1 January 2013
Legend has it that the first settler was the trees protector. A warrior, returning to his home after a great battle, noticed three men trying to pull down the giant tree. Their reasons unknown. The warrior had witnessed so much death and destruction of land during his battle that he could not bare to see any more of it. The warrior fought them off, one by one, but was gravely wounded and on the verge of death.
The tree took pity and saved him from the brink of death on that bitter and unforgiving night, a winter solstice, through the means of untold magics lost to the history of man.
The warrior vowed to protect the tree with his life in order to repay it for its kindness. And he did. The tree provided food, fruit, constant supply of water and shelter from the elements for as long as the warrior needed. The warrior single handedly fought off traders looking to exploit the wonders of the tree, he repelled armies led by wise kings and great and powerful generals, anyone who would dare do harm to the it. Then on a summer solstice in the dead of night and after years of fulfilling his promise, after his legend traveled the far reaches of the land and people began to settle around him and the miracle tree and then began to inevitably dismiss the legend as children's tales, he vanished to never be seen again. On that day, the tree lit up for the first time in an explosion of colour, its light could be seen for miles around. It was a beacon of hope in a world ravaged with war, famine and disease.
Some say that the warrior retreated into the canopy where he resides even now, in the afterlife, looking down upon all who pass by, giving a piece of his soul for protection. Others, they say the tree devoured him, using his strength to increase its own, the tree will live on for eternity.
Sap - Antecedent • Opuss № I