Beatha

In the islands of Ceòthach Eilean, resources are limited. The uiledath, the humanoid species that live there, know better than to destroy a tree in order to make a house. No. They grow trees and inside them they make their homes.
A beatha seed is planted when a child is conceived, thus uniting the life of the child with the life of the tree. As the child grows, the parents are responsible for showing their offspring how to care for their beatha, how to grow and shape it, how to slowly sculpt it, fill it with liquid clach, a clay-like material that hardens the inside of the trunk without harming the tree, how to make it their home.
Beatha barks are white, and grow up to ten meters in diameter, and double as much in height. The leaves are silver, long, lithe and soft. Beatha flower all year round, but the many-petalled, large flowers have different colours and scent according to the weather. If properly looked after, a beatha home is splendid, with branches left to grow naturally, even on the inside of the house, for decoration. They can have two, three, or even four floors. Most of the inside furniture is also made of beatha wood, taken from the trees whose uiledath have died. What is not made of wood, usually is either imported from Ashar, or taken from the sea.
No two beatha homes are alike, and they become even more unique when two uiledath join lives and - therefore - houses. Their beatha are joined as soon as the union is decided, about two or three Lessouns before the ceremony. It is said that how well the beatha will be joined, whether the final edifice will be harmonious or grotesque, predicts the success of the union. It is rare, however, that the beatha do not at all join, but when that happens, then the union is forbidden as well.