Elder Tree

In elven forests, there exist trees that serve as a repository for spiritual energy (per elven religion) and racial memory; these are known as Elder Trees, the translation of the Elvish i-eth ohn-uar (simplified spelling: yeth onwar).

There are few hard-and-fast standards governing Elder Trees, but in the limited experience of men, they tend to be substantially larger than other trees in their vicinity, bearing unique characteristics, with elements of the local flora, but each seeming to belong to its own species. They are functionally immortal, and grow continuously in the presence of elves, but lie stagnant when elves leave their land. They are found infrequently in forests--typically, a single Elder Tree will be anywhere from six to a hundred miles from its nearest neighbor--though their frequency seems to correlate with historical elven population density.

The mechanism by which elves transfer memories into the tree is not known to outsiders. However, it is known that the process occurs at or shortly after death (which, with elves being ageless, tends to be unexpected), and requires that the body be brought to the tree within a narrow timeframe. It is believed that the process combines natural and magical mechanisms, though some opinions hold that the trees are an unlikely but scientifically-explainable lifeform which conducts the entire process in a natural manner. Abundant evidence corroborates the claim that elven memories survive within the tree, and other elves can access them; in magical regions, the memories and images of those interred therein can even spontaneously self-generate, to be witnessed by purely natural means.

There are many claims of magical properties of Elder Trees which cannot scientifically analyzed due to the inaccessibility of active Elder Trees to outsiders, including:

• That all Elder Trees in the world are connected, thus:
  • Allowing continent-wide, near-instant communication between any two elves connected to a given tree, with the requisite abilities
  • Forming a single, continent-sized organism whose life energy flows through the mystical link between distant lands
  • Forming a metaphysical realm, analogous to various "heavens" of myth, in which the spirit of all elves who die will live on forevermore (note: not all elves hold to this belief)
• That Elder Trees store the literal spirits of the elves who have passed, thereby:
  • Empowering said spirits to manifest in defense of their lands and descendants when needed
  • Allowing said spirits to counsel and guide their descendants, especially those with a strong spiritual awareness and presence
  • Allowing certain individuals with mastery of shamanic magic to channel the memories, abilities, and spiritual energy of their own ancestors

It is worthy of note that Dark Elves are not typically interred in Elder Trees, as the traditional belief was that they lacked a soul to so inter. The practice has been integrated in certain transitional elven societies, such as the people of the Lake of Mists, and in certain exclusively dark elven communities in the Ebon Isle and elsewhere, but in the 12th century GC, the majority of dark elves still do not participate in any Elder Tree related activities.