Guardians of the Forest Chapter Four: The Forest

The Forest

The Trees of Germany

Each of the types of trees that can be found in Germany were held by the ancient tribes to have a special significance, often associated with a specific God. “By Oak, Ash, and Thorn” is a common oath which has endured — these three were the most important trees. Each type of wood has one or more Shape and Material Bonuses (see Ars Magica 5th Edition), corresponding to the properties listed below. If an entire living tree is enchanted, any such bonuses are tripled. (It is very rare, but not unheard of, for a Hermetic magus to enchant a living tree as a magic item.)

The Alder is an ancient royal tree. Used to make foundations because of its water-resistant wood, its bark provides a Royal red dye. +2 royalty, +1 resist decay

The Apple is famed for its long life, and the restorative properties of apples. It is also the tree of mankind. +1 longevity, +1 Corpus

The Ash is traditionally used to make spears and arrow shafts. It was sacred to the war-god Woden, and associated with death and evil. +2 harm people

The Aspen is a tree of healing, particularly for ague, but rods of aspen are also used for measuring a corpse in preparation for making its coffin. +5 cure fever, +2 cure disease

The Beech is a tree of learning, as beech tablets were used in antiquity as writing tablets. +3 knowledge

The Birch is the first tree to recolonize open spaces in the forest, and thus is a symbol of rebirth. +3 childbirth, +1 Creo

The Elder has long been associated with magic and witchcraft. +4 malicious magic, +1 Vim

The Elm is also a tree of death, long used for the manufacture of coffins. +2 death and decay

The Fir is associated with darkness and evil spirits. +3 darkness, +1 malicious faeries

The Hawthorn, with its thorns, is a tree of protection and warding. +3 wards

The Hazel is associated with divination, wisdom, and judgement. +3 divination, +1 good judgement

The Holly is the winter king, ruler of the dark half of the year. Its prickly leaves are a sign of bad luck, particularly with regards to the causing of wounds. +2 inflict wounds, +2 inflict pain

The Linden (or Lime) was held by the Slavs to be an exalted tree, associated with Lada, their goddess of love. Germans believe the linden, which is never struck by lightning, to be a lucky tree, and place wayside shrines beneath them. They are also often planted in towns to give their protection, and its wood is used to make shields. +2 protection against weapons, +1 good fortune

The Oak is the summer king, in opposition to the Holly. It is also associated with the pagan gods of thunder such as Thunor and Jupiter. +7 protection from storms

The Pine is the opposite of its brother, the Fir, and is associated with light and illumination, due to the whitish color of its bark. +3 light, +1 friendly faeries

The Rowan, like the Ash, is a magical tree, but the rowan is associated with the benign side of the craft, particularly protection from malicious spells. +4 protection against malicious magic, +1 Vim

The Willow, with its ability to regrow from the smallest twig, is a powerful symbol of healing and rejuvenation. +4 restore limb, +1 cure wounds

The Yew, with its association with graveyards, is the tree of the dead. Its berries were eaten by the ancients to receive mystical visions. +2 corpses, +2 visions

Conventional statistics are not relevant for forest spirits; instead they are given a Might Score, Personality Traits, and a list of Special Powers only. It is usually impossible to fight these spirits in a conventional way, as they are manifested in the entire forest — in its plants, its animals, even in the rocks and soil, and the water that flows through it. Presented in this chapter are four example spirits that are linked closely with one another; and the following chapters contain many examples of forest spirits that are tied to specific locations. There may be many more of these genii loci, both powerful and weak, in the other forests of the Rhine Tribunal, and further afield.

Attribution

Content originally published in Guardians of the Forest - The Rhine Tribunal, ©2005, licensed by Trident, Inc. d/b/a Atlas Games®, under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International license 4.0 ("CC-BY-SA 4.0)