Yggdrasil's Child

Yggdrasil's Child
Basic Information
Type	Spaceborn plant
Crystal Sphere	Realmspace
Location	Garden
General Information
Used for	Leaves are used as shrouds for the dead
Average lifespan	2,000 years
Appearance
Average diameter	Greater than 1,700 feet (518 meters)

Yggdrasil's Child is a colossal spaceborne plant that anchors together the cluster of asteroids that make up the planet Garden in the crystal sphere known as Realmspace.

Description

Ygddrasil’s Child has been around since the first spaceborne travellers entered Realmspace. Despite hundreds of attempts at communicating with the plant, most sages are still unsure as to whether it is sentient or not. The plant is made up of woody vines or lianas that are resistant to heat, cold and electrical damage of all kinds. The main stem or trunk of the plant is a fusion of several hundred woody vines, each of which are over a 100 feet (30 meters) in diameter. It takes an average human well over six hours to completely circumnavigate the plant’s main trunk, including having to push through and navigate its vast maze of leaves and limbs. The plants' leaves are so large they resemble a ship's sails, and its numerous vines and thick limbs stretch across the whole planet, allowing the plant to absorb the sun’s rays every moment of the day, giving it tremendous powers of rejuvenation and allowing it to heal at an exponential rate.

The plant’s vast network of roots stretch throughout the planet's inner core. The thick primary roots, some which are a 1,000 feet (305 meters) long, anchor the planet's cluster of asteroids together. The huge roots then differentiate into progressively smaller roots which delve deep into the interiors of the asteroids.

Common wildspace rumor suggests that Ygddrasil’s Child's main trunk actually grows or otherwise reaches into other planes of existence, similar to that of its namesake, but there is no indication that anybody could use the massive plant to travel from the Material plane.

Behavior

Garden takes 1,022 Torillian months to revolve around the sun, and during that year, Ygddrasil’s Child goes through a cycle of blossoming and growth followed by a period of death and diminishment, similar to the seasonal cycle experienced by terrestrial plants on other planets. During Gardens "fall" and "winter" seasons, the plant doesn't actually die or whither, but appears to enter a state of stasis during which half of its leaves fall off and die.

Yggdrasil's Child has a lifespan of about 2,000 years. When it finally dies, it will be replaced by a new plant. Some scholars believe that the next plant will have some connection to one of Garden's moons named Grandchild, but what the actual connection is remains unclear.

Uses

Ygddrasil’s Child's leaves are commonly used in Realmspace as a shroud to wrap the body of a deceased crew member before consigning them to the depths of wildspace.

History

Yggdrasil's Child was originally named by the northmen, presumably for the World Tree Yggdrasil.

Appendix

External Links

• Yggdrasil's Child (Garden) article at the Forgotten Realms Wiki, a wiki for the Forgotten Realms campaign setting.