Barden

The White Tree, one of the most common symbols of Arawn and one of the most important sites to the Arawnite priesthood. It is similar in shape to a leafless oak, but it is made entirely of bone. The White Tree sits in a valley five days’ leisurely march north and a bit east of the city of Narashtovik, in a mountain valley with the northern sea just on the other side of a line of hills. There is a point in the valley past which horses will refuse to go, leaving the last stretch of the journey to be completed on foot. Barden’s trunk is more than three feet across and made from ropes of spines twisted and melded together. The larger branches are made of ribs and long leg and arm bones fused together, progressing to smaller bones as the limbs extend. Teeth and the small bones of feet and hands make up something like flowers and tiny branches, and jaws and backbones the roots. The whole thing is unnaturally still, even in high wind, but for all its stillness it seems alive. It’s more than a hundred feet tall and its branches stretch at least as far across at their widest point. The tree inspires feelings of intense wrongness in most people, sometimes to the point of nausea. Per the Cycle, Barden is where Taim and Eric the Draconat fought, and where Carvahal and Arawn conspired to hand down fire to man. The area immediately surrounding the tree is a potent source of nether. The larger valley is littered with old bones not necessarily part of the tree itself. It is where Samarand and her council planned to release Arawn during the Unlocking, and where she and half her council died when Cally retook his place in Narashtovik. At the time, no one really went to the White Tree except for extremely special occasions. Dante had intended to change this policy, but it’s unclear if he ever got around to it.