#treespeech

[pinkoshun]

#treespeech #northcarolina #zracc #sky (at Leicester, North Carolina) https://www.instagram.com/p/Bs-6nUXhJqf/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=x32xp6yafl6y

[thecreaturecodex]

Saguaro Sentinel

Image © Wizards of the Coast, by Steve Prescott. Accessed at the Sandstorm Art Gallery here

[Pathfinder already has its own cactus people in the saguaroi, but when has redundancy ever stopped a monster designer? The original stat block only had two slams--I feel like the artist improvised to give it the four armed design, which I like quite a bit. Incidentally, if you were wondering and/or want to be pedantic, cacti have spines, since they’re modified leaves. A thorn is derived from a shoot. And prickles, like those of roses, are made of epidermal tissue only.]

Saguaro Sentinel CR 9 N Plant This giant thorny plant resembles an inanimate cactus the size of a tree, except that it is all too animate. A glaring face grows on its trunk, and it has four arms, each ending in a spine-covered fist.

Saguaro sentinels are kin to treants, and like them serve to protect the plants of their environment. As deserts are harsher and less forgiving than forests, so too are saguaro sentinels compared to standard treants. Few saguaro sentinels have patience for discussions of good and evil, and react to creatures threatening the plants they protect with lethal force.

Saguaro sentinels are patient creatures that spend most of their lives rooted in place, watching over their charges. They like to dwell on hills, so they have a wider view, but will move as the seasons change. Multiple saguaro sentinels may converge following a desert rain, to protect the more fragile plants that have short, intense lives in a desert. They are on friendly terms with desert fey regardless of their morality, and may work with them to repel interlopers.

Saguaro Sentinel              CR 9 XP 6,400 N Huge plant Init +3; Senses darkvision 60 ft., Perception +14 Defense AC 22, touch 7, flat-footed 22 (-2 size, -1 Dex, +15 natural) hp 114 (12d8+60) Fort +13, Ref +3, Will +6 DR 10/magic and piercing; Immune plant traits; Resist cold 10, fire 10 Defensive Abilities spiny, tough flesh Offense Speed 30 ft. Melee 4 slams +15 (1d8+7) Space 15 ft.; Reach 15 ft. Special Attacks spine burst, trample (DC 23, 2d8+10) Statistics Str 25, Dex 9, Con 21, Int 12, Wis 14, Cha 12 Base Atk +9; CMB +18 (+20 bull rush); CMD 28 (30 vs. bull rush) Feats Ability Focus (spine burst), Alertness, Awesome Blow, Improved Bull Rush, Improved Initiative, Power Attack Skills Intimidate +8, Knowledge (nature) +8, Perception +14, Sense Motive +11, Stealth +2 (+18 in deserts); Racial Modifiers +16 Stealth in deserts Languages Common, Sylvan, Treant SQ freeze (cactus), treespeech Ecology Environment warm deserts Organization solitary or stand (2-5) Treasure standard Special Abilities Spine Burst (Su) As a standard action, a saguaro sentinel may fling its spines in all directions. All creatures within 30 feet of the saguaro sentinel take 12d4 points of piercing damage (Ref DC 18 half). A saguaro sentinel may use this ability three times per day, but must wait 1d4 rounds between uses. Spiny (Ex) A saguaro sentinel’s slam attacks and trample ability deal bludgeoning and piercing damage. In addition, any creature that strikes a saguaro sentinel with a melee weapon, natural weapon, touch attack or unarmed strike takes 1d4 points of piercing damage. Melee weapons with the reach quality do not endanger their wielders in this fashion. Tough Flesh (Ex) A saguaro sentinel does not take bonus damage from spells and abilities that deal extra damage to plant creatures because of dehydration, such as a horrid wilting spell. Treespeech (Ex) A saguaro sentinel has the ability to converse with plants as if subject to a continual speak with plants spell, and most plants greet them with an attitude of friendly or helpful.

[treespeechjc]

Check out our video sum up of the project. Thanks to Brian Bolanowski for the beautiful video and all participants: Milcah, Brendan, Liz, John, and all the trees!

[kristinkaye]

The Stand for Tree Speech at the Global Climate Action Summit in SF. This stand is created by @project.195 —a wonderful project to draw attention to the fact that “natural climate solutions can deliver 30% of the solutions to climate change...and yet these solutions are only part 1% of the conversation.” Each ‘magazine’ has been redesigned to write nature right into the headlines.

[cityplants]

#glovetree #treespeech #chanceecologies #cityplants

[thecreaturecodex]

Shrubant

“Chapter XIX: Attacked by the Fighting Trees��� by W. W. Denslow

[If you haven’t read The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, or if it’s been a while, it might surprise you how violent it is. A number of chapters are devoted to what are essentially random encounters, and the Tin Woodsman definitely uses that axe more than he does in the movie. This version of the Fighting Trees uses elements from the movie version--if you want yours to be more book accurate, exchange the Pitching Arm ability for 15 foot reach.]

Shrubant CR 5 CN Plant This tree is faintly humanoid, with a leering face on its bark and long, whip-like arms. It carries a bushel of rocks, pinecones and other small missiles under its arm.

Shrubants are offshoots of the treant line, stunted in both physical form and moral outlook. They are peevish, territorial and violent. Fey creatures sometimes use them as guardians, as they are pugnacious enough to attack just about any humanoid they see. Few shrubants intentionally murder humanoids, but they are much stronger than a man and often neglect to account for the fragility of bones and flesh compared to wood and bark. They fear fire and will often try to surrender or bargain with those who use it. Treants usually view shrubants with something like pity, and try to steer their activities towards more constructive outlets.

Shrubants are combative with each other in their groves, and clashes for dominance are common. Some direct physical brawls occur, but more often they engage in contests of accuracy and strength. Throwing contests may involve trying to knock as many birds out of the sky as possible in a short time, or trying to hit the most distant target in a single throw. The strongest of them take levels in character classes—fighter and brawler are the most common, usually focusing on thrown weapons, grappling, or both.

Shrubant             CR 5 XP 1,600 CN Large plant Init +5; Senses darkvision 60 ft., Perception +10 Defense AC 18, touch 10, flat-footed 18 (-1 size, +1 Dex, +8 natural) hp 68 (8d8+32) Fort +10, Ref +3, Will +4 DR 10/slashing; Immune plant traits Weakness vulnerable to fire Offense Speed 20 ft. Melee 2 slams +10 (1d8+5 plus grab) Ranged rock +8/+3 (1d4+5) Space 10 ft.; Reach 10 ft. Special Attacks pitching arm Statistics Str 20, Dex 13, Con 18, Int 10, Wis 14, Cha 11 Base Atk +6; CMB +12 (+16 grapple); CMD 23 Feats Alertness, Far Shot (B), Improved Initiative, Point Blank Shot, Quick Draw, Throw Anything (B) Skills Perception +10, Sense Motive +6, Stealth +3 (+19 in forests); Racial Modifiers +16 Stealth in forests Languages Common, Treant, treespeech Ecology Environment any forests Organization solitary, pair, grove (3-8) or orchard (9-24) Treasure incidental Special Abilities Pitching Arm (Ex) A shrubant gains Far Shot and Throw Anything as bonus feats. It gains a +2 bonus to all attack rolls made with thrown weapons. Treespeech (Ex) A shrubant can communicate with plants as if under a constant speak with plants spell. Mundane plants treat them with an attitude of friendly.

[treespeechjc]

“Her recent project, #TreeSpeech (of which I’m a participant) plays with the question of perspective directly. For this work, Percoco solicited city residents to tweet on behalf of a neighborhood tree. In adopting the non-human point of view, Percoco is encouraging participants in what she calls a “whimsical experiment in empathy.” There are dozens of tree/human chimeras tweeting around the city, discussing issues of ecology and environment, neighborhood gossip, in addition to raising awareness of the city’s tree canopy.And that canopy includes weed trees like ailanthus altissima. 

According to opentreemap.org, a site used to catalog trees (including the participants in TreeSpeech), there are over 2,000 of these trees in Hudson County, NJ. The number may be much higher, as reporting is incomplete. The county is also home to 660,000 human residents.”

by Emily Helck

Ruralie.com

Read More

[treespeechjc]

Matt Friedman gives a shout out to Tree Speech in Politico!

[treespeechjc]

This summer, the trees of Jersey City are taking to twitter. Environmental artist Anne Percoco is assigning Twitter accounts to Jersey City trees and recruiting residents to tweet, in the first person, from the trees’ perspectives. These “tree stories” will start a citywide conversation about expanding and maintaining the City’s deficient tree canopy. Directed by Brian Bolanowski Starring Elise and Brian

[treespeechjc]

Tree Speech Scene 2 directed by Brian Bolanowski, starring Jennifer Rachener and Dexter!

[treespeechjc]

Americans for the Arts shared Tree Speech on their blog!

[treespeechjc]

Read full article here!

http://hyperallergic.com/305111/a-city-where-trees-tweet/

[treespeechjc]

Lovely article on #TreeSpeech by Mel Kozakciewicz, posted on Jersey City Independent

http://www.jerseycityindependent.com/2016/06/trees-are-tweeting-in-jersey-city/

[treespeechjc]

Enjoy our first #TreeSpeech promo video, #1 of 4!

If trees could talk, they’d be sassy ;)

[treespeechjc]

#TreeSpeech is gearing up to launch on June 20! 

Have you ever been curious about what that Birch on the street corner is experiencing? Do you enjoy pretending you’re someone (or something) else? Or do you simply wish our city was 10 degrees cooler in the summer?

Email treespeech@sustainablejc.org to find out more.