(Story) Better Than Tree

[Nekhs]

Or: The Tree Who Didn't Fear Fire

1: Wood Shaper

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I fall out of my tree with a loud thumping noise that surely woke all the animals in the forest. It is daylight, and I do not know how much time I have wasted in my reverie, exactly. The sun peeks through the leaves of the other, bigger trees, and I can tell that it must be early morning.

I hate the other trees. Their leaves block my light, while their sheer size squeezes me in, confines me. Their roots threaten to strangle my roots.

And when I try to converse with them, they pretend they cannot hear me.

If I could, I would kill them.

But I'm only a small oak in a very large jungle.

A small oak with a secret.

Last night, a spirit came to me. It was a dark spirit, whispering knowledge to me while I dreamed. It told me of a magic I could use to become the strongest tree in the forest. It planted a dark seed in my chest, and it told me I was ready.

I don't think I can trust the spirit, but I can feel the seed pulsing inside of me, begging to be used.

Why not ... try?

I am surprised when my tree becomes pliant for me, letting me mould it this way and that. When I am done, I have a mere stump, but my roots extend farther underground. That will let me grow strong, I know it will. Digging into the earth, I can shred other trees' roots with my hard talons, injuring them and making space for myself to grow.

As I watch, the very heart of my tree begins to glow. I hadn't realized I'd exposed it in my frenzy, but I'm too tired to enclose it again, and the light is very soothing.

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When I'm ready, I will kill the others. Then, I will be the biggest tree.

For now, I wait.

((It's not much to look at/read yet, but I'm planning to try Better Than Wolves with the Tree Spirit challenge. I foresee problems with fire. Loooots of problems with fire.))

[rhacer]

Reminded me of...

There is unrest in the forest
There is trouble with the trees
For the maples want more sunlight
And the oaks ignore their pleas
...
So the maples formed a union
And demanded equal rights
'The oaks are just too greedy
We will make them give us light'
Now there's no more oak oppression
For they passed a noble law
And the trees are all kept equal
By hatchet, axe and saw

[Elektrohawk]

Dem poor trees. They be aching inside

[Xekrom337]

I foresee problems with fire. Loooots of problems with fire.

do you have to build EVERYTHING with wood?

[Battlecat]

Sounds like a cool idea! It's going to be a huge challenge for a better than wolves game, I look forward to seeing how you handle the difficulties surrounding fire.

@Xekrom337: If I recall correctly, the key is you have to travel on wood from your parent tree. It is required to be logs grown from saplings from your parent tree. If I recall, lumber doesn't count. To get to resources you have to put out roots to travel on.

[Nekhs]

Yup, have to walk on the parent tree's roots. I allow myself a little bit of leeway to grab downed logs/etc but mostly I stick to da rulez.

[Stormweaver]

This looks like it'll be entertaining...count me in as a reader :)

It's kind of a shame that blood trees don't persistently grow in the overworld though. that would add a bit of BTW flavour to the tree spirit challenge :p

[Whisp]

I think bloodwood trees would be a bit overpowered in the overworld. Would make a treehouse very simple, by just hollowing out a grown tree.
But it sounds like a gret modification for the nether part. Since a bloodwood tree is created from one of every sapling, it could be considered partly a sapling of the own mothertree. Would make life in the nether a bit easier, since you really need to visit the nether for BTW in opposition to vanilla minecraft.

[Nekhs]

2: Wood Cutter

The darkness falls. I can see relatively clearly in the dark, but the light from my heartwood illuminates even further - and, it reminds me that without me, my tree is vulnerable. Without me, my tree could ... die. Stepping even a foot or two away from my tree is agony for both of us. If I stay away too long, I fear we would wither and die.

A noise: the clatter of bones. Once-humans roam the forest at night, invading where they please. I hate them even more than I hate the bigger trees. They are dead things that walk, when they should be rotting in the ground for us to feed upon. The magic in them makes them foul and I will not tolerate their presence near me. My talons are sharp. I let the once-human creep upon me, into my tree's very root system, then I slaughter it, snapping its bones apart and feasting on the marrow. We grow stronger, revived from our earlier efforts.

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I can extend our roots, inch by inch, toward one of the nearby bushes. When I reach it, I touch one of its branches.

The seed surges in my chest, blackening the bark and snapping it. The bush dies, even as I watch, and a smile curves my lips.

I will kill the larger trees with this. I find I can extend the seed's power through twigs from the bush, and I clear some of the foliage near my tree with it. I must be careful - I will not let anything harm my tree, not even myself.

My reverie this night is fitful, and without true rest. I am eager to put the seed's power to work. I am relieved when the sun rises to burn the world clean of the dead things that roam my forest.

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The seed worked better than I could have hoped. I am awestruck by the rain of dead wood that falls in pieces, cracking and breaking to land in a heap. Trees do not normally fall like that, I know this. This is the work of the seed's magic, to kill the tree like that.

I heard it scream when I killed it. For the first time in my life, I heard the voice of another tree, and it was in agony. I should be bothered by this, but instead, I find myself ... curious. How many other spirits are there? Why was I chosen to receive the seed and not another? Why did the others ignore me when I called out to them? I will never know, and I resolve myself to be hard against their cries. They have no love for the small, fragile oak, so I will have no love for the massive, sturdy redwood.

Is the magic I use to kill them the same as the magic used to raise the corpses of once-humans?

I don't think so, but I wonder.

What will I do with so much dead wood?

[Poppycocks]

Well written, I'm liking this very much. It sure as hell does sound like it has a BTW flair to it.

[Nekhs]

((I feel like I should mention that any oddities of tense are deliberate. She's a tree still trying to sort out her senses. Also, I'm bad at taking screenies for every little thing. :\ Think I'll save them for showing the full scale of the tree, that sort of thing.))

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3: Stonekiller

Tonight, I know I cannot force myself into reverie. I am not tired. I collect the dead logs and stack them near my tree for now. Later, I will find a use for them, but for now, I have a curiousity.

Extending my roots underground has proven to be intriguing. My taproot punches into open air beneath me. It is confusing at first, and I try to keep to the walls of this cave. If I fall, I worry what will happen to me - to my tree. I cannot bear the thought of dying so carelessly. It is dark underground, and I have found the use for the spoils of my first victory against the uncaring jungle.

When lightning strikes a tree, it catches fire. That fire illuminates everything nearby, until it is extinguished by the rain. I think I know how to start a fire, but I am worried what might happen to my tree if I do. Trees are instinctively afraid of fire; fire is death.

I will set these logs on fire. I have collected some of the stone beneath my tree to form a kind of firepit, enclosed on all sides but the front to protect me from stray, careless embers. I place small saplings into this firepit first, careful to avoid using the seed's power on them.

It slips out anyway, catching their small leaves on fire.

Perfect.

Before long, I have three separate firepits burning the excess logs from the tree into a dark, black, sooty substance. The dark spirit whispers its name to me - "charcoal." I think I can use the charcoal to light the way down into the cave, lighting the dark rock with the seed's power. I can tell these "torches" will not burn hot enough to harm me in any way, but they shed almost as much light as my heartwood.

While I wait for our strength to recover, exploring as far as my roots will take me seems like a safe way to pass the time.

In the cave, I find nothing particularly interesting. Some more "coal" that I think I will leave for later (I already have more than I should ever need!), and more stone. I had hoped it would be more interesting than this.

I did, however, find one rock that I couldn't identify. The dark spirit called it 'iron.' She looked a bit greedy, staring as she did at the strange rock, before disappearing down the tunnel, up my roots, past the heartwood and away from my tree. Try as I might, I could not break the iron from the stone around it, not with my claws as they are now.

I wonder, though. If I were to tip my claws with stone, might I be able to do it then?

It seems I can, after all. With a bit of effort, I chip the iron from the rock around it, until I have a single, decent-sized lump. When she returns, I will ask the dark spirit what exactly one can do with 'iron.'

[Nekhs]

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4: The Book

The spirit returned with a strange thing, an artifact that filled me with a mixture of curiousity and horror.

It whispered to me, as the spirit did, called to me, and I took it with a kind of reverence. The thing is bound with the skin of dead humans, dead trees pressed together so tightly that they scream.

This is a tome of knowledge.

I drink its secrets greedily.

I do not read as a human would understand it. I hold the book, and the book speaks to me through a magic we share.

It tells me of iron, and of steel, of diamonds, redstone, the mysteries of the world. I am rooted firmly in place as I seize every ounce of wisdom it can impart.

It tells me of souls, and the end of all things.

My eyes meet those of the dark spirit. It nods to me. I know now what I must do.

I begin to dig once more.

((Just a short entry.))

[Poppycocks]

It's getting creepier all the time :D.

Good reading.

[Elensaar]

Really liking this. I'm going through a playthrough with the Tree Spirit challenge myself, and combining that with BTW is an awesome (aesthetics) design challenge.

[Nekhs]

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5: Ironshaper

Father Tree has begun sending his minions. I should have expected it, and I curse myself for not thinking of the risks of expansion. They appear at first as though moving shrubs, splitting away from other trees to reveal themselves. They stand at about my height, and their insides are filled with a kind of explosive gas that they can set off at will.

He used to send them for the humans, but after the last war, the war to end all wars, the creepers have not seen much use. The Testificates do not expand because they have learned the risks of killing trees for their needs, while the other creatures do not harm the trees. I have killed enough of my brethren that I expect Father Tree will not relent in attempting to kill my tree. I must take extra cautions now - if just one creeper touches my heartwood, I will cease to exist.

I am fortunate - the first explosion unearthed more of the iron from before, and I greedily collect as much as I can carry, setting it to melt as the book directed.

I will need to expand my tree's stump. Until now, I had only pushed the roots out further, exploring the cavern below.

With the additional threat of the creepers in mind, I tip my talons now in molten iron, hissing in pain at first as the metal molds to my claws. I cannot be unprepared to defend myself against any threat. I will not stop until the forest is mine, until I alone stand tall.

They should not have pressed so closely. Already I have cleared the others who encroached on my space. I alone bask in the sunlight around my tree. Now, I must expand upwards.

I am content, if only for a moment.

[Caevin]

I've started reading the story and I'm really enjoying it. I also like the writing style, compliments the story well.

[BinoAl]

You, sir, have made me want to try the tree spirit challenge.

[TheAnarchitect]

Myself as well. I grew up on Tenchi Muyo, and this just makes me think of Jurai trees.

I'm gonna install Millenaire, find a japanese village, and have my tree adopt them.

[Nekhs]

((Awww. <3. I didn't realize how much good feedback I'd get. Makes me feel the warm-fuzzies. </female> though. Just for the record.))

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6: The Water Spirit

In the cavern below my tree, there sleeps a water spirit. Until now, I have avoided disturbing it, although it did make traversing parts of the underground more difficult.

With this new metal, I have a way of transporting the spirit without waking it. Water spirits are docile, barely sentient - they will take whatever form they are given, without complaint. If that form travels over a cliff, they become waterfalls. If it rests in a basin, they become smaller puddles. Of course, when you place two water spirits next to each other, they give birth to a third, even a fourth. Often, they will expand to take all available space - such is the case with rivers, lakes, and oceans.

I shape the metal into a basin, to collect the spirit in. After the metal takes that shape, I can't bend it at all - it becomes rigid and unyielding, like my talons have.

I feel ... something, when I touch the metal. Something alien. Do rocks also bear souls?

I must investigate this later.

Regardless, I move the water spirit up near my heartwood, enclosing it in a small patch of dirt. At a suggestion from the dark spirit, I have allowed certain specific plants to take up a small 'garden' near my heartwood, and this water spirit will help them grow.

Reeds, hemp, and wheat. These plants will add to my own strength, without choking the life from me. I will allow them to live.

I wonder.

The water spirit pushed at me playfully, knocking me about with its enormous strength when I went to collect it.

Could I find a use for this against Father Tree's army?

And, could the water spirits be used to combat the undead, or will they only prevent the monsters from burning in the sun?