Treant

Treants are guardians of the forest and speakers for the trees. As long-lived as the forests themselves, and seeing themselves as parents and shepherds rather than gardeners, treants are slow and methodical in most things but terrifying when forced to fight in defense of their flock. Though they rarely seek out the companionship of the short-lived races, and have an inherent distrust of change, they have been known to tolerate those who seek to learn from their long, rambling monologues, especially if the pupils express a desire to help protect the wildlands. Yet against those who would threaten the forest, especially loggers who seek to harvest wood for lumber or those who try to clearcut a section of forest in order to build a fort or establish a town, the treants' wrath is swift and devastating. They are particularly gifted at tearing down what others build—a trait that serves angry treants well.

Treants are primarily solitary creatures, with a given individual sometimes responsible for an entire forest, but they occasionally come together in small groups called groves to share news and reproduce. In times of grave danger, all of the groves in a region may gather for a great months-long meeting called a moot, but such events are exceedingly rare, and millennia may go by between them.

The typical treant is 30 feet tall, with a trunk 2 feet in diameter, and weighs 4,500 pounds. Treants tend to resemble the species of trees most common in their woodland territories.

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Elder Treants


Although most humanoids believe that treants are among the most ancient creatures in the world, few realize that there are even older and stronger such creatures that live for tens of thousands of years. Elder treants are the undisputed rulers of treantkind and firm defenders of the forests. Elves, druids, rangers, and other forest-lovers also revere them.

Elder treants are awesome to behold, towering above even some of the largest oak trees in the forest. Like normal treants, they combine the features of trees and humans, although it is difficult to discern their facial features with a casual glance. Their faces are kind, but ancient beyond compare, suggesting a wizened crone or sage. Their bark is scarred and blackened from occasional lightning strikes, and thickly covered with moss.

Because of their tremendous life spans, elder treants think incredibly slowly. They spend most of their time in deep meditation and communion with the forest around them. Unlike normal treants, elder treants care little about concepts like good or evil, and seldom go out of their way to provide assistance or hindrance. They are difficult to awaken from their thoughts, but terrible beyond compare when angered.

Like treants, elder treants fear nothing save fire. Their incredibly tough bark can withstand most normal blazes, accepting it as a part of nature. However, they detest any species that uses fire as a weapon — those who burn and rape the woods without thought. Elder treants have been known to animate entire groves to seek revenge on nearby communities that use fire indiscriminately and destroy part of the forest.

Druidism


The treants taught druidism to the elves when they first came into the world.

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