Guardian Tree
Through my time in Gridania I have seen many interestingthings while travelling through the Black Shroud. Many adventurers have ridden past me on beasts I would imagine might cleave me in two with a single swipe. I have fought magic wielding imps -their use of ice magic does little, but scar my heart for how could creatures of such impotence control an immense force like magic where I cannot? I have slain a golem and met two bizarre characters who I know as Yda and Papalymo. But in all my quests and chores through the Shrouds I had never seen something as strange as the Guardian Tree.
I shall start from the beginning. Miounne informed me ofthis blessed tree. It is said to be the oldest tree in the forest, worshiped by the Gridanians and looked over by the Elementals.
Permit me a tangent, I would have a word of these Elementals.The Gridanians both fear and love these invisible forces, much like one might revere the gods. It strikes me as odd that they hold these spirits at such a high level of respect. There must be a connection between the Elementals and the Twelve. Perhaps these spirits were sent by the Twelve in order to look of the Shroud, which makes me surmise that the Gridanians are mere guests in this tall maze of trees and beasts. Men patter around constantly cautious of these wrathful Elementals, ought not to anger them and cause much damage to Gridania’s city, this shall lead nicely into the next chapter of the events that took place.
Once Miounne had finished her lecture, albeit an interestingone it was a lecture all the same, she dropped what one might call an anvil on my head. This sacred tree, which is held dear by wrathful Elementals, is to be attacked by the beastmen Ixali.  I had tospring into action- but first I met with a bowlord named Lewin. First I gave him a letter from Miounne’s describings of the current predicament to the man at his office. He was outraged and told me to head to the tree.
The bowlord and I met in Everschade in front of the massingparty of our Ixali enimies. Beast men as of late had been acting… orderly. I could not help but notice that they had been forming plans, sewing seeds of disruption in the forest to anger the elementals and force our hand. They were acting as if they have a leader, a strategist even. At least that’s what I had hypothesised and how right I had been.
![[Image: 22989b157015fb423f37624591d77bcf.png]](http://gyazo.com/22989b157015fb423f37624591d77bcf.png)
But there we stood in front of the oldest tree in the shrouds.I had pictured something the size of a castle as age permits larger size, at least with nature. But the Guardian tree was no bigger than any other, hells it was smaller than some of the ones around it.
Which leads to only one deduction: it was fuelled, at leastin some part, by magic. The tree is not bound by the laws of nature such as the size of giants, which bordered the lake in which the tree resided, are. Truly this place was special and needed protection.
Ah- sadly I must stop at this point. As the airship I write this on is entering its dock in Ul’dah. I shall continue at a later date, I pray my memories have not faded of the events that took place.
