The Burning Tree

The hearth of Ether, and the vessel built around its Heart. The flames it carried were not its own: they were Ether's Flame showing through.

It is what sustained the Zephyrians. It gave, and they received.

It grows at the centre of Ayrith, with the castle at its foot, and its branches are visible from nearly every corner of the realm. Every Sunpassage opens beneath them.

What the Zephyrians believe

The Tree is the heart of Ether. Zephyrian legend holds that the Sun placed it there at the First Flame, and that it carries a fragment of the Sun's original power. Ether grew around it rather than being founded, and as long as the Tree continues to burn, Ether will remain alive.

It is revered, but not worshipped as a god. It is treated as a living ancestor — something owed protection, gratitude and respect.

It also judges. A visitor who deliberately harms Ether, its people or the Tree can be rejected by the Tree itself, and every entrance closes to them.

The fragment of the Sun is the Zephyrian reading of Ether's Flame. They are describing the right light and naming the wrong source.

The roots

The Tree is not only felt in the capital. Its roots stretch deep beneath Naaru, spreading throughout the forest and carrying its magic with them — which is why Taara felt closer to it living in Mirel than she ever had standing under its branches in Ayrith.

This dovetails with the craft binding recorded in Ether's Flame: every casting routes through the root. Player-authored geography and DM-only mechanics agree without either having been written for the other, and the phrasing is worth reusing at the table.

Its protection

The Tree is the Zephyrians' greatest responsibility, and a threat to it is a threat to every living creature in Ether. Three layers keep it:

• The Outer Veil — the barrier that hides Ether and turns away anyone without passage.
• The Rootwardens — specially trained Zephyrians who watch the Tree, its roots and the magic around them, trained to recognise unusual changes in its energy.
• The Sunward — experienced Defenders who are not a standing army but gather quickly when Ether faces a serious threat.

The Cold-Sigils

Deep in the wood beneath its roots: what was left on the Tree after the exchange spell drained it in the Great Freeze.

They are the remainder of Taara's own casting of the Gift. She forgot them, and remembered in session 31.

Session 31

Ether's Flame is back in the Tree. It came there in Taara's Amulet of the Planes, with Taara, Myra and Logi, and the Heart is in its hearth again.

Ether, and the Tree with it, has stood in the Shadowfell since session 30. Whether the Tree burns again, and whether any Zephyrian has woken, is open (Session 31, DM notes).