Treant

Treants are guardians of the forest and speakers for the trees. As long-lived as the forests themselves, and seeing themselves as parents and shepherds rather than gardeners, treants are slow and methodical in most things, but terrifying when forced to fight in defense of their flock. Though they rarely seek out the companionship of the short-lived races, and have an inherent distrust of change, they have been known to tolerate those who seek to learn from their long, rambling monologues, especially if the pupils express a desire to help protect the wildlands. Yet against those who would threaten the forest, especially loggers who seek to harvest wood for lumber or those who try to clearcut a section of forest in order to build a fort or establish a town, the treants’ wrath is swift and devastating. They are particularly gifted at tearing down what others build — a trait that serves angry treants well.

Treants are massive plant creatures, whose appearance varies depending upon their species. They typically stand at least 16 feet tall, and often possess particularly long arms, especially in comparison to more traditionally humanoid races. Despite being plants, and having the biology thereof, Treants still take a humanoid form, possessing a clear set of arms and legs, alongside a distinctive head. Treants may appear in the form of coniferous or deciduous trees, depending upon their species, and due to this some Treants' foliage changes with the time of year, and others do not. Due to this, the appearance of a Treant varies greatly, and is primarily dependent upon where in the world they originate from.

Treants are long-lived and inclined to solitary, and due to this they have a good deal of trouble relating to the young races of the world, especially those who cannot be bothered to seek them out. Treants avoid highly settled and developed areas, and tend to be pacifistic, and due to this a Treant willingly entering a city is a rare sight, and usually causes buzzing gossip about the incoming wrath of nature. Treants will usually group up with one another to discuss goings-on over the course of an *Entmoot*, a week-long meeting between Treants of that particular part of the world - some Treants stride for hundreds of miles to attend. These Entmoots occur on the Summer solstice and Winter solstice, though the Summer one tends to be the more popularly attended event. Treants otherwise live alone, and can easily miss a few years of the world as they rest.

Young Treants are incredibly rare, and it is said that a new one is only born every 100 years or more. This is usually a significant event to be discussed at an Entmoot. How Treants reproduce is unknown, as they all take on a distinctly “male” appearance (though biologically seem to be genderless), and the Treants are quite happy to keep it this way.

As mentioned, Treants don't get along well with the younger, more sporadic races - Humans are far too busy and focused on burning trees for fuel to even consider seeking out a Treant, let alone having a nice long chat with it. Elves, Gnomes, and Turtlefolk tend to get along well with Treants, primarily on account of them being long-lived enough to actually develop a meaningful relationship with one of these creatures. Even more egregious than the fires of humanity are those of the Dwarves and Orcish folk; some things these two races may agree upon is that axes are good for cutting down trees, wood burns well, and Treants are a huge (literally) nuisance.

Treants do not age like other creatures do, and usually only perish through disease or defending their forested homes. An average Treant reaches maturity at 35 years of age, though most are far older than this.

Treants, being Huge creatures, stand between 16 and 32 feet tall, and weigh between 2 and 16 tons. This varies greatly, depending upon the Treant's species - players are encouraged to choose a particular type of tree, and base these statistics off of the chosen species.

• Ability Score Modifiers: Treants are massive, durable, and powerful, but struggle to keep up with world events. They possess +2 Strength, +4 Constitution, and -4 Intelligence.
• Size: Treants are Huge creatures.
• Type: Treants are Plant creatures with the Treant subtype.
• Base Speed: Treants stride at a base speed of 40 feet with their long legs.
• Languages: Treants begin speaking only Treant. Treants with positive Intelligence modifiers may select the following languages at character creation; Sylvan, Elvish, Gnomish, Orc, and Terran.
• Watchful Eyes: Treants possess Low Light Vision, out to 60 feet.
• Stand Still (Ex): Treants may assume the form of a Huge tree, as if using Tree Shape, at will.
• Shepherd of the Forest (Ex): Treants may freely communicate with Plants, as if under a constant Speak with Plants effect. Plants possess a starting attitude of Friendly towards the Treant, but not any non-Treant allies.