Dagdan Tree

Also known as Magebloom

The Dagdan Trees, or Magebloom, are found in the forests of Ismena and are well known for their unique properties. Not only do their blooms provide humans the ability to use small amounts of plant magic, but their wood is used for making objects of power for mages across much of Casimira.

Basic Information

Anatomy

Dagdan trees are the biggest known trees in Casimira. If allowed to grow to their full height and width, even dragons have a hard time flying above them and it takes over 400 average-sized humans stretching as far as they can to reach all the way around them. Their lowest branches are so high off the ground that only some form of flight allows anyone to reach them.

Beyond their size, Dagdan trees are also well known for their unique colors. The trunk itself appears to be nothing special on the outside, but inside is a deep purple color. The leaves are a wine red and when the sun shines through the forest canopy, it appears as if the very forest has a red tint.

When the trees are blooming, the branches are covered in clusters of delicate pink flowers.

Biological Traits

The trees have one specific property that makes them different from any other: they absorb any drop of magic sent their way. But not in the way that makes the forest around them feel stagnant, if anything it makes the forests they inhabit some of the most beautiful in the world.

Biological Cycle

Like other deciduous trees, the Dagdan do bloom in the spring and lose their leaves in the fall. While their leaves do not appear to have any magical properties, the blooms act in the same way as small pieces of crystal and allow even the least adept human to perform minor plant magics.

Additional Information

Uses, Products & Exploitation

Dagdan trees are primarily used in the creation of objects that hold crystals for use by a mage. It can take any shape, from a staff to a dagger, a table to a door, but because of its unique way of absorbing magic and resisting it, it has become immensely useful to those who cast magic. Crystals are embedded within the wood to allow magic to be channeled through it. Because the wood itself has resistance to that magic, no matter what is cast, the object will remain undamaged.

Whoever found that tree was a genius! I've burned clothing, books, even my eyebrows, but my pendant is never damaged! Not a single burn mark!

— A very grateful (and somewhat singed) fire mage

Objects created from the tree's wood also have the ability to hold the magic it absorbed before its creation. However, there is one major difference among these objects of power: whether they were given by the tree or taken from them. Cut wood can only release this magic at the holder's discretion, though ones made by the tree can still absorb magic and are often used to store more than the mage could normally handle alone.

In addition to the wood, many people across Casimira collect fallen leaves as a symbol of good luck. The blossoms are also collected when they begin to fall in late spring to be taken to farms to aid in growing a good harvest.

Releasing the magic stored within takes little energy from the mage and can be shaped and channeled through the embedded crystals just as any other spell. If any attempts are made to use the raw magic the wood has stored without a crystal focus, the explosion of power can be immense and has claimed the lives of many who have attempted this.

Geographic Origin and Distribution

Dagdan trees are only found in the forests of Ismena, despite several attempts to plant them elsewhere. However, instead of an entire forest full of them as there once was, now there are several groves that are carefully tended and protected.

Perception and Sensory Capabilities

While Dagdan trees have never appeared to have any kind of spirit within them, they are very much alive. Some say this is because of all the magic they have absorbed over the lifetimes they have existed.

Objects of power given freely by the trees also have this otherworldly sense that makes them seem alive. It is not yet known if that were to fade if all the magic was drained from it.

Civilization and Culture

History

The properties of the Dagdan trees were first discovered around the same time as the first school for mages. They had been searching for a long time for a way to hold a crystal focus that wouldn't involve damaging the crystal itself and embedding it into wood or metal seemed like an ideal solution. However, none of the materials they tried were able to withstand the raw power flowing through it. Eventually, the mages began searching deeper into the forests and discovered the Dagdan trees when their spells of light were absorbed and pulled away from them. Excited by the possibilities, the mages from the school resolved to find a way to cut down the trees and shape the wood by hand.

Even humans who have never touched magic could feel deep in their bones when the first tree was cut. Entire towns were moved to escape the sounds of the very forest crying out. The places where those trees died began to wither and die, the surrounding forest dying with it. Within a few years, cutting down Dagdan trees was banned and research was begun to find another way to approach these trees to create objects of power. It was then that mages began to realize that they could approach the tree with their crystals and good intent and merely ask. The lowest branches would wrap around the mage asking for their help and when they lifted back up, the mage would be holding a beautiful magic focus, made of the wood of the Dagdan.

Any magical focus or other object of power created by this peaceful method seems to be both an extension of the earth and that of the mage, as if the tree looked into their heart and created something perfect for them.

After the power held within the flowers was discovered, the yearly Blossom Festival sprung up to celebrate the trees and the connection that the people of Ismena have with them. The festival includes a walk through the forest to the groves to collect the first fallen blossoms.

Common Myths and Legends

Among dragons, the forest of Dagdan trees features prominently in their legends. Only plant dragons hold the True Memories, but glimmers of knowledge remain among the others of the forest on the day their race rose up and burned the world. It is said that pure, glimmering magic cloaked the forest that day and kept the flames and ash from reaching inside, protecting all living things that remained there. It is thought of as the last gift of the goddess of magic to the world.

The moment I stepped into the forest, the air around me shimmered, as if filled with magic. The sun shining through the leaves overhead painted the world, not in hues of gold as the outside world might expect, but in every shade of red imaginable. Even if I lived as long as the Dagdan, I could never do those colors justice.

— Anonymous Poet

Lifespan

Unknown, no one in recorded history has seen one die from old age

Conservation Status

The Dagdan trees are highly protected because of their unique properties. Groves are either grown in secret or heavily guarded by those who care for and nurture them. When it was first discovered, the species was nearly brought to extinction with overuse, but the remaining trees have been highly protected ever since to prevent this from happening again.

Average Height

around 820m

Average Length

around 82m in diameter

Geographic Distribution

• Ismena