The Emerald of Trenstaadt

What Is It and How Did It Come to Be?

The Emerald of Trenstaadt is not, in fact, an emerald. Instead, it is a towering maple tree set in the center of the marketsquare of the small but vital capital city of Trenstaadt. The origins of the Emerald are quite simple, but also steeped in mystery. Back around four centuries ago, when the kingdom of Geldirnan had it's first king, a group of several mages and alchemists wanted to win the king's favor. In order to do this, they decided to craft a tree that would be stunningly beautiful and would grow along side Geldirnan.

Their first attempt, a willowy birch with leaves of gold, stood for two years before a storm blew it over and revealed that it was hollow. Their second attempt was a tall redwood with rubies inlayed into the bark. This tree was exotic, and it brought much fame to Trenstaadt. However, after five years, on a hot and dry summer day, the sunlight was caught by one of the gems just so and the tree burst into flames.

After this, the mages withdrew to their workshop for an entire year. When they finally revealed the fruit of their labors, a great crowd had amassed. The planting of these trees had become something of a spectacle, and people from all over the kingdom had come just so they could say, "I was there" many years later when the tree fell. The third tree was a mighty maple, with none of the extravagancy of the first two. In the marketsquare it was planted, and there it stands to this day.

Odd Questions and Occurences

This is not the end of the story, however! I promised you mystery, and mystery you shall get. The first mystery occurs during the harvest season and the following winter. When the fields were reaped and the grain weighed and stored, the storehouses were overflowing. Every harvest since then has been exeptional. In fact, they were so exeptional that Trenstaadt became the breadbasket of Geldirnan despite having few fields and rocky terrain. In addition, the following winter the tree's leaves did not turn brown and did not fall. So what is the extent of the Emerald's power?

In thanks of this awesome boon, the king gave the mages a collection of buildings to continue their studies. They would name these buildings and their new organization the Campus Arcanum. They would continue to profit from a consistant stream of innovations but would never reveal what gave the Emerald it's power. So what ingredients and methods could have given it such power?

The final mystery comes about one hundred years after the Emerald's planting. This takes place during the first and only siege of Trenstaadt, during the Second Geldirnan Civil War. The attacking armies catapulted stones into the city. There were several people seeking refuge under the tree, as they had been unable to reach any building in time, when all of the branches bent down, seemingly to protect them. The catapults began to focus on the tree, raining boulder after boulder, but the tree proved resilient, withstanding the blows until reinforcements arrived. So this tree can clearly move, but is it perhaps Awakened?

There is so much more to say about the Emerald of Trenstaadt, but i'm running out of parchment. Maybe you'll do your own research on it. Maybe you'll find the answers to the questions I have provided. I invite you to try.