#knashthra

[worldsneverfilled]

"Once a realm on the shoulders of giants

Forged with ember and gold

Now a lost land, it's fading in silence

Haunted by demons and ghosts"

.

We're probably going to lose Knashthra in tonight's session, so that last verse hurts a bit lol

I worked really hard on Knashthra and it hurts to see it destroyed/erased.

Edit: Knashthra is gone and I'm sad about it. I cried a lot.

[bushelofmuses]

(super) WIP of the Blessings Tree's archives, located beneath the temple. This one is the only floor that is subterranean. That's why there are "roots" as pillars holding the above floors up. Which, you'd find pillars throughout the rest of the tree too, a shit ton of them, so the tree is able to live without any issues, I wanted the spindly splits of roots here and there since, you know, this is a tree and we're underground now.

[ixhadbadxdays]

Me when our DM and I create more lore for Knashthra

[worldsneverfilled]

Unspecified Entry, Welcome to the Blessings Tree

//I've left it vague as to who's visiting the Blessings Tree for a reason, but uh, this is kind of what I imagine it'd be like visiting the Tree for the first time. This is also not technically canon for the campaign, mostly head canon.

Stepping through the portal is like stepping outside on a crisp autumn morning. It's a breath of fresh air and freedom that one might feel after being locked away indoors or underground for weeks. It's invigorating, and soothing.

But, on the other side, your senses are accosted by a myriad of things.

You can smell cinnamon rolls, oxidizing metal, the world after rain, grazing fields—the good and bad that come with it—life and death.

The sounds that reach your ears are just barely there, as though they're not entirely physical. You strain to hear them and pick out individual noises, but they're whispering and teasing in the back of your mind. Rocks grinding together, rushing water, giggling and whispers, singing, instruments all playing different tunes, birdsong, and more. But overshadowing all of them is a sound reverberating through you, your heart synching with the heartbeat you hear playing out on wooden wind chimes. It eases your worries, and you feel a peace you haven't felt in ages flow through you.

Around you, motes of light that are tiny and just barely there flit around or float aimlessly. They trail behind passers-by, some merely floating in that person's wake, while a passing child has little green wisps playing around in the flowers in their hair. The whisps are a variety of colors, and some have taken more familiar shapes while others have remained formless.

At your side, you hear dissonant whispers, and when you peer down, there are wisps of purple light dancing across and streaking around the head of your axe. The scents of a damp forest floor and sulfur reach you; the forest is like an earthy rot but not wholly unpleasant.

The room you've stepped into is massive, cavernous. It would be confused for a cave if not for the material that makes up the walls, ceiling, and floors and how well-lit it is from the stained-glass windows to your left. Pillars of wood, here and there, act as support; there are low points that arch over you, while other spots seem to reach high above and disappear into the darkness and out of sight. The walls are misshapen and lumpy in places, uneven, and while the pillars look smooth to the touch, the walls are covered with protective bark. It's not from the wear and tear of time or touch nor the tools of a carver that have finely smoothed them; they were grown that way.

Knots in the wood protrude randomly from the surface, where the wood was left alone to grow as it wished in those places. The floor has faint lines, too many to count, squashed together. They would look straight, but after closer inspection, you can just barely see a slight curve to them, marking the passage of time for this remarkable tree.

The floor has rugs that lead a winding path forward, made of materials dyed in otherworldly, vibrant colors you've never seen before. Intricate, weaving patterns make up each rug, the look of colorful vines with leaves or flowers attached to them. Stepping on one comes with the feeling of an uneven texture of a forest floor, the pile of the carpets not high enough to trip someone but enough to feel the vines and leaves beneath your feet.

Ahead of you, you spot two archways that flank this enormous hall, one smaller than the other. Through the larger of the two—with people entering and exiting with arms empty and then not—you hear the sounds of people calling out to one another, amicably chatting as they barter, and the sounds of goods being moved here and there. It's the sound of a marketplace, though it's a small one. The sound may be echoing, making it appear as though it's larger and more crowded than it is.

Through the smaller one—though it's difficult to see much from this angle—there's a sliver of emerald. Peering through the oddly-shaped windows to your left reveals that the sea of green is a forest, and peaking out over the tops of the trees is a view of the Giants' Shoulders—the mountains that surround this vale.

Curving around the wall beside and above you is a staircase, grown from the walls and leading up to the third floor, the third bough of the tree. The courtroom, meeting halls, and living quarters of the Nyhmorarch are there. All but the Nyhmorarch's home are open to the public, and you see one or two people ascend the stairs, possibly to attend court.

At the far end of the hall there appears to be another staircase leading to the ground floor of the tree where the school, archives, and temple are located, also open to the public. There's a second portal to the right of it, and just like the one behind you, it's flanked by two guards in metal armor of silver and green. Their brown-black capes and shields have an image of the Blessings Tree in the center, designed to look like it's in four seasons.

The guards beside you are two Eladrin, one aligned with the Spring court and one with Winter. The ones guarding the portal that leads elsewhere in the Feywild are a bit harder to see, but one appears to be tiny and floating—perhaps a fairy—while the other has a second set of arms and…antennae? Whatever they are, they're insectoid in nature and unfamiliar to you.

Your guide bounces forward a few paces and turns with a flourish to face you, arms spread wide and smile cheerful and welcoming when they exclaim, "Welcome to Knashthra! And welcome to the Blessings Tree."

Photo from here.

[worldsneverfilled]

The inspo for Knashthra's layout, the idea for the Blessings Tree, and the surrounding forest of homes comes from Pando

It's such an interesting topic tbh

[worldsneverfilled]

Unspecified Entry, Welcome to Knashthra, Draft 1

//A nighttime companion piece to this.

Stepping up to the archway, you see two open doors with an ornate branch pattern on them.

"They're rarely closed, but when they are, the branches can be shaped to lock the door. They'll wind together to make a strong barrier," the guide murmurs.

They step outside, and after following them, you see the thick forest in more detail. The moon lights the treetops, but below the canopy, there are soft spots of pink light emanating from blossoms in the branches and amber light filtering out through windows in the homes within the trees.

To your left, the platform you stand on stretches out to a bridge made of branches from the Blessings Tree and the nearest tree that wind together to make a stable pathway. Smaller branches rise at the edges, creating a railing and lighting the path with softly glowing leaves. The bridge leads to another platform grown from the branches of the tree, which leads to another bridge, and another, and another. A few trees into the forest is where the light begins, marking the barrier where the homes and shops start.

Rather than take those paths, your guide takes you down the stairs to the forest floor, where a path is worn into the forest floor. A few blossoms have fallen from the trees above and light the way; the whisps of magic light what the flowers cannot.

A few people are still milling about on the paths high above, murmuring quietly in the night, but most have made their way indoors. Their voices are almost reverent in their volume and tone, mindful not to disturb the ethereal peace of the forest. A stream burbles quietly a few feet away from the path, and when it crosses the road, tree roots grow into a short and stout bridge to cross over the waterway.

A gentle breeze ruffles your hair as you follow, bringing with it more of the odd assortment of fragrances, along with what one typically finds in the forest. Rotting wood and the sweet and subtle scent of pine, but also the heavy, prickly smell of a bonfire with a fruity cake woven into it.

The walk is about half an hour, and your guide turns down a left path near the journey's end. They hesitate at a stairway that wraps around a great tree before they make their way up with a cheerful smile.

You follow them up and remove your shoes when you step inside, as they ask of you, and then you have a moment to get a better look at the sitting room you've just walked into.

The room is larger than you could have imagined from the outside, the ceiling stretching high above you. A short stairway on the other side of the room leads up to a loft where you see a bed grown out of the wall of the tree. More stairs head down into the trunk, and archways separate the rooms around you; a small kitchenette is seen through one such archway.

The archways are made of solid wood, one piece of the inner tree that, like the Blessings Tree, has formed a layer of bark to protect the wood from exposure and infection. Spindly, branch-like structures wind their way around one another above you, stretching out towards the outer wall of the tree to act as supports for the rest of the plant.

It's cozy, a warm shelter for the inhabitants to feel safe and comfortable, nestled in an overstuffed chair or couch. A few branches grew out of the center, pressed close against the wall to make shelves that held books and knickknacks.

"Would you like tea?"

You nod, and they scurry into the kitchen to brew some. You wonder how they cooked or heated things inside a tree like this. A mystery for another time.

"Make yourself at home!"

.

Photo from here.

[worldsneverfilled]

Reading through the Domains of Delight book and there are several instances in the domain creation chapter where I'm doing this

They're not exactly the same but it's close enough that I wanna fist fight wotc lol

[worldsneverfilled]

Updated the Knashthra and Kalnasthi posts to add information on population for Kalnasthi and population, culture, geography and religion for Knashthra.

[worldsneverfilled]

I had fewer ocs for Knashthra than I thought.

[worldsneverfilled]

Writing that thing about going into a Knashthran home brought up the question of how tf they cook food when they live in trees.

Idk how to solve this issue other than just saying, "magic-y stuff, that's how now shut up".

But that also brings up the question: Does Knashthra have a fire department?

Never mind. It brings up a few questions, actually: Has there ever been a forest fire? Is that a problem for them? They live in a valley, in trees, so any fires would be contained within the valley, but that's also a problem because uhhhhhh residents wouldn't really have anywhere to go. There's one exit out of the valley outside of the portals, and it's through a winding cave system that's easy to get lost in.

If there's a fire, they're fucked.

They either manage to get to the caves or get to the Blessings Tree to go through one of the two portals out of Knashthra.

[worldsneverfilled]

Idr if our DM and I ever made it canon that the Blessings Tree radiates the Comprehend Languages spell or not...

Should probs ask because I've still got stuff to write about this place. Mostly about food but what specific magics are present would help shape the culture too. How diverse is this place bc of the Tree?

In canon, not very. Different on here.