Gate Trees

Travelling between Strata is accomplished by using Gate Trees, large plants that contain a portal from one specific strata to a specific point in an another. They grow on all Strata, in all climates and environments, and despite attempts by the Altruis College of Magic to plant new trees, they only propagate when naturally occuring.

Basic Information

Anatomy

Leaf of a Gate Tree
by Xah

Gate trees are distinguishable by their black trunks and purple foliage, and the pale glow that comes off them in the dark. As well as this, at some point in their trunk will be the 'Gate' that they are best known for, allowing for transport between Strata. They have a morphology most akin to that of oak trees, with a wide, thick trunk, with branches splitting off at the top. Branches continue to divide, getting thinner as they do so. Their leaves are purple, and a distintive four pointed star shape.
Most Gate Trees are a hundred meters in height, but the largest can be five hundred meters or more, with gates wide enough for large ships and many people all at once.

Genetics and Reproduction

Gate Trees drop seeds, like any other plant, but how they're pollinated, or how the seeds propagate and germinate is as yet unknown. Various groups have tried, and failed, to plant Gate Tree seeds, but unless allowed to sprout naturally, wherever they fall, they never do. Almost all natural Gate Trees are mistaken for a 'normal' tree at first, as their unusual colouration doesn't emerge until the tree is large enough for its Gate to develop. Philosophers have postulated that the seeds have their own form of cross-strata capability, and move to areas where there is need, where no other Gate Trees are nearby. Indeed, it is rare for Gate Trees to be within a few dozen kilometers of another one.

Growth Rate & Stages

When a new seedling sprouts, it looks identical to the majority of the species found around it, but grows far faster. Within a year of it first emerging, it will be around three metres in height, and within 2 years it will be almost ten metres. At this point its colour begins to shift to the colouration seen in adult tree, with the black bark and the purple foliage. After around 4 or 5 years, the main trunk will begin to split, creating the characteristic 'portal' that mature trees are most famous for.
Gate Trees do not appear to stop growing, and do not suffer from sickness or adverse environmental affects. They also appear to be immortal, as there are no records of one dying. The only losses of Gate Trees are from deliberate destruction.
They always germinate and sprout in linked pairs, their growth and size identical to their 'twin', which will be in the Strata that the Gate they contain links to.

Dietary Needs and Habits

From a Gate Tree's behaviour towards shards, it is believed that they do not sustain themselves through light, like other plants, but instead are magiovores, and require the constant influx of shards to maintain themselves. The amount of magic needed is unknown, as they managed to survive in environments that lack reliable shardfall, although it is theorised that their link to their 'twin' helps in this regard.

Additional Information

Geographic Origin and Distribution

Found on all Strata, although never within a few dozen kilometres of each other. They seem to prefer more open spaces, with little existing vegetation around them, although this does not stop them growing in dense woodland, jungles or swamps, or even on mountains and in caves.

Perception and Sensory Capabilities

Whilst universally acknowledged as plants, with all the features one might expect of a plant, Gate Trees do display a remarkable awareness of their surroundings. Branches will shie away from potential danger, and the tree itself will shake to dislodge unwelcome presences. Whilst 'evergreen' in the sense that the tree's leaves do not shed in response to climate or the seasons, a Gate Tree will drop its leaves if threatened by fire, although regrowth afterwards is remarkably fast.
The trees show resistence to all kinds of magic, but absorb any Shards that fall on them, even stretching out their roots around them to gather more.

History

Human interactions with Gate Trees began about five years after the arrival of Altruis and the first emergence of Gate Trees on Altruisian land. The trees were viewed with some interest, as they were clearly exotic and had never been seen before, but this interest turned into amazement when the gates within them opened, and it was realised they represented portals between different Strata. Until this point, it was feared that Altruis had been transported to a plane of existence all on its own, barely larger than the island nation itself, so the appearance of portals to other lands spurred on a burst of exploration.
The Shardlost were discovered to have arrived through one of the first Gate Trees, and this caused the authorities to put a guard around all known trees, although their proliferation was widespread, and new trees are being discovered even now, over 600 years later. Most trees on Altruis are now quite large, with the largest being an unusual water-based tree, just off the coast. This tree is well over 500 metres high, and its gate is wide enough for two ships to pass through, side by side.

Gate Tree by Xah

Lifespan

Immortal

Average Height

About 100 to over 500 metres