Treading slowly on endless migration paths through the
Shifting Jungle, the gigantic walking trees that give the jungle its name serve as the anchor of an entire ecosystem. The treants, while ignoring almost every smaller creature, carry villages on their backs, break down weakened or dead trees, and spread spores and seeds of countless plants and fungi.
Origins
As is the case in many other places, the treants' existence is owed to the wide-ranging use of world-changing magics during the
Dragonscourge. As the magical fallout from that devastating conflict settled out, and the waters flowing out of
The Glow began passing through the center of the jungle, the soil within the jungle became infused with magical energy. As the largest trees in the jungle began to take that energy in through their roots, the energy concentrated within them and over time created intelligence and life.
The treants are not alone in this origin, either.
Fungifolk and
Floralfiends are both likely a result of of this wild magic, and the
Elves in the southern half of the jungle have found their shapes and bodies rapidly altered since they secluded themselves within.
Titans of the Jungle
As the first of the newly-awakened treants pulled their roots from the ground and began to stride through the jungle, the environment within the jungle was forever changed. The treants are a literal force of nature, more massive than anything within the area. They pay little attention to anything not actively threatening and simply walk through anything in their chosen path. This ends up having a positve effect on the jungle, as they tend to break through tangled brush and break down diseased or dead trees, helping to keep room for new life to spring from the rich (and magical) soil of the jungle.
The treants are so significant in size, yet so uninterested in smaller beings, that an entire civilization has grown up on their shoulders.
Jungle goblins make their villages along the upper reaches of most of the treants within the jungle, enjoying the safety and constantly-moving views. The goblins even cultivate small crops within tangled branches, and climb between their villages and the jungle floor via systems of vines that they weave together down the "trunks" of the treants.
Force of Nature
The effects of the treants upon the
Shifting Jungle cannot be overstated. In addition to their clearing tangled woods and unintentionally fostering a goblin civiliztion, the nature of their migrations tends to spread life where they go. Their steps will push through plants and fungi, picking up seeds and spores which get spread. The small craters of exposed soil that are their footprints create fresh ground for those seeds to fall into. And the aura of magic that surrounds them tends to keep potentially dangerous predators away from them.
Their presence is so important to the health of the jungle that even the rabidly xenophobic
Elves in the southern jungle give them a wide berth. The treants do not cross the river so, thankfully, the Jungle Goblins are not carried into the territory of the elves. This has actually led to a strange division between the treants on either side of the river, though every once in awhile one can spot two treants standing on either side of the flowing waters, standing still and silent. Whether they are communicating or simply considering their next destination is known only to them.
Comments