is another treant. However, 'cross-pollination' with other species is known to occur, though it is uncommon. When it does happen, it is usually through the pairing of a geiton treant and a non-treant species.

Of all the sapient species in Elohey, only a few can viably cross pollinate with treants. Even then, magic may be used to assist in this. Only the following have been able to produce offspring with a treant:

• Human
• Goblin
• Bugbear
• Pisky
• Demons from the Outland planes

Heart of the Forest

Any creature of treant ancestry, no matter the gender, have what is called a 'heart tree'. This is a particular tree that has a symbiotic relationship with the treant. So long as that tree is alive and healthy, so is the treant due to a magical connection between the pair. This results in a treant concept of 'sharing their heart' taking on a unique and serious significance when done so with another being.

If this 'heart tree' is chopped down and burned or grows ill and dies, the treant likewise runs a risk of dying. Most treants will die as a result of losing their heart tree. However, treants can form a bond with a new heart tree, but the process is difficult and the treant may not survive the process.

In some rare instances, treants that lose their heart tree yet do not die or form a new bond become a 'Grimm'. Grimms are still treants but are undead with an unhealthy craving for the blood of living species, sapient or otherwise.

Dietary Needs and Habits

One of the most surprising aspects of a treant is their diet. They are intelligent plants, yet this doesn't mean they only subsist on water and sunlight. Water and sunlight are very important to a treant's diet but they also consume moss, vegetables, and small amounts of lean meat as well.

The striking diversity among subspecies of treant makes the particular nutritional needs of a given individual unpredicatable. Some must frequently replenish moisture, others avoid high water content in their diets; some are fine with an occasional amount of potassium, others include bone meal or fruit husks in every dish.

An unusual aspect of a treant's biology is that, unlike any other sapient species, some foods react differently for them. Alcohol and fermented beverages do not cause a treant to become intoxicated.

Civilization and Culture

Culture and Cultural Heritage

Because of their extremely long lifespan, there are many shared values across treant cultures. Most of those can be found in pisky cultures or cultures like the Cuali or the Nodin.

In general, these treant cultures gather in grove communities, which have on occasion had an overlap with druid groves. It isn't unheard of for druids or rangers to settle in or near a grove community due to those professions close ties to nature.

All grove communities share a distrust toward logging communities of other species. Groves see the loggers as a potential threat to the forests. This isn't to say a grove community isn't able to make peace with a logging community in a particular region. It is just that the negotiation and contract drawn up are long, detailed and strictly enforced by both sides. While loggers can cause an undue amount of destruction to a forest, motivated elder treants working together are particularly gifted at literally erasing a non-treant community from the face of Elohey.

Another shared trait across treant cultures is the concept of a moot. This would be a seasonal festival for all treants in a grove community. Depending on the season, this is often combined with that culture's name day rituals for saplings or other matters of importance for the grove itself.

by Ekaterina Burmak

Lifespan

Unknown. Some treants have lived thousands of years.

Average Height

Average height for a mature treant depends on the actual growth stage of life.

• The average height for a sapling (adventuring age) is 6 to 7 feet tall
• An 'adult' treant, if they have not altered their size magically, averages 20 to 25 feet tall
• Elders are the largest growth stage, with their average height 30 to 35 feet tall with an average trunk diameter of 2 feet.

However, elder treants in many locations can be much taller than 35 feet tall. The above is only an average.

Average Weight

Average weight can vary as wildly as height for a treant

• The average weight for a sapling (adventuring age) is 135 lbs
• An 'adult' treant has an average weight of 2300 pounds.
• Elders are the largest growth stage, have an average weight of 4500 lbs

Treant Ancestral Traits

A character that is descended from a treant or has treant in their bloodline has the following available, regardless of ethnicity.

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Age treants grow slowly, being considered mature when they reach 100 years old. Most any adventuring treants are at least 100. Treants considered 'advanced age' could be centuries or thousands of years old.

Size members of this species that are adventuring age tend to be Medium. However, retired adventurers of this ancestry can easily be of a Large size.

Speed Their base walking speed is 30 feet

Ability Score Increase Constitution +1

Bonus Lanugage Kayam. Treants know how to innately speak this language due to their Fey-influenced nature.

Natural Camoflage A treant's natural 'tree-like' or 'plant-like' appearance allows them to blend into natural environments. They have a +8 to Stealth rolls when in forests, swamps, jungles, and similar environments.

Rose Road Treants have a special method of transportation. Three times per day, a treant may open a magical portal that connects two trees. This portal allows almost instant travel between two locations. However, the treant cannot open a portal to a tree they have not personally seen before! When traveling the Rose Road, a person (even the treant) will be surrounded on all sides by moonlit trees and impassible rose bushes. Any character that leaves the path is immediately placed where they entered the Rose Road.

Oaken Form Treant skin, especially that of saplings is actually a smooth bark. A treant's base AC is 12 + their Dexterity modifier before armor.

Swim like a Rock Treants can swim though their natural plant biology makes it extremely difficult to acutally swim versus just float. They have a -5 to all swimming checks to actually 'swim'. If they are just floating? That has no penalty.

Tree meld Treants can meld with any tree. They can remain melded for as long as they wish. They can perform this a number of times per day equal to their Con bonus +1.

Note that the above are for an average Treant sapling. According to scholars and many myths, elder treants develop many unusual abilities.