Treevot. It has to be one of the strangest plants I've worked with, and that's saying something. Ever had a rotten old deteriorating tree stump start growing again? Sounds impossible right? I don't think I can emphasize just how strange the idea is. When you've harvested a tree you expect the stump to deteriorate (unless you put a preservation spell on it) but that's about it. Well have I got news for you! Sometimes when a forest sprite dies, if a tree stump is nearby, it will use the rest of its magic to merge with the stump, bringing the tree back to life.


At this point, the stump technically only becomes a Votump. Its height and size are based on what is left of the tree stump when it's merged with the sprite. Votump retain some of the abilities of the forest sprites, and are able to emit the voice of a child to scare wanderers in the forest. Also, if the ground is weak, the Votump may wiffle across the ground, for up to a three feet at a time. In order for the Votump to grow into a fully realized Treevot, the Votump must find a fallen tree and take the tree bark and during the time the sun and moon are both visible, take in their light. The bark will be taken into the plant and used to grow the stump into a tree form. Once in the form of a short tree (it usually reaches a little over four feet of height) it is able to grow leaves again.


The power of the Treevot is great and terrifying. It has the ability to control the trees around it, and this trap those who have come into its forest. The Treevot is also capable of performing some dark magic. It has the ability to use three curses: the forest curse, the energy curse, and the bonding curse. The forest curse causes you to begin to become a part of the forest, the longer you remain there. Your very existence is therefore dependent on the forest and if the forest is harmed in any way, you too are injured. The curse is fully realized and irreversible once you have remained in the forest for a full cycle of the moon. The second curse takes away your energy. The Treevot sacrifices half of its energy to enact this curse, but it basically gives you four days to live. A quarter of your energy will be taken from you each day, and the fourth day you will spend entirely unconscious. A powerful healer is required to heal you and perform the counter curse. Performing the counter curse also takes away half of your energy, making it dangerous and nearly impossible to perform on oneself. If you had your full energy (had just woken up and just eaten) and used it on yourself, you would still faint and require time to recover, and without nutrition this is very hard to do. The final curse is perhaps the least predictable. The bonding curse causes your destiny to become bonded with the Treevot. If you are injured, so is the Treevot. If the Treevot is distressed, so are you. The distance between you and the Treevot does not affect the curse. Also, you will nearly always feel cold afterwards, as the Treevot is basically made up of a trunk and hollow on the inside. Breezes can travel through the Treevot.


Now, the good news is the Treevot are usually gentle and friendly. We have one in the Forbidden Forest, which I go and visit as often as I can. I bring some gillywater as a treat when I can, as our particular Treevot is a huge fan of the drink.