Dreaming Wood

Mmmm, yes, the screams, the whispers... they talk to us... yes they do... talk to us much and talk to us often.

• A user broken by the Dream Wood armour they wore comments on the delusions and madness instilled in them.

Dreaming Wood (Often known in other countries as 'Cherry Blossom') is a material that comes from the Nation of Kaechaek where trees are suffused with the spirit of someone who succumbed to a nightmarish illusion and chose to kill themselves on the tree (typically by hanging but impalement has also taken place in the past). This dark and desperate deed suffuses the tree with malice, sentience, emotion and a hunger for flesh and feeling, the bark seems to wither away and die before, mere days later, it regrows as a pale pink bark with blooms of claret (hence it's name Cherry Blossom). 
The Dreaming Tree then becomes well known as a screaming abomination that corrupts plants and nature around it into serving it's hunger for flesh and emotion. The Dreaming Tree becomes a prime target for adventurers but also a dark menace to those who are ignorant of it... often being shaped by the nature of the nightmare it exists in. The Dreaming Tree as a creature possesses spellcasting capabilities, vines to drag prey towards it and, of course, a gaping maw-like mouth for consuming creatures. 
The screams that come from the Dreaming Tree are often assumed to be emerging from it's mouth, but this is entirely untrue, for it is the bark of the tree that screams in pain when it is bent or struck.
This bark like wood is also the true gift of the tree, for if one can mentally handle the experience of shaving the bark off of the tree, then it can be taken and fired under an extremely high furnace heat and then tempered relentlessly, at this point, the material takes on a burnt pink hue and becomes as hard as steel. 
Dreaming Wood is perfect for the monster hunters of Kaechaek as it can be forced to recreate the sounds of monsters and people the wearer has met and is often used for effective traps and bait, making it a creative addition to a monster hunters arsenal.
Generally, the strength of dreaming wood allows it to be worked into heavy weapons and armour built for strength and durability, it is also used to build The Venator's  chains if it is blessed in the Shadowfell.
However, the slightly ‘living’ nature of Dreaming Wood has led to it forming sentience if the armour or weapon senses it is in the hands of an inherently weak or submissive owner and it sees an opportunity to take dominance. As a result, it is only used by The Honour Blades  or the most skilled adventurers.

Manufacturing process

The Dreaming Wood must be fired under an exceptionally hot furnace and then tempered consistently to work out the weakness and screams until they become nothing more than a faint whisper... requiring a VERY perceptive blacksmith to work the metal.

Significance

Dreaming Wood is culturally significant for Kaechaek and is often seen as a prime example of the strange half sentience that permeates the nation.

Item type

Raw Material

Manufacturer

Kaechaek

Related ethnicities

• The Kae

Owning Organization

Kaechaek

Rarity

Dreaming Wood is an exceptionally rare and hard to come by resource due to the strange needs for the tree to become a dreaming tree and subsequently the extreme danger posed by a dreaming tree to those around it. 
Many blacksmiths will train their whole lives for the chance to work just once with Dreaming Wood, whilst the most famous of Kaechaek's blacksmiths currently work in Sanctuary making Dreaming wood armour for the Honour Blades. 
Other countries very rarely come by Dreaming Wood, though the occassional finance savvy adventurer could recognise the worth of selling Dreaming Wood bars to other nations markets, specifically Peridot and it's Jewelled Land of Ruby markets. 
However, there are rumours of a village lying deep in the shroud of Kaechaek's Nocta Mori where they sell vast quantities of Dreaming Wood.