The Dennurnvos

".... and he saw them resting within a hypogean garden and it was under the nervous watch of a dryad that they were reunited. They faced shadowy horrors within the tomb-like halls of the delve and made their way to the heart of the tree. There, they communed with the still living host of the Dennurnvos' power and accepted the burden of Dennari's legacy. They took into their chests the germinating seeds of new sealing trees and ensured that they would be carried and used to safeguard the world.

— -Excerpt from the Valiant Annals, re-telling the exploits of adventurers driving evil from the tunnels beneath the Dennurnvos.

Architecture

The Denurnvos rests within a rocky, wooded dell. Scrub and brambles grow thick there, choked in perpetual mist, and fragrant wild flowers make the air sweet. Towering mesmerizingly above the surrounding forest is the ancient tree itself. It reaches more than 500 feet into the air, the dizzying heights at which it’s branches unfurl into a vast crown. The leaves are serrated and refract light in a curious manner. When standing within it’s considerable shadow, the canopy seems as if a patch of the night sky, even at midday. The base of the massive trunk is adorned with woven rope and simple charms, and on exposed roots stand figurines of stone and carved wood left by reverent pilgrims.
At the foot of the tree is a collection of olden stone hovels and standing stones. They are arrayed around the lip of a deep cenote. The remains of a wooden stair leading down to the clear pool within hug the walls of the verdant sinkhole. In those depths is the entrance to a barrow, cool and damp. The musty smell of soil and compost permeates the caves, and most surfaces are at least partially covered in roots, vines and leaves.
Tunnels and cavern are ceilings covered in a canopy of roots and foliage. They are separated by doors made of six-inch cut slabs of stone fitted with decorated wooden handles which pull into the ceiling. The walls are packed dirt, shaped stone and decorated with shaped roots and the floors are smooth, natural stone. The barrow is lit with enchanted firefly lamps, made from magically shaped wood. They spread a gentle light.

History

Amongst their many stories and legends, the Dwarves tell of their flight from the deepest caverns. Choosing exile from the stoneways, now-cursed rune fortresses of their kin. One such tale remembers how the exiled clans came upon a vast and strange forest within a great cavern. Pale branches alive with fairy lights and succulent fruit which seemed to glow, the light ebbing and flowing with the breath of the world, as it caressed the fragile leaves.
The Clan lords saw there a bounty for which they might refill their dwindling supplies and repair their equipment. They laid plans to tame the cavern and make it their new home. These plans were halted when the wife of the mountain king; Dennari came into their midst and explained what she had learned. This cave was a place of primal power, a confluence for the arteries that ran through stone and rock and ore. She called the garden “Roots of the World” and spoke before the assembled clansmen. She told them that great calamity would befall those who harmed this forest. When they protested and proclaimed their plight, Dennari took the form of a tree and bade them to cut from her instead, to take what they needed and to keep safe the roots and soil. Respectfully they heeded her words and left the garden be, taking only what they needed from her boughs.
Some dwarves among them were so moved that they saved the seeds of the fruits she gave to them. These were carried with reverence and passed down through generations as the exiled clans continued their journey. When finally they reached the caves and delves near the surface lands and the rest of their kin settled, these disciples departed for the lands beneath the sun to fulfill the hidden truth in Dennari's words.
They followed the visions Dennari had told and the visions brought when they contemplated her mysteries. Their travels led them to places where sickness seeped into the land and where evil festered. Demonic creatures oozed from these blighted wounds and Dennari’s disciples understood. They placed the seeds which they carried to germinate within their chests and they turned into towering trees. They engulfed and sealed the hellish breaches, and the Denna, as her disciples came to call themselves, became wardens of these sacred groves.
But this was so very long ago and in time the Denna fell silent. None know what happened to the disciplies of the mountain queen's mysteries and now the Dennurnvos is believed to be the last of these sacred trees.

Type

Tree