Anathaes Fae site in Maela Bog (Anna-Thae-ees)

Anathaes is an ancient hemlock buried deep in a boulder in the northern part of Maela Bog at the old beaver holy site. The beavers named it Hanto over a 100 years ago, well before Cranberry Creek was founded. In those days, the monastery was there but not much else. The forest was a lush holy site. Maela Bog was more a marshy lake back then. It was said Aiwei drowned the holy site thousands of years ago when the people turned away from his teachings and focused on themselves. And the acquisition of wealth and slaves. For the past 1,500 years, the marshland’s become a shallow bog filled with rotted trees, beaver dams, and tall grasses.
Anathaes seemed unfazed by its surroundings. The beavers said it was planted by Aiwei Stormbringer and Sallah Silkas during the Great Awakening many thousands of years ago, but its hard to believe a tree could survive that many years. Anathaes’s massive girth breaks off into two separate great trunks lifting high into the air. Easily the largest tree in the bog, in the surrounding forests as well. As pilgrims enter the Valley on their way to the Hanto Silkas Monastery, Anathaes is easily viewed from a distance as they descend the 1000 steps to the valley floor.
The strange thing about the ancient tree lies in the flurry around it over its size. The area surrounding the great tree is calm and peaceful, even on days where the storms rage, the atmosphere is subdued. The tree is covered in flying insects, mainly butterflies, dragonflies, and bees; even in the winter. How the area remains warm enough in the deepest of winter, is beyond science’s grasp. It is seen as Aiwei’s favour and many come in winter to experience it.
Anathaes is thought to be the living elder Aie- creature. The Aie- are mythilogical creatures bound to nature, their very existence is magical and devine. Aiwei himself is said to be the king of the Aie- and Sallah Silkas is rumored to be one as well. Most find these rumors to be fanciful, a whimsy but the mythology endures.
Maela bog is said to be a holy site of the Fae- and Anathaes is the manita or focus or power source of the creatues in the area. A myth for sure in this modern age.