Sonosap Willow

Always listening, Gently repeating

Your Mother, He'an rest her heart, used to love walking through the Murmoring Grove. Lots of small critters for her to observe, you know? She'd go out there for hours, talkin' out loud, organizing her thoughts. I'm certain somewhere in those woods, there's a Sonosap that heard her talking, and is quietly playing back her soft voice, evermore.

— A father's woes

Sonosap Willow trees are found growing within moderately dense, temperate forests, that populate the winding rivers of the mountainous southern continent of Enqua and some parts of of northern Kazcallen. These trees stand out from the rest -- gnarled, twisted, with draping leaves hanging down from their upper branches. Their bark is hardy, and comes in a variety of ashy purple or red colours. As a Sonosap Willow grows, large hollow sections of the tree begin to form near the base of the trunk, containing a crystallized sap with the ability to record audio.

A forest of Whispers

This crystalline sap is slow flowing -- it gradually fills the hollow sections of the tree, at which point it begins to exhibit some very unique characteristics. The molecular structure of the sap, and its placement within the natural echo chambers of the hollows, allow them to act as natural sound recorders; the hollow captures the sound and directs it into the sap, where it is slowed and almost frozen within the tree.

Over time as the sap naturally settles, it will release echos of that initial recording, which then gets reflected by the tree's hollow back into the sap, over and over again. It's estimated that a Sonosap Willow could hold onto a recorded sound for hundreds of years, if left quiet and undisturbed.

Oh, what I wouldn't give to hear her voice one more time.

— A father's woes

Crystallized Sound

For the most part, any recorded sound within a Sonosap Willow is slowly erased by time -- as wind blows and rain falls, these sounds echo their way into the Sonosap. It doesn't overwrite the previous sound entirely, but rather layers more recordings over top, diluting and warping the recordings that already exist within. Almost all natural Sonosap Willow trees contain these muddled sounds -- listening carefully, you might hear the sounds of last year's thunderstorm, ancient animals scrapping nearby, or if you're very lucky, the sounds of human voices murmuring.

It's been, what... 4 years since your mother passed? Surely, if there were any recordings of her in that forest, they'd be gone by now, right? I mean, we have had quite the spell of calm weather these last few years... but still, I'm almost certain there's no chance a recording exists.

— A father's woes

Refining Nature

Along with the advent of Simulrendology, engines, and basic electricity, a modern use for Sonosap was discovered. Very carefully taking raw, unrefined Sonosap and heating it up will evaporate the water from within, entirely crystallizing the substance and prohibiting any further recordings. However, when a small electrical current is passed through the resulting Sonocrystal, and audio previously recorded within is emitted at a very low volume. These sounds are then taken and amplified, allowing for their content to be heard again and again, whenever wanted.

Last Wishes and Heirloom Trees

The nature of recording any and all sounds heard by the tree has allowed the Sonosap Tree to become established in several cultures' mythologies and traditions. Some view the tree as a way of historical record keeping, while others view it as a mystic entity that may repeat wisdom from the ancients. Most who have any sort of cultural connection to Sonosap Trees view it with reverence, and find the idea of harvesting or harming the trees to be sacrilegious -- which puts them at odds with those who attempt to create and profit off of taking the Sonosap and refining it into Sonocrystal.

We'd intended to go for a final walk, intentionally find a tree, and talk about simple things. Then I'd have a known tree with her voice in it, that I could visit any time. But in those last days, the sickness took hold so fast, we just never got around to it...

— A father's woes

Final Words

In some cultures, when someone is close to death but still capable of walking, it is common to bring them to the site of a specifically chosen Sonosap Willow. Here, beneath the hanging vine-like leaves, the person will come -- sometimes alone, sometimes with loved ones. They will speak a final message to the base of a tree, in the hopes that once they are gone, the loved ones they left behind will find comfort in the sound of their voice reverberating from their chosen tree.

Family Echoes

A similar cultural tradition exists, though less focused on a single individual's final words. In some cases, a family will choose a Sonosap Tree to communally talk to, layering voices upon each other to make a continuous song. While a family might be sad when the recorded voice in a Final Word tree is eventually lost due to natural sounds overwriting the voice, those who partake in the creation of Family Echo trees mind not the slow erasure. To them, the mixing in of wind, rain, and future voices combine to create a sound or song that represents what it is to be a family.

Dad! Dad! I found it! I found Mom's tree!

— A son's excitement

Sonosap Crystal

Sonosap Crystal

This page's Trinket Collected! View it in your Trinket Chest.

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Click on the glowing Sonosap in the above tree to hear a sample recording!

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Characteristics

Alternative Names

Whisperwillow, Hearcore Trees

Distribution Pattern

Located in temperate, wet areas of otherwise dry climates

Average Height

5m to 8m tall

Average Lifespan

Roughly 400 years, though some much older trees have been found

Growth

Sonosap Willows go through several different growth spurts. They often struggle to take root, dying out in early sapling stages due to a lack of available moisture for them to reach. Once they take hold though, they go through rapid growth over the course of a few years, often times reaching their mature height within half a decade. At this point the growth rate of the tree comes to a near standstill -- instead, the bark of the tree begins to harden, hollow portions begin to form in the lower trunk, and Sonosap production ramps up.

Gift from a God

Popular mythology surrounding the Sonosap Willow states that it is a constructed, designed tree. The legend goes that during the Era of Gods, before The Seven Day War and the time of the God-husks, the God of Time, T'kalia, created the tree as a gift to Xiuthan, the God of Death whom he cared for deeply. People point to the existence of Sonosap Willows in northern Kazcallen, the country in which the God-husk Xiuthan is found, as evidence supporting this myth.
T'kalia is said to have embedded his power within the tree, creating a medium within that froze time for any sound it heard, then replaying it over and over. Some say the very first Sonosap made by T'kalia and given to Xiuthan contained a recording of T'kalia confessing his love for Xiuthan, and that the tree may even still be found, hidden somewhere within a lost forest.

The forest of Screams

While in most cases the trees don't grow close to each other, in some rare locations an entire forest may be almost entirely comprised of Sonosap Willows. One such forest was once the location of a horrid battle between two warring nations -- hundreds of brutal casualties occurred among the trees, which stood there recording the sound of battle and screams of death.
Most tend to avoid entering the forest these days, as twisted versions of those screams are still echoing from the hollows of the trees that witnessed a massacre all those years ago.

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