Post by Da Boss on Jul 5, 2020 1:31:24 GMT -5
Deep in the woods that house the Sept of the Moon Bow, and bordering on the Cumberland River just upstream from the Caern Heart itself, is a grove of very ancient trees. Just about all of the area's native tree deciduous tree population can be found in the grove, but it is the ash that are the most common. Their branches all climb far overhead, intermingling to the point that even in the middle of the day it is only isolated beams of sunlight that manage to reach the forest floor. During the winter teir bare branches perform a delicate dance that echoes with each gust of the wind as they smack into each other.
Down upon the forest floor, the area is heavily cultivated. That isn't to mean that the grass is manicured to a certain height. Merely that the various shrubs and weeds that are common throughout the forests of Kentucky aren't present here as someone seems to have gone through a great deal of trouble in making sure this place is passable and kept free of such things. The grass that grows here is allowed to grow long, and sways in each gentle breeze that manages to blow through the grove.
Each tree within the grove bears some kind of marking on its bark; a place where something was carved into the tree, and seems to continue to be carved into the tree, so that the oldest of them now have places that are carved more than an inch deep as the tree bark has continued to grow and expand. Although, on some of the oldest, the finer points to the carving seem to have faded with time as the bark became weakened in those areas and fell off from the continued application of whatever was used to carve them.
Walking through the grove there are few trees towards the middle that do not have some kind of marking on them, although it is not all of the trees that bear these scars. A careful study of the area will reveal to the dedicated observer that it is the age of the tree when the marks are made that seems to correlate to when an individual may have earned their place within the grove. As such, unlike at other Septs, there does not appear to be any rhyme or reason as to the placement of the symbols which are meant to honor the fallen. The only exception to this little rule is at the outside edge of the grove. Here there is nothing but carvings into the younger trees. It is as if some great and cataclysmic event has taken place which caused there to not be enough trees located farther into the grove of the appropriate age.
Scattered throughout the grove there are a number of places where people have left things behind; a small carved icon, food, flowers, a little woven basket. There are signs that these things have been left next to the majority of the trees at some point in time, but judging from the decayed and rotting state of what has been left before the older trees it is clear that these people are less well remembered by those that visit the grove.
Down upon the forest floor, the area is heavily cultivated. That isn't to mean that the grass is manicured to a certain height. Merely that the various shrubs and weeds that are common throughout the forests of Kentucky aren't present here as someone seems to have gone through a great deal of trouble in making sure this place is passable and kept free of such things. The grass that grows here is allowed to grow long, and sways in each gentle breeze that manages to blow through the grove.
Each tree within the grove bears some kind of marking on its bark; a place where something was carved into the tree, and seems to continue to be carved into the tree, so that the oldest of them now have places that are carved more than an inch deep as the tree bark has continued to grow and expand. Although, on some of the oldest, the finer points to the carving seem to have faded with time as the bark became weakened in those areas and fell off from the continued application of whatever was used to carve them.
Walking through the grove there are few trees towards the middle that do not have some kind of marking on them, although it is not all of the trees that bear these scars. A careful study of the area will reveal to the dedicated observer that it is the age of the tree when the marks are made that seems to correlate to when an individual may have earned their place within the grove. As such, unlike at other Septs, there does not appear to be any rhyme or reason as to the placement of the symbols which are meant to honor the fallen. The only exception to this little rule is at the outside edge of the grove. Here there is nothing but carvings into the younger trees. It is as if some great and cataclysmic event has taken place which caused there to not be enough trees located farther into the grove of the appropriate age.
Scattered throughout the grove there are a number of places where people have left things behind; a small carved icon, food, flowers, a little woven basket. There are signs that these things have been left next to the majority of the trees at some point in time, but judging from the decayed and rotting state of what has been left before the older trees it is clear that these people are less well remembered by those that visit the grove.