Ramblebark Tree

What Is a Ramblebark Tree?

The Ramblebark is a very rare and mysterious tree. Most never know they have seen one unless they return to where they had noticed a tree then realized it was missing, roots and all. Even more intriguing, there is no gaping hole in the ground to prove that a tree had actually stood there.
These trees are full of magic and they vanish from one place in the world to appear in another. Why they do this is as much a mystery as how they do it. Some scholars think it is due to changes in the soil or water or maybe even the weather. No one has ever found a Ramblebark seed. To this day, only one person has ever told of seeing a sapling.
What more is known of the Ramblebark Tree is in a bardic tale written by Pezi Bessiburg, a rather rakish sort of fellow who spent most of his life running out of towns. Always being on the run from the families of young women did not make him much of a reliable source, but most scholars still consider what he wrote to hold some truths.

Pezi's Tale of a Tree

Pezi began his tale with him wandering the countryside and deciding to rest on top of a hill. He watched the clouds break, letting the sun shine through. There was a gentle rush of air blowing differently from the wind and he turned to see why.
There stood a magnificent tree whose leafy branches reached above him, but not so close as to block his view of the sunshine. A strange aroma wafted from the tree and he felt light-headed for a moment.

HillTree by Bessi

MoonTree by Pezibear

The tree began to sway its branches and many twigs while its bark groaned. With great wonderment, Pezi realized he was understanding words! At first, the tree shared his comforting joy at the sunlight breaking through the clouds. Too bewildered to do more, Pezi simply nodded back to the tree for it to continue.
Pezi then was told a tale of how one night, beneath the shining stars, a lone wolf came by the tree and howled to the moon. It mourned the loss of its pack to fur hunters and swore its vengence.

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Pezi, finding his voice, asked the tree how it managed to disappear. The tree told him that one day it just could. All its life it had grown in a forest with many other trees. There it enjoyed the flavor of the soil and happily grew to reach more and more sunlight.
Then, on one fateful day in the time of morning frosts, the tree was busy getting ready for its winter nap by coloring its leaves so they could fall. The thuds of fellow trees falling before their time echoed to its roots. The terrible thuds neared until the clear ringing of metal to wood shivered its branchlets.

Realizing doom was about to fall upon it, the tree wished with all its heartwood to not fall. Suddenly, there was an answer coming through its roots from another tree, telling it to feel this new dirt. The tree reached for this soil and in the next instant the forest was gone. It had moved to a strange chilly tundra where it could take its winter nap far away from those who swung sharp metal.
Pezi cheered and smiled at the tree escaping the woodcutters. In his own thoughts he felt terribly conflicted. Wood was very much needed but the thought of killing such a spectacular tree to get it sickened him. Somehow sensing his feelings, the tree assured Pezi that, like those that run about, some are meant to simply serve the seasons while others are meant to contemplate beyond those seasons.

NorthTree by mbll

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SeaTree by Bessi

With a final swaying and creak, the tree told Pezi it was time to enjoy the soils of the sea and vanished. As was the way of Ramblebarks, there was no hole or any sign that the tree had been there. Or so Pezi thought until he saw something tiny waving in the wind. Kneeling down, he saw the tiniest of saplings growing where a mighty tree had stood a moment ago.
Filled with a sudden need to foster this child-tree, Pezi dug in his pack and took out his only jar. It had somehow broken during his wandering but could still hold enough dirt to carry the sapling. With great care, he scooped the tiny sapling into it. The jar was no place for the sapling to grow, but Pezi had an idea.

He searched for a deep forest to plant the sapling far away from any axes. While he traveled, he told the sapling many tales, including his meeting with its parent tree.
Finaly, there came the day when he was deep in a large forest. He set the sapling down to transplant it. The tiny sapling swayed good-bye and vanished, taking the broken jar with it. He never saw the sapling again.

BabyTree by ejaugsburg

I never thought that I would be,
Writing the story of a tree.
I stopped upon a hill to rest.
A tree appeared up on its crest.
With creaking bark and twigs that sway,
The tree sure had a lot to say.
It spoke of singing to the moon,
With a wolf foretelling doom.
It once went north in the crisp of fall;
Fleeing from the axe and maul.
With one last sway it said to me,
The time had come to seek the sea.

— by Pezi Bessiburg
Performed by Janet, Queen of World Anvil

Uses by Desertrose7

THINGS MADE FROM A RAMBLEBARK TREE

Finding any bits of a Ramblebark Tree is almost as difficult as finding the tree itself. These are mostly shed branches with a whole dead tree found once in a few generations. Taking such parts can lead to deadly clashes with the fey, who consider all parts of a Ramblebark Tree sacred. This makes Ramblebark bits even more costly and rare.
Powdered Ramblebark Bark: Inhaling a pinch grants a person the ability to vanish and reappear five feet away. This can be repeated several times for about a minute. In addition, this person can speak to and understand the languages of plants for an hour.
Ramblebark Wand: Crafted from branches or twigs from Ramblebark trees, the wielder can vanish and reappear somewhere else up to a mile away. This can be done up to three times before the wand weakens. At every dawn the wand recharges one use.
Ramblebark Sage: Made from a blend of ground Ramblebark heartwood and sage, this incense is burned with wood chips from another type of tree. A person who meditates in the aromatic smoke for a quarter hour will find their mind flooded with a feeling for where every living tree of the wood chips kind is upon the world. Then, until the next dawn, that person can touch one of those trees and instantly travel to another such tree anywhere else in the world.