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Maple Tree Network

Overview

The Maple Tree Network is a set of unique maple trees in Kalashport that share a magical bond. Each tree is a portal between the Feywild and the Material Realm, existing in both planes simultaneously as a living, sentient SDE. The center of the Network is the Guardian Tree located in both the Canal District and Evening City. It is the warlock patron of Yancy and Yin in the Faction Campaign.

Properties

The Maple Tree Network connects the Material Realm to the Feywild, bridging the gap between the two planes in the Dream Realm. Functionally, anyone can cross planes simply by touching the bark of one of the trees. For over 200 years, the Maple Tree Network was corrupted, leaving only those with Fey blood able to access the portal and subjecting anyone else to dangerous time distortion. The different trees share information with the central Guardian Tree. Consuming leaves or bark of the trees sends one into a hallucinatory state where they see images through the perspective of the Guardian Tree.

The Maple Tree Network contains immense magic, which can be dangerous in the wrong hands. Rycan accidentally opened a planar rift by casting spells in proximity to a root, causing him to lose part of his being to the Dream Realm. The Druids of Evening City long sapped the Guardian Tree of life energy to create immortality potions, but leaving the Network unstable and dangerous in the process.

The Network has supernatural qualities similar to that of a god, but it is neither omnipotent nor omniscient. The Maple Tree Network is only aware of events happening near its portals and has a finite but regenerative energy supply. As Yancy's warlock patron, it has given them incredible magic and enhanced portal functionality, and Yancy in turn protects it from threats and promotes its usage. It is of current interest whether the chromatic scales of the Elemental Guardian are related or dangerous to the Maple Tree Network.

History

Legends say the Maple Tree Network was created by the Elemental Guardian shortly before it disappeared 250 years ago. It was intended to be a means for the inhabitants of Guardian Spring to escape the war to the Feywild, but the Fey entered first and sealed the portals shut from the other side. With the portals broken, the Maple Tree Network fell into obscurity. Shortly thereafter, the Guardian Tree was subjected to Evening City's life drain mills, causing further damage to the Network.

Even while the Network was corrupted, a small number of Kalashport residents with Fey ancestry used the portals. Rycan conducted experiments in the Feywild while the Network was still closed, and Delivery Doug used the portals to avoid POGs and Curds traveling between city regions.

A few years before the Faction Campaign took place, Yancy and Yin made a pact with the Network as a way for them to share a body and better handle being simultaneously in the Material Realm and Dream Realm. The two worked out the kinks of sharing a body end learned how to use the portals using their mirror amulet. When they visited the Canal District, Yancy and Yin met the Guardian Tree for the first time. They received instructions to find out why the Network was dying find a way to heal it. Yancy partnered with the Church of the Dragon, which worshipped the Guardian Tree but didn't know what it was or how it worked.

With Rycan's help, Yancy and Yin found the Guardian Tree parallel in Evening City. They discovered that the Druids were draining life energy from the Network to make immortality potions. The three teamed with with Archdruid Humphrey to defeat the Druids and destroy the mills. With the Network restored, the portals opened again and anybody could go back and forth between the Material and Fey realms. The Church of the Dragon formed an envoy to Evening City to establish relations between realms.

After the portals were opened, the Maple Tree Network became aware that The Cloud was trying to acquire all the chromatic dragon scales. Concerned that it would be dangerous for the Network or Kalashport, it tasked Yancy with finding more information.

Yancy found that the Cloud was trying to resurrect the Elemental Guardian using the elemental dragon scales and the tomb located in the roots of the Guardian Tree. Figuring that such a resurrection would be catastrophic for the Network, they decided to destroy the Cloud.

The party and the Cloud each ended up with 2/4 scales. When Norm Riesling attacked the Cloud, they attempted to half-cast the resurrection in the middle of battle, creating a rift that seriously damaged the Network and the Dream Realm. The party responded and entered the rift and killed the corrupted Elemental Guardian summoned inside. With Scalehearth and the Cloud gone, the Network was safe again. After the battle, Rycan died and was reborn as the Eternal Guardian, a dragon-like spirit that would assist Yancy and Yin to protect the Maple Tree Network.

Portal Locations