The Eternal City: The Roots of the Tree

The roots of the tree are the road. The roots blend into the paths that join the road. The roots also blend into the River that goes to the City. Past Dentru, the roots of the tree begin to be visible alongside the road. First normal-sized, then larger and larger, until they’re as tall as a man. The tree becomes visible thirty miles out of Dentru. The tree is 76 miles out of Dentru, and 24 miles from the city. There is a new wailing in the night, a keening, animal-like, but sad. (The mananubi.)

As the roots climb, the sun drops in the sky, and the cold turns wet. The sun rises lower and lower in the sky as they approach the gates of the city, barely rising above the southern horizon and barely setting below it. Fine snow flurries across the road and fields. By the time they reach the city the high noon sun is a low pinprick on the horizon, the world a perpetual twilight, slightly lighter in the day, darker at night.

The City lies at the crossroads of City Road 49 and City Road 61. As they move towards the city, they will find people who speak Elvish, and for whom the city is “the City”. And in the next town, people who speak Latin and for whom the city is just the City.

The tree is on a grassy hill. Every once in a while things fall from the tree: things from other worlds. If left alone, beetlepede spies will carry them away to a caravan, to take them to the circus. There is a 40% chance per day that something will fall from the tree. It could be anything from a book to a bicycle. The tree is a +4 Place of Power, Chaos.

The tree can be climbed—its branches and leaves are analogous to the roads and the doors. The tree looks like it is 400 feet tall. It doesn’t seem to end if you’re actually climbing up it, however.

The Autumnal Swarm have infected the tree but have not yet broken through.