Faeris, born from the world tree, made it their home, carefully shaping its branches and wood into a shelter. This process was considered deeply respectful, as a the Faeris see the world tree as a parent and the tree could not be forced to take any shape it didn’t agree to. The Faeris built a home within The world tree’s branches.
Known throughout the region as the “Great Tree City,” The great tree city is a vibrant place and a cultural center, home to thousands of residents, some regional and some from the farthest corners of the Feywild.
The great tree city is home to every race of Faeris and fey dragon. The thriving community attracts people from faraway lands, like traveling merchants, explorers, and foreign dignitaries. Citizens of the Spring court who don’t live in the city routinely journey there to trade goods, stock up on supplies, engage in artistic endeavors, or simply to catch up on the latest news and gossip.
Effectively everyone in the feywild is connected to The great tree city. Virtually anything can be found in The great tree city, if you know where to look. The majority of the city’s inhabitants are well-meaning, decent folk, but like any city there are dark alleys and back rooms.
Description
As The Great Tree City is massive, it is often difficult for visitors to tell they are in a tree at all. The Great Tree City is divided into three main levels where people live, work, and go about their lives: the high branches, the trunk, and the roots.
High Branches
The high branches contain the Great tree city’s most iconic structures, including the throne of the Faeries representative. Lower levels of the tree are connected by large winding stairways that allow travel by foot. Vast infrastructures for transportation are common in the high branches. “Branchroads”, specially-shaped wooden pathways, are the arteries of trade in The great tree city. Along with rope bridges, these roads allow couriers to move goods from place to place using hand carts.
Pulleys connected to raisable platforms are used to lift freight from lower branches to upper branches, but the goods are taken from the ground to the branches by moonstone dragons as the tree is so large that only flying creatures can reach its branches.
In the outermost branches, where such infrastructure cannot be supported, platforms provide fey with take-off and landing pad, a means of crossing otherwise impassable gaps. Without the ability to fly or glide, navigating this part of the capital becomes increasingly dangerous.
Buildings in the high branches are made from a variety of materials, including stone, wood, and brick. Most are stationed atop reinforced platforms to keep them stable. The more impressive homes are located in the Boughs District. Those on the outer branches tend to be made of wood and have a more modest feel to them.
The Trunk
The largest section of the metropolis, the trunk, acts as an intermediary zone between the prosperous high branches and lower branches. Many faeries make their homes here. around the enormous world tree trunk.
On the trunk, another market thrives. The largest market in the Spring Court. This market boasts boutiques where patrons can find the latest fashions, finest foods, and goods brought in from all across the Feywild. Outside the main market, smaller shops peddle wares off the beaten path. Some contain enchanted goods at a bargain, though any city socialite will recommend sticking to the more respectable shops.
Additionally, the trunk market is home to public houses and taverns. This is the best place in The great tree city to find serviceable goods and adventuring gear.
More affluent homes can also be found here, shaped out of the trunk, for The great tree city’s traditionally minded nobility, as well as aristocrats. The farther down the trunk one travels, the more shabby and ill-kept the residences and infrastructure become.
The roots
At the base of the tree, another city thrives, barely connected to the great tree city above, many refer to this part of the city as the roots. At first, the roots were not considered to be official parts of the city, and their development was largely overlooked by city officials in the high branches until word arrived of the illicit activities taking place there. Large tunnels digging around the world tree roots, leading underground in part were only the most mischievous fairies dare to go.
The roots remain the poorest area in The great tree city: the slums of the Great Tree City. Here, the air is always dank and humid, and wild fungi grow rampant. The buildings are mostly cobbled together from scavenged materials, and some have been converted into community gathering places. Life in the roots isn’t easy, but people are trying their best to keep their communities strong, as they petition the high branches for better living conditions. There are few shops here, and they typically traffic in smuggled and stolen goods. Crime is ever-present; many who dwell in the roots see it as necessary to survive.
Society
Law
The city boasts a military forces. Use the Guard Arrival Times table to determine how long it takes for the Guards to arrive at a location after a crime or similar incident is reported.
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