Watchwood
Watchwood is made from Sauk trees that have absorbed human flesh. The wood serves as a network of eyes and ears to sentient wood creatures such as Treants and dryads . The roots have absorbed the consciousness of the nearby dead and carry their memories within their rings.
Watchwood is extremely supple to whitling and sculptors who initially worked with it felt they were freeing the creature within. In fact one is doing just that although the process of sculpting imposes will on the wood. It is almost as if a sculptor who works with Watchwood is training a child as he works. The wood listens to the will of those who have spent time with it. Thus the large grove of this wood is what changelings are made from.
Properties
Material Characteristics
Bark with under layer of lighter, brown, pink, or green. In short any color of flesh can be beneath the bluish tinged bark of a Saulk tree that is growing into Watchwood.
Physical & Chemical Properties
Watchwood has a blood red sap and is capable of clotting. If a chunk of the wood is chopped off it can mount over.
Compounds
Watchwood is used in the construction of changelings soup made from its outer bark is also useful in the curing of Herbosapien Synthesis . Sauk wood has a great deal of protein and eating the pulp is similar to eating the flesh of an animal.
Geology & Geography
Watchwood is almost exclusively found in central Megandra it's existence has only recently been discovered by the more civilized races round that land.
Origin & Source
Shortly after the great cohesion collision one of the first species of Megandra were the Treants. The first humanoid immigrants who visited this realm were the goblins. It is common for the goblins of Megandra to leave their dead for the wolves to feast upon. A group of six goblin children dis not survive infancy and were left near a grove of Saulk trees in the proximity of Treants. Wolves that came to feast on the children were slain. The next day the children were grown over in moss and looked like they were standing. Slowly the moss faded into the ground over a matter of days and the trees took on a green hue. The goblin Shaman Nora
Life & Expiration
Sauk wood wood that becomes watchword soaks up the detioration of other matter and thus gives it a second organic life, The lifespan of it once it is cut is half the lifespan of the creature that was soaked into it. It will then deteriorate as flesh does giving off the same smell as rotting meat though about half as strong.
History & Usage
Discovery
The flesh reflection properties of Sauk trees had been observed from within the realm of faerie from Nilos Bregand an Unseelie scrying the surface of Jennara approximately 12 BL. And in fact it was these discoveries that led to the great goblin migration for use of this wood.
Discovery of the wood by the human race has only been recent when the the children of the Duvoris family were kidnapped and buried alive. Their parents found the likeness of their children in moss against the side of trees that when tapped let out sap that resembled blood.
Everyday use
Watchwood's most common use is in the creation of changelings, however it may also be used for security devices to watch an area. It can be bound to humanoid flesh and is therefore useful in the creation of prosthetic limbs. In some cases a limb of a Saulk tree may already resemble the limb of a humanoid and is cut ready to be applied to a severed stump of an arm.
Cultural Significance and Usage
While goblins have been made to believe that they are the lowest of races. Through watchwood they may be remade into something greater. It is an honor to be fed to the grove and those who have survived you will watch you blend into the wood.
Refinement
Saulk pulp that has soaked the spirit of others is in danger of remembering. Therefore it is often ground into pulp and recombined as solidified pulp liken to paper. This discourages the wood from having independent thinking as well.
Manufacturing & Products
Watchwood is largely used for the creation of changelings, animated masks, and prosthetics.
Byproducts & Sideproducts
While the usage of large pieces of Saulk or watchwood are used to make changelings individual sections are highly useful as bandages.
Hazards
Watchwood ocassionaly is resistant to being changed and may sometimes strike back against those that are imposing roles upon it. Watchwood can undergo an identity crisis if it ever encounters the creature to which it is mocking. There have been groups of runaway changelings that refused to be used and strike back against their oppressors.
Environmental Impact
Saukwood liken to humans breathes oxygen and give forth carbon dioxide the opposite of most forms of trees. The result is that a grove of Sauk trees is an atmosphere that is almost unbreathable. Saukwood requires more oxygen than a human does and produces more carbon dioxide. Thus these trees produce a noxious environment.
Reusability & Recycling
Once an identity is printed on watchwood it is difficult to reuse as another lest it remember it's previous purpose and identity. Sauk once made into a manufactured product is best burnt.
Distribution
Trade & Market
Goblins trade watchwood to both sides of the Seelie and Unseelie court for the use of espionage, reconnaissance and most of all pure soldier power.
Storage
Storage of Watchwood is subject to the same housing requirements as humans. The wood can die as easily as a human and therefore must be kept out of the freezing cold. In its raw state it is necessary to keep it warm. It is a peculiar irony that sometimes other wood is burnt to keep watchwood warm.
Law & Regulation
Watchwood illegal to possess by those who are not its tenders because it can be used to masquerade ones identity or create someone of a different one If one is found in possession they are suspected of duplicitous or spying activity. Possession implies treasonous intent.
Type
Wood
Rarity
Watchwood is a controlled substance of great power
Odor
Sauk trees or Watchwood are liken to sweat.
Taste
Salty Sugar
Color
Brown with pink splotches under bark.
Density
Watchwood is pliable and very flexible Chunks that are less than an inch thick can be stretched to twice their distance.
Common State
Often found in Sauk trees near lands where many are buried and also near Treants. What shows signifies common Sauk from watchwood is peeling bark revealing a fleshy substance underneath.
Related Species
Related Professions
