Veerali Tree Houses

The Veerali, who live in Ivendarea's southern jungles and marches, are said to be the Nyr living closest to nature. In fact they have managed to find a way to not build, but grow their houses and towns from the Winding Trees commonly found in the warm, humid south. Veerali Tree Houses are living organisms in and of themselves, changing, aging, and growing just like the people who conceptualized them and call them home.

Purpose / Function

First and foremost, of course, the Veerali's tree houses are homes. They offer shelter from the elements, storage, and a secure living and working space in the middle of untouched nature. They lie relatively high above the ground, tree house not only referencing the fact that they are grown from trees, but actually also are as tall as the surrounding vegetation. In the rainy season though in particular they might not even seem as high, as the water levels can rise almost to the tree houses doorsteps, where the Veerali will tie their Riverblades to and use as a means of transport and travel.

Architecture

To construct a new tree house one quality is of the essence in the builder's character: patience. While Winding Trees grow tremendously fast and respond well to magic that stimulates their growth, it is simply impossible to grow a whole new house within a few days.
To begin the process, usually a sketch is made of what the final house should look like. Most Veerali houses have a spherical exterior, as it is easier to have the trees grow around curves or in spirals as opposed to sharp corners and edges. It is not unheard of, but harder to accomplish, and also not as stable in the long run. A site is chosen for the house, either where a colony of young Winding Tree saplings is already growing, with enough space to the sky, or saplings are specifically chosen and planted in the desired location. The growth of a house requires a lot of pre-planning, the construction of scaffolding and other support structures, to gentle coerce the trees to grow into the desired direction at specific times during the growth process.
Logically Veerali Tree Houses are entirely wooden structures, which gives them a special standing compared to other Nyr architecture which is much heavier on the use of stone, metal, and glass compared to wood. Many branches and trunks of trees of varying hues of green and thicknesses lie tightly together, side by side or intertwined, woven into each other or bound with rope, forming the organic-looking, grooved exterior of the tree houses. Any openings such as doors and windows are round, elliptical, or almond-shaped, where gaps have been left on purpose when tying or weaving branches together as they grew.
On the inside the tree houses are often painted and decorated colourfully - while they purposefully are meant to blend in with nature on the outside, the interior can be as individual as the residents want it. Tree houses can stretch across several orb-like levels that are grown one after the other, but generally they are small and only have one main living space where the members of the household eat, pray, and sleep. Communal tree houses are used by the whole town and have their own specific criteria, like a large fireplace to cook at. While they might seem uncivilized to outsiders, Veerali tree houses have all the same comforts of the homes of central Ivendarea and its major cities. From a supply of fresh water delivered to all housing unites via pipe systems, to furniture that is grown in the same manner as the house its situated in, the Veerali have found a way to use their creativity and love for nature and magic to create some of the most unique living spaces in all of Ivendarea.

Type

House