[center][b][color=darkgreen][h3]The Tree of Genesis[/h3][/color][/b][/center]

[center][b]I[/b][/center]

The Tree of Genesis watched an untold amount of time pass. As its roots grew and dug through the earth and into caverns, and expanded to all the land they could expand, it watched. As all manner of mundane vegetation was sprouted and spreadover the world by its roots… It watched.

First, insects came to life. The Tree of Genesis found them exhilarating. The way they moved, flew and interacted… It was all a marvelous show to behold. By the time the first massacres started, they had the Tree’s undivided attention. No insect and no plant would realize a whole colony of ants went missing one day, and no one thought twice about the time a beehive was dismantled by millions of ants and taken into the Tree itself.

For as long as the wars lasted, occasionally insects would go missing, never to be seen again. 

Then the Insect God awakened, it did things with the insects, and it left.

Life was beginning to take shape after those events, and the moment that a wild stream of Mana coiled itself around the Tree-God, things began to accelerate.

A loud buzzing came from within the Tree. A low rumbling shook the ground. For a moment, all the insects froze and looked at the Genesis Tree.

The one who provided them with most of what they needed suddenly seemed to creak. Wood splintered, and swathes of thick bark fell off the surface of the Tree.

Slowly, from the dark depths of the Tree, a single tiny thing floated out. It seemed slightly translucent, and the way it kept itself afloat was strange. It exhaled little clouds of a cyan gas, and flat flowers of all colors on top of it flapped occasionally to steer its course.

It was slow.

A bee approached it and inspected the flower on top of the thing. It was a fully functional plant, and yet it moved. It [i]flew[/i], even. 

A thousand other things similar to it, with forms varying from the spherical to the triangular and cubical, floated out from the darkness of the Tree. And then just as quickly as the event had started, it ended. 

Bees went into a frenzy trying to collect as much of the floaty plants’ light nectar, and after they were satisfied, the little flying plants went to the sheets of discarded bark and landed on top of them. They excreted tiny amounts of translucent sap onto the bark to glue themselves to it, and they made sure the spots they chose got an acceptable amount of sunlight.

And like that, they spread and reproduced. 

These tiny floating plants produce a light, easy-to-drink nectar and the sap they produce when they feel safe and satisfied is a powerful natural glue. Plus, they’re really easy to farm. These small flying plants are called Minus Pods.

[center][b]II[/b][/center]

The Tree of Genesis observed the almost imperceptible distortion of the Mana Stream around it whenever a creature passed through it. As an experiment, it released several dozen of the floating plants, but this time, they were massive. They produced enough gas to cover a clearing when taking off, but in exchange they needed to boost themselves much less often than their tiny counterparts. 

And indeed, the Mana Stream reacted more to these big plants… Some of the plants, in fact, somehow became deeply tied to the Mana Stream, and rode on it as a highway of sorts to fly far up into the air and then off into the distance. These massive Minus Pods are called Magnus Pods, and the mana attuned individuals seek Mana Streams and ride on them to travel at high speeds.

[center][b]III[/b][/center]

At some point, the Mana Stream grew in potency and size, and the smaller trees around the Tree of Genesis were showered with extended exposure to insane levels of Mana. Most of these primordial trees went on to twist and change at their very core. Most of them had their bark change to a light cream colour, and the mana that flowed around and inside of them was unchanged and seemed to not affect the tree at all. However, upon closer inspection, The Tree of Genesis realized that the insects who made their homes on such trees were on average much healthier and populous that their average counterparts. This was due to them unknowingly turning the cream-colored trees into some sort of Focus, which in turn kept them healthy and protected them from lesser threats and diseases that could in some cases wipe out other colonies. These cream coloured trees are Alder Trees.

Other trees became white, their bark became soft, and their forms pointed in the direction of the Mana Stream closest to them. Mana that flowed in and around these trees found itself more calm and easily malleable. These white trees are Rowan Trees.

And finally, there was an… Unexpected set. At first, the Tree of Genesis had noticed it at night and was disgusted at its completely black colour and gray leaves. The Mana that flowed in and around it went wild and in turn corrupted the mana present in all living things near it, bringing with it disease and pain. Right when the Tree of Genesis started making moves to eradicate this unnatural tree however, dawn came. And with it, the disgusting tree became beautiful. It was the purest image of an oak tree, with a thick trunk and thick canopy. It was perfect, and the mana that had previously been wild was now calm and soft and the disease it had caused was completely healed by mid day. A dualist tree, capable of both disease and health depending on the time of day or night. These trees are named Hawthorn Trees.

[center][b]IV[/b][/center]

Time passed again. After regular intervals of time, the Tree of Genesis would introduce new strange plant life to the world. First it had introduced unintelligent tiny flora that could be farmed by insects much in the same way as livestock. Then it introduced bigger subjects, such as a mass of vines that buried most of its body underground and only surfaced once a week to gather sunlight and feed on any insect that was lured by its nectary scent; or a carbon copy of the mammals that enjoyed urinating on the trunks of the Tree’s smaller and less imposing children, but incapable of urinating and made entirely of plant matter instead. 

There were many creations. Most of them made without much thought or consideration as to their place or purpose… And so, most of them were promptly forgotten and left to their own devices. Whether they lived or died, was up to them and the world.

But there came a time when the Tree stopped and considered what it was seeing. That time was when a biped mammal group arrived at the Tree of Genesis’ base. It cared not for the sounds they made and disregarded all of their intentions. It did not care when one of them swung a sharp rock at the Tree’s bark and marked something on its very flesh for eternity.

Still, the God did not interact with them. It did, however, watch them closely. They were one of a kind. Creatures capable of communicating so intricately with one another, of sharing ideas through the primitive sounds that came from their throats and mouths. They had a rudimentary grasp of tool usage, and covered their body in furs and leaves and rope.

It was on the thirtieth night, when the bipedal hominids had come to enjoy living under the canopy of the Great Tree so much that they decided to settle under it overnight, that the Tree saw fire.

The moment their kindling lit up and spread heat and flames to their neatly arranged pile of wood, the Tree of Genesis understood what they were. 

Sapients.

The Great Tree God rustled. Its branches creaked and the dull moonlight reflecting off its bark seemed to lengthen and grow stark. The heaven-piercing tree loomed over the frightened sapients as they rushed to put out the fire, but it was too late. Great and small roots broke through the soil and surrounded the handful of nomads and in the blink of an eye, their panicked cries faded.

[hider=Summary]
The Tree watches insects be created and observes as Artifex leaves, then takes “inspiration” from the insects to create a great number of mobile, mundane flora. It creates tiny flying geometrically shaped translucent plants called Minus Pods that produce a strong natural glue when they feel safe and have been pollinated. Also massive versions of these smol plants, called Magnus Pods, which ride on Mana Streams at high speeds (possible future transportation method if people can figure out how to put wagons on top of them?).

Also, The Tree observes the powerful Mana Stream coiling around it affect some of the lesser trees around it, creating the first species of Mana-Attuned Trees. Alder, Rowan and Hawthorn confirmed.

Finally, some mysterious humans arrive at the Tree. They’re not more than a handful. It is when they finally feel safe enough around the tree to light up a campfire that the Tree realizes they’re sapient, and decides to invite them inside in order to get “inspiration” once more.
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[hider=Might Summary]
Tree of Genesis
5 MP - 5 DP
Used 0 DP to create the Minus Pods, tiny smol flying plants that produce a light, easy to drink nectar that bees love. They also produce a strong natural glue once they are pollinated and feel safe enough to land.
Used 1 DP to create the Magnus Pods, massive versions of the Minus Pods, most of which are attuned to mana to some extent due to their creation inside of the Tree of Genesis, which has a coiled Mana Stream around it. This allows them to track Mana Streams and “ride” them to achieve (relatively) great flight speeds.
Witnessed (?) the accidental creation of Mana-Attuned Trees.

5 MP - 4 DP Remaining. 1/5 toward Adaptation Port.
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