[R1] Xhaetil & the Burrows

WORLD TREES

World Trees are massive magical trees that emanate magic. That's all that anyone knows about them -- most aren't very well studied because they're under the protection of the Burrowers, and the few that aren't will very quickly wither up and die. There are some mages and scientists living on Xhaetil who're working away at studying the great tree but progress is, um. Erratic. 

What are world trees?

• World trees consume aberrant and black magics and create positive healing and life magic.
• This actually means that they cannot be destroyed or harmed by magic as it'll absorb everything directed its way and just... grow flowers or some shit.
• Witches hate world trees get them away just fuck off.
• The job of world trees is to sustain life - the ambient magic that a tree produces affects the land and creatures around it and will generally cause living beings to grow healthier and larger.
• What exactly a world tree produces differs depending on the "personality" of the tree. Generally speaking, a tree produces oxygen, water, food, etc. - most commonly it will grow fruits and plants for basic food. Sometimes living creatures will be born from its roots or flowers; some trees will even grow metals / precious stones between or beneath its roots; some trees will not grow anything at all and will only emanate pure magic to be harvested by mages, etc, etc. 
• Fruits of power and light grow on the trees' branches and roots - these balls of magic create pockets of life and often result in vast, underground, liveable and thriving caverns. 

What do burrowers do?

• Burrowers will nurture and cultivate seeds, which they then venture out with and plant where they find black magic or negative emotions. The world tree then blossoms and heals the earth.
• That's um... what they do in theory, but in practice it rarely works out that conveniently - burrowers identify large congregations of humans as a net negative magic and emotion so they have a habit of planting trees under human cities - when the tree sprouts it'll destroy any paths or buildings it was growing under
• As such they're considered a bit of a pest and tend to get expelled very quickly...
• They're a pacifist and intelligent species otherwise so it's considered in bad taste to kill them, but aside from their bad habit of breaking buildings they're very aloof and cryptic so um... they're not very well liked by other species.......

BURROWERS

Biology

• They're all born blind and very rarely open their eyes, it's considered quite rude (same as how staring's rude).
• They appear to be made of magic?? They don't seem to bleed or have internal organs or anything, they're just kinda magic given form.
• They need a lot of sleep! Like 18 hours a day! They don't seem to feel weariness, they just kinda spontaneously pass out if they're awake for too long. 
• They're all sexless and aren't sure what gender is.

Magic

• All burrowers are born with dreamwalking magic. They will most commonly sleep under the roots of a world tree and from there can travel from dream to dream.
• Under normal circumstances, sleeping burrowers have power over anyone who falls asleep under or amongst the branches of that same world tree.
• Burrowers can take magic from world trees, though they can't do much with it aside from store it or channel it into vessels for other races to use. It's considered quite distasteful; burrowers strongly dislike wasting magic on "trivial" things, but they may trade magic if they feel that it's necessary.
• Harvesting magic from world trees causes "bruises" to show up on their bodies. These are temporary and will grow or recede over time depending on how frequently the burrower draws magic. Bruises are considered a sign of gluttony and lack of temperance.

Culture

• They are typically seen as a very passive, aloof, spiritual and holier-than-thou species.
• They are extremely True Neutral by default and will be driven very logically towards actions that yield the greatest net benefit to living creatures.
• That's not to say that they're emotionless, they have their own festivities and traditions and will mourn and feel great sadness and anger, I think they're just on a different wavelength to humans lol.
• Those who're raised with humans or spend a lot of time with humans (or other species) tend to absorb qualities of the culture and be a lot more outgoing! In general, burrowers found at the capitol in the company of humans are a lot more human-like and can be very cheeky. 
• They are a very tightknit species and folklore and traditions are passed on orally. It is expected that children will eventually leave the burrow with their seed and find new places to grow world trees and sow their wisdom.

Religion

• They worship the five "cardinal" world trees of myth:
• Xhaetil (the "mother", or more accurately: the progenitor) - the guardian Star Tree, a shining tree of life and literal power plant for the capitol
• Eril - the warrior, tree of earth and unyielding metals
• Amil - the crafter, tree of bark and shining stones
• Sindayil and Ceyril, the two twins (the diplomat and the seer) - trees of ice, water and light, which bear forth the seas, sky and stars
• There's one "heavenly" world tree of myth, called Aerilye (the "grandmother", or more accurately: the great progenitor, also known as the great guardian) - the people say that it's a seed at the core of the planet, bearing great fire and power - the time at which it sprouts and blooms, the world will perish in flames and be reborn.

Fashion

• Rich and dark colours are considered attractive. Thick, warm furs are commonplace.
• Bright flowers and fabrics are commonly used for celebration.
• Pale colours are sickly, white is considered unlucky and is worn for mourning or religious rituals. Sand and glass are both also considered unlucky, called the pale stone (this is also where pale sphinxes got their name from).

SPHINXES

Sphinxes are nomadic, solitary creatures, generally quiet and cryptic. Having no official nation or home-city, they are commonly found in the company of burrowers at Xhaetil - both species being very slow-paced, methodical and intellectual, sphinxes are often welcome companions to burrowers.

Culture
Splintered as the Sphinxes are, there are no governing or uniting bodies for them and the bits of history that have been salvaged are scattered amongst individuals and passed by word of mouth. Most sphinxes assimilate themselves into the culture of the nation that they are currently staying in - though wanderlust seems to run in their blood, as sphinxes rarely settle in a single place for long. From a combination of these factors, they tend to be a difficult people to get to know and the culture and history are shrouded in mystery.

They have a tendency to be drawn to crypts or dungeons to rest in and are an occasional pest for humans. Most humans just kinda ignore them when they show up, they leave after awhile... Usually... You might have to answer some riddles idk...

Sphinxes tend to be extremely cerebral and academic - more so than the highly spiritual burrowers. They have a hunger to learn more about the world and are notoriously passive due to their aversion to dealing with absolutes.

It is speculated by historians that sphinxes may have originated from a single great empire - older than any other world empire - and became scattered after a great calamity. Sphinx opinion tends to agree with the general idea of there being a vast and ancient governing body of sphinxes but details vary - I guess we'll never know!!

Subspecies

• Great Sphinx: Most common companions of the burrowers, these sphinxes tend to reside on mountains and underground. They're bulky and slow moving and tend to spend more time sleeping than the other subspecies.
• Pale Sphinx: These sphinxes are very remote and tend to live in deserts or warmer climates. They can also occasionally be found in more humid or warmer forests but tend to stay in the treetops. Very mobile in the air and spend a lot of time flying. They're very speedy.
• Fairy Sphinx: These sphinxes're shy and tiny, like being airborn and are sometimes a household pest. They're generally found in fields, gardens, and occasionally forest treetops. Most agile and best at hiding.
• Pygmy Sphinx: These sphinxes're tiny but much more energetic than the fairy sphinx and are even more of a household pest. They're generally found in forests but are very outgoing compared to other sphinxes. Most friendly!
• Sea Sphinx: Legendary creature that no one's seen before? People speculate it's just a pygmy sphinx with a fish tail. If a mersphinx exists it's only as much of a sphinx as a harpy is a bird sphinx, though...

XHAETIL

The Mountain Capitol

• In contrast to the secretive world of the Burrows, the capitol of Xhaetil is bright, festive and welcoming city-state, bustling with a population of all races and cultures. 
• The city is built around a mountain on which grows the largest world tree in fantasyverse (Xhaetil, the namesake of the city).
• The roots of the tree reach deep into the mountain all the way down to its' base, and wherever the roots spread there's plentiful food and resources.
• Magic cannot be used in the Capitol. The tree consumes it all. Good luck.
• Xhaetil takes care of its people. It's considered a good place to go for healing or emotional recovery or spiritual learning. 
• It's roughly broken up into three areas:
  • The Lowlands: sprawling fields and greenery around the base of the mountain, a very quiet area and sparsely populated - you'll find a lot of farmland but also a lot of wild forests and groves filled with untamed creatures.
  • The Warrens: the caverns within the mountain, where the bulk of the population lives. The massive roots of Xhaetil entangle with the warrens, providing plentiful light, food and water. 
  • The Great Forge: as you go deeper and deeper below the mountain, the caverns slowly get larger and wider - you'll find that as you stray away from the world tree, the caverns somehow become chiller and darker, in spite being lit up by great fires and lava flows. Towards the lower levels are the great crafthalls and smitheries - here you'll also find the gate to venture deeper into the Burrows. 
  • The Peak: The base of the world tree grows at the peak amongst the clouds. The upper levels of the mountain are restricted to only the Burrowers and their approved aides, buildings generally only consist of ceremonial structures. 

Culture

• Entrance into and living in Xhaetil by any non-burrower requires regular offerings to be made in person to the world tree. This is functions something like a tax on the inhabitants - the thing that's taken must be something of sufficient sentimental value, emotions are what drive the tree after all. If the offering is refused, you'll be kicked out. 
• The offering doesn't have to be tangible, you can offer memories, skills, relationships, etc. ^w^
• The atmosphere in Xhaetil is work hard and party hard. Laziness, apathy or half-heartedness is considered lowly. You've gotta earn your keep, u kno - work a hard day's work, eat well, partake heartily in festivities and give whole-hearted thanks for the pleasures in life, it's that kind of place.
• There tends to be a general sentiment of "what goes around comes around", the populace seems to put a lot of stock in karma. 
• Aside from that the culture's a melting pot so it's a little bit of everything.

Economy

• It's illegal to export raw goods (ie. things with no artisanal value or craftmanship) from Xhaetil. Smugglers exist ofc but that's a different matter ^ w^
• In general when leaving the city you're expected to leave with the clothes on your back and and a modest number of personal items with sentimental value. 
• The city doesn't have currency, fabrics and metal ingots are often used for trade. They'll laugh at coins if you try offering currency to them. 
• Since supply commonly exceeds demand, organic goods and raw ore or stone tends to be appraised based on the value of the time it takes to harvest them.
• Traders and merchants are looked down on for not having a trade of their own -- basically all of them originate from outside the city and are considered outsiders.
• It's a self-sufficient nation in terms of necessities, imports are made up of luxury goods or novelties. Due to the great crafthalls, they do export a lot of artisinal goods.
• I feel like because natural resources are so easy to come by the only thing of any worth would be artisanal goods and services, hum. Craft working or artistry is considered extremely admirable.

Government

• The heads of the city-state are all burrowers, naturally, but the vast majority of the administrative work is actually done by humans. I guess it's because burrowers are pretty reclusive and don't have much experience with organising large quantities of people - more, they don't really care what's going on underneath the world tree as long as the world tree itself remains healthy.
• Thinks about law enforcement... I think there're some combatant burrowers but they probably deal more with rituals than with enforcement. I think the city relies on non-burrowers to muscle people around, or a burrower'll just sleepwalk you out of the city once you fall asleep.
• Still thinking over the governmental structure, I feel like burrowers would be strictly opposed to anything hierarchical, zones out...

Foreign Relations

• ?w?