The Tree of Sacrifice

Abnormally large, oddly pale bark, overly saturated foliage. Branches are twisted. Blood-stained altar at its roots, and the roots have grown twisted around it to hold it in place. The altar, roots, and ground around the tree are stained a deep red. Any damage to the tree oozes blood. Any blood spilled as a sacrifice will pool around the roots and be transported up the tree through visible "veins."

Purpose / Function

The Sacrificial Tree is a focal point of The Order of the Crimson Tree. Historically speaking, the Sacrificial Tree was utilized to keep the end of the world from happening. According to The End of All Things, a sacrifice must be made at least once a year or else the tree would start pulling life from the very earth, ultimately leading to the destruction of civilization.

Due to a plague that swept through the continent, there was no suitable sacrifice able to be found, and so the yearly sacrifice was missed. As the next year followed and nothing happened - indeed, the plague ended and life began to return to normal - so the validity of the sacrifices being necessary was brought into question. The more years past that a sacrifice was not made to no ill effect, the more the order The Crimson Tree fell into disfavor.

The change in the tree happened so slowly over many hundreds of years that by the time anyone noted its sickly appearance, the damage had already been done. The slow changes led to a slow, incremental adaptation of the world to what was happening.

History

15 generations, 1500 missed sacrifices.

Tourism

People track down the tree through the legends and vague histories that they can piece together. Mostly it's to see if the tree actually exists. On the odd occasion, any remaining members of the order The Crimson Tree will make a pilgrimage just to remind themselves of why they exist.

Type

Tree