Black Blood Trees

Black blood trees refer to a variety of black trees with origins tied to Althedeus, a chaos demon. Black blood trees produce black fruit (originally black apples) made of flesh and blood. Their other properties are partially dependent on the specific iteration the tree is tied to.

Preamble: After Effects of All the Lich King's Men

Events during Ivastaen of 5113 (May 2013)

After the defeat and destruction of Barnom Slim, some of the blight he had cursed the land with -- in the form of diseased murky black pools around and in Wehnimer's Landing -- persisted. No matter what the townspeople did, they were unable to cure the land.

One of the local councilmen, Deylan, sent for the Dark Priest Therendil, an Adherent of Marlu who decked himself in two tentacles growing from his scalp, in order to help cure the land. Therendil soon arrived to do his bidding; he owed Deylan a debt for freeing him from slavery earlier in his life, and this was to score them as even.

After investigating the pools with one of his tentacles, Therendil announced that the pools were forged by chaos and born by blood, and that to cure the land would require blood. He further indicated he would need ten rangers and their companions, noting that their bond with nature was essential, in order to cure the ten interconnected pools.

On the indicated night for the curing ritual, Therendil eventually ended up with ten volunteers: Padaxus, Torverner, Marinae, Taloin, Hoy, Greycrown, Malaketh, Lana, Tykeara, and Nuadjha, as well as a large number of observers. They proceeded to the first pool, where Therendil cut and, with his tentacle, took blood from Padaxus and his honey badger companion, and the wounds on both sealed themselves after the blood was taken. Therendil smeared the blood onto his palms. He then asked Mayor Walkar for "your wicked", whereupon a prisoner was escorted in by guards. Therendil touched his bloodied palm to the pool, and as he drew away, the stain of shadow on the pool peeled away from it, sticking to Therendil's touch and engufling his arm. He touched the prisoner with that same hand, causing the shadows to transfer to the prisoner, who was summarily devoured -- with much screaming -- by those same shadows.

Despite the horrific nature of this ritual, and the protests of some regarding using the prisoners in this manner, Therendil continued to the next pool and followed the same ritual, this time with the next volunteer and another 'wicked' prisoner. The ritual was the same through all of the volunteers, until the last, Tykeara; instead of a simple cut across her chest, Therendil drove his dagger deep into her gut and sliced upward in a cruel manner (somewhat like gutting a fish). Upon moving the shadows from the pool to the last of the wicked prisoners, Therendil declared the ritual complete and that the land would heal itself.

Cross Into Shadows

Events here spanning Phoenatos of 5113 through early 5115 (August 2013 - early 2015)

Mayor Walkar and Deylan requested that Therendil, at the time still believed to be a Priest of Marlu, plant black seeds behind Moot Hall. Of course, these being black seeds meant that there were not your typical black oak seeds; instead they had been infused with dark magic. However, the interest in them was that the seeds would grow into black trees with apples of flesh and blood akin to beating hearts, with the intent to provide Walkar with sustenance so that he would no longer need to eat the flesh of people -- and could instead subsist on the apples.

After a short closure and construction within Moot Hall, its orchard was re-opened to the citizenry, though a significant change had taken place: the trees now there were full grown black blood trees and already producing their uniquely fleshy fruit. It was not until later that Therendil was revealed to be a member of the Disciple of the Shadows, and that the trees were infused with magic and shadow that connected them to the Shadow Realm and Althedeus.

The trees had other specific characteristics that made them unusual. For example, when a tree was cut down, two would grow back in their place; some attacks on them would result in the trees defending themselves; and during invasions, the trees would "pull" corpses down into the ground and move them to the orchard.

Over time, Althedeus used the trees to corrupt Walkar further, spread his power, and ultimately have others "water" trees -- done via blood sacrifice. A handful of these adventurers became devout "caretakers" of the trees, sacrificing their blood on a regular basis to feed the trees, several of them quite intent upon assisting Althedeus' vision. This "shadow" energy was channeled below Melgorehn's Reach, which is where Althedeus planned to perform his "final ritual" to cross over into Elanthia.

This was not to be, however, for Aralyte and many adventurers banded together to defeat Althedeus, eventually snuffing out his power by unraveling his very existence.

Between Stories

Upon the unraveling of Althedeus, the trees did not, strangely, disappear and instead continued to thrive. But some of their behavior did change; for example, chopping the trees down only resulted in a single sapling instead of two, indicating their diminished power. Despite this, some individuals continued to regularly feed the trees.

Additionally, during the prior events and in the interim before coming months, several individuals -- some with Althedeus' encouragement prior to his demise -- went so far as to attempt to cultivate the trees outside of the confines of Wehnimer's Landing.

The Roots of All Evil

Events here spanning Ivastaen of 5115 through Koaratos 5115 (May 2015 - July 2015)

The Roots of All Evil

Goblyn's Garden, Black Blood Orchard

Established Koaratos 5117 (July 2017), currently accessible

Just off of Goblyn's Garden, Goblyn has a small orchard with various black blood saplings, as well as six young but mature black blood trees, four of which produce black apples, while the other two produce black oranges.

These trees are similar to but not entirely the same as earlier iterations of the black blood trees. While these are grown from the first generation seed stock of the original black blood trees, Goblyn has modified these seeds. Additionally, in order to help the seeds germinate, a very specific blood magic ritual was performed by a small handful of individuals, and a donated remnant of Althedeus' shadows was used to infuse the trees with chaos magic that, while of the same origin, ostensibly does not have the same potency that they did when Althedeus was directly fueling them given his unraveled state.

Some other major characteristic differences: the quasi-sentient trees show affection for those who regularly feed them. Feeding is not limited to just blood sacrifice; these trees will also accept mana and life force (spirit) sacrifices. The flesh of the fruit will morph to represent the person who plucks the fruit if the tree is familiar enough with that person. Taking the bark from a tree will cause the tree to, in turn, take some flesh from the taker. Of note, when Goblyn is visible, it seems as if the trees share the benefits of sacrifices with her.

Perhaps most importantly, the trees in this orchard are not tied into the old root system that caused so many issues in the past. Goblyn has been meticulous in ensuring that the roots do not get out of control -- not only in modifying their function but also in her choice of location for the trees to grow in.

Of note: during the early parts of Olaesta 5118 (April 2018), the minor time fluctuations that are occasionally felt in the orchard became far more prevalent and noticeable, eventually spreading across sections of the continent. As this phenomenon occurred, the shadows and chaotic energy in the trees were away leeched at times, though returned in all cases except those of the two black orange-producing trees. The two outliers became noticeably leeched of color over a week's time, and on the evening of the 10th of Olaesta, they were killed off:

 You also see: a dead white tree and a rotted dead white tree split down the middle
 >l tree
 This white tree is splintered all over, riddled with cracks that render it no longer whole.  The bark is infested with maggots that blend in with the
 unusual color -- a sickly shade of white that seems to have been leeched of all manner of essence.

Single Known Still-Thriving Offshoots

Current as of Fashanos 5118 (February 2018).

There is a sapling growing in a small skull planter in Mayor Cruxophim's office. It is named Fred.

There is a sapling, originally planted in Talador prior to the Chaston Effect (aka the destruction of Talador during Eyes of the Dawn), growing in the Bleaklands (because, yeah, that's a great place to have it growing, with all of that crazy magic...).