Voluspa - remnant of the Great Forest

Faction Name: Voluspa, remnant of the Great Forest
Race: Treants (Giants)
-- Massive: Treants Move at heavy cavalry speeds on open terrain, are more resilient and have oversized weapons.
-- Resource intensive: Each city district has 2 construction slots instead of 3. Treants cannot use cavalry.
Leader(s): Havamal Vardtradgren
The Vardtradgren are grand trees, grown so old and wise from all the seasons they have seen that their spirits and roots are said to touch with Vardtrad itself. Some of these trees, despite having stopped moving altogether, still speak and whisper their wisdom to those who ask and listen. The eldest and wisest of the treants able to make the journey here from Allis, Havamal, has taken root in Grimnismal. He has grown tall, and is soon to be enshrined as the first Vardtradgren in the new wood.

Capital: Grimnismal (Sacred Site)
Description:
The city of Grimnismal is one with the surrounding forest. Underbrush is kept to a minimum, and the smaller saplings are carefully managed so that there is a comfortable amount of space between the larger trunks. Walkways, stairs, and ramps wind around some of the large trees, leading up to homes and structures carefully suspended under the canopy. On the forest floor, buildings are made from a union of living trees, stacked stones, and the carved stone rubble of a great castle or temple that once stood, majestic and proud, in these grounds. In some places, the mossy carved stones are left where they lay, with paths and flower gardens artistically made between them to pay respect to whomever once built here long ago. Patches of rich tilled soil are kept near homes and in some of the gardens, for treants to put down their roots and rest near to the smaller folk who they protect.

Near the center of the newly growing city-wood, is a relatively open glade, well tended and quiet, where a great, black-barked oak tree spreads its roots. The tree receives many visitors, and its bark is occasionally seen to shift into patterns resembling on old, bearded face. Among his visitors are the chiefs of most aspects of the state, and Skydda and Sotlila often come hither to share words or take instruction. Though Havamal grows weary, his wisdom is still needed, and so he remains mindful of the world around his trunk, dozing and staving off the long sleep he craves, where he will dream together with Verdtrad.
Other Cities (if owned):
Villages:
Kerlaugar (Good Ground)
Ormt (Wood)
Kormt (Good Ground)

Hero (Name, description and stats):
Skydda Skuldgren
A tall, slender warrior with snow-white blooms cascading through her foliage and smooth crape myrtle bark. Despite her size, her movements are surprisingly quick and graceful. Her blows and deflections, with blade or unarmed, are augmented by flashes of magical energy supplied by her own life force and the life of the forest she protects. She strides quietly and smiles warmly, but fiercely protects the forest and its "little ones" from outside threats.
Warrior: [|][|]
General:
Governor:
Piety:
Subterfuge:
Exceptional Strength: +I Warrior rank

Sotlila Verdandigren
A demure lilac, somewhat short among her race and shrouded in beautiful purple blooms. Sotlila has a talent for directing efforts and managing records and resources, as long as she does not feel burdened by authority. She helps to govern affairs in Voluspa, and allocate and record costs, so that Havamal need not be burdened with every writ and ledger. Lately, she has been too busy to fully realize how vital her assistance has become. When she is forced or needed to fight, she is skilled with the longbow, and prefers to support allies from a distance.
Warrior:
General:
Governor: [|]
Piety: [|]
Subterfuge: [|]
Seer (attendant): +I Subterfuge, +I Piety

Deity
Deity Name: Vardtrad, the Life Tree
Source: Monument - Can construct 1 Monument in every city district for 2 Stone and 12 gold. Monuments grant +1 Divinity every turn, an additional +2 Divinity upon construction, and do not take up a construction slot in the district.

Powers:
Possession - Your deity possesses one of your Heroes for a short time, channeling enormous power through them. All of your Hero's ability ranks are doubled for a short time and gains godlike powers tied to their current traits. When the possession ends your Hero dies and cannot be resurrected.

Natural Deity - Your deity connects with a natural environment and influences it to aid your faction. Foliage and vines move aside, food is easy to find, and paths are always clear to see. Choose one type of terrain: Forest. Soldiers can move through forests without penalty and meet their supply needs with foraging. When founding Villages in this terrain you have a slightly increased chance of finding more resources.

Nature's Wrath - Your deity causes the land to rise up against an enemy. Rock-slides occur as they pass by, trees fall in their path, and food withers and dies before it can be foraged. Enemies within the region suffer increased attrition and reduced movement speed. 5 Divinity.
Pick one more:

Camouflage - A regiment of units melds into the terrain, becoming as one with it and nearly impossible to detect. Costs 3 divinity/regiment (1,000 units) and there must be terrain that is easily melded into, such as thick foliage or a rocky slope.

Description:
Vardtrad is a vast, deific Ash tree who's limbs and trunk span the distances between nine worlds. It is said that the silhouette of its upper branches can be seen from every corner of the divine realms, and the shadows of it's roots in every cavern of the hells. It possesses a will of its own as any living thing, which grows greater with the thoughts and feelings of every old growth that succumbs to age, resting into a union with it, and becoming one with the branch on which our world resides. And just as old life eventually tires and turns to the Life Tree for succor, so too does new life continue to sprout from it, as tiny saplings are born as treants. Vardtrad is content to offer shade to any being who rests beneath its branches, to bear fruit for any who hunger, and to host flourishing life in any of the worlds that touch its boughs. It is, after all, a tree. But woe to those who would seek to gnaw on its bark; life is a gift not to be pilfered or plundered.

Culture:
The Little Ones
Voluspa's population is largely made up of treants, but there are also an assortment of other races, predominantly elves, humans, and sylphs, to be found there. Many of these are the children of folk who once fled to the forest, and were granted refuge from the political wars and strife outside, while a few are refugees who were lucky enough to be in the right place during the last days of Aliss. These "little ones" are protected by Voluspa, and considered to be among its citizens. They are almost entirely seen as non-combatants, although there are rare exceptions. In Voluspa society, despite their frailty, little ones are not treated as second-class folk or inferior to the tree giants, they are merely small and better suited to other tasks, like gardening and craftsmanship. Many of the little ones can be seen tending lovingly to those trees that were not long ago treants, especially to those that carried them through the branches of Vardtrad.

Gender
Treants, in their oldest tongues, have no words for male and female, for they are like trees. They do not technically have two different sexes, though through their long history of interaction with folk from other races, they have almost entirely adopted terms that are more easily understood by those who speak the common tongues. Based mostly on their physical appearance and voice, individuals are reliably called by one gender or the other. A rough-barked and wide-trunked treant like an oak would generally appear masculine to foreign eyes, while a lithe and smooth-barked ash with a feminine shape would be called by female pronouns. The pitch of their voices does not often contradict the assumptions made based on their appearance, and so a great deal of confusion is averted, except for rare cases. Fortunately, since treants have little preconceived notions of gender stereotype besides what is brought from outside, they do not take insult at being called the "wrong gender."

Old Age
In the late years of an elder treant's life, having seen many seasons and experienced all that life is likely to offer them, they are wont to take root in the earth, and gradually continue to slow down in their motions and speech, until finally, they stop entirely and remain as a tree. It is believed that, just as treants grow as sprouts from the twigs of Vardtrad, so in their eternal sleep do they join their roots back to it, and become twigs themselves. Some treants, having lived very long, and grown wise, take root and begin to slow, but continue to share their wisdom and learn even as they come to the end of their lives as tree giants. These trees tend to grow very tall and wide, and are cared for delicately by their kin and the little ones, while they continue to share their wisdom and offer direction for many years before they stop speaking. These Great Old Trees are called Verdtradgren, and are believed to be branches of the Life Tree growing into the world. Ceremonial stones are placed around them, and they are cared for long after they have stopped speaking, for they are thought to provide guidance to the younger children of the forest even in their sleep. This belief, in light of recent events, has become universal in what remains of Voluspa.

History:
Long did the Great Forest of Voluspa exist unchanging. It was feared as wild and strange by superstitious folk, revered as mystical by pilgrims and vagabonds, and ignored by politicians and governments. It was a quiet place, safe for those who had nowhere else to turn to take refuge from the world outside. Rumors spoke of a protective force there that would defend the helpless from harm, while armies and bandits were unwelcome. That force was known to a few as the treants. They cared little for the matters of outside politics in their world, as long as their forest was safe from harm, but they were known to have compassion on the smaller folk who fled into the forest seeking refuge from debts, unfair sentences, drafts, or other hard fates.

When the First Sundering shook the world of Allis, every tree and rooted treant felt the disturbance. It was as if the very bough of Verdtrad on which the world rested had been shaken. The elder Verdtradgren stirred uneasily in their sleep, and those who still spoke whispered shakily of terrible fate. The Great Forest carefully guarded their borders, watching and waiting to see what would come. But the world began to settle, and the tremors slowed, and so Voluspa returned to normal, believing that this new disturbance would pass, like everything else they had yet witnessed.

Yet the elder Verdtradgren still rested fitfully, shaking their leaves and murmuring of "cracks forming in the timbers." "It must be stopped." they would whisper to passers by. An ominous looming settled into the atmosphere of the wood, and many of the souls taking temporary refuge there found that they no longer felt so safe, and fled. Of the foreign little folk, only those who had raised children in the forest, who had truly come to call the place home, chose to stay as the Second Sundering stirred the great old trees from their slumber.

"Get out! Get away!" they cried in deep, rumbling voices that echoed with memories from eons past. "You must get away... the branch is cracking,... the fruit is rotting..."

As the world crumbled beneath them, Voluspa tried desperately to hold on and weather the storm. The elder treants beseached the woken Verdtradgren for more information about what manner of new threat they faced, but they could say little more, with every word shedding leaves and their bark peeling and turning a foul odor. The forest began to die. Little by little, the water dried up, the very earth which supported the great roots began to turn to dust, and the air grew thin. Then the refugees returned. Starved and torn souls came from many corners of the world, sick and dying, bringing news that nothing was left of their homelands.

The elder treants, faster than ever before, felt themselves growing old and slowing as they realized that the world was ending. Nothing more was there to see in the world. Nothing more that could be done. Allis was coming to an end, and there was little left to do but to join their memories with Verdtrad and go to sleep. But of them, a few could not sleep under the din of woe and dispair. The treants uttered words to Verdtrad which they had heard many times, but were unaccustomed to speaking themselves. "Please help us."

As little remained of Allis, one of the eldest Verdtradgren stirred, and began to enterwine its roots and branches. They were not one treant in life, but two who had grown old and stopped together. They began to softly glow as the Life Tree answered the call of its saplings, and where once there was a pair of the great old trees, entwined forever in their rest, a truly massive trunk grew up from the ground, that could be seen from every part of the wood. "Come to us." It echoed. "Walk through us, through our branches. We will guide you."

And so the treants of Voluspa walked through the branch of Verdtrad which grew to save them, to a world resting in another of its boughs. They carried with them the little ones who they had grown fond of, moving in a herd across the stars in the steps which would normally carry them from one side of the wood to another. And when they looked behind them to see who followed, they saw nothing.

When they emerged into the new world, they found themselves once again in a quiet forest. Though this one was somewhat strange to them, they spread out to see if they might make a new home here. Very near to the place they appeared, they stumbled upon the ruins of ancient stone buildings with elaborate carvings still legible on some of the pieces. It was clear that some ancient civilization once considered this place important. And so from an old ending, Voluspa built a new beginning. Grimnismal, "a tale of great loss."

Starting Resources:

7 Buy Points to begin with an additional Hero
5 Buy Points: Specify what resource you want (Sacred Site) available at a given settlement (Grimnismal)
3 Buy Points: 2 Stone, 1 Population


Starting Location:

Accepted

Resources:
Grimnismal: Sacred Site
Kerlaugar: Good Ground
Ormt: Wood
Kormt: Good Ground

Hero Traits:
Skydda Skuldgren: Exceptional Strength - +I Warrior rank
Sotlila Verdandigren: Seer (attendant) - +I Subterfuge, +I Piety

Unit Templates:

Protectors
For centuries, perhaps millenia, the treants of Voluspa have offered shelter to meek little ones who fled to the forest. Sometimes, other little ones, violent, evil, or simply stubborn, would pursue them. Sometimes monsters would make their way into the woods. On some occasions, small armies made campaign against Voluspa after someone took refuge there, or after they refused to allow war to be waged across their territory. While they are not inclined towards war, for the treants, it is a normal part of life that many of them must remain disciplined and ready to defend their little ones and their home. And they are tree giants. Their bark skin serves as armor and protection from arrows, their own limbs as weapons when pointed spears or branches are not available.
Armor: Medium Armor
Weapon: Spear and Shield
Movement: Treant
Training: Militia
Total Cost: 5 gold, 1 iron

Elder Protectors
With age comes experience. These treants have seen battle, and are better prepared to defend their home without being piled on and pulled down. Their bark has been hardened, and their limbs grown more powerful. They often carry weapons made from wood, enfused with metal, in the treant way of smithing, or fight using rocks in their hands.
Armor: Medium Armor
Weapon: Hand weapon and Shield
Movement: Treant
Training: Professional
Total Cost: 6 gold, 2 iron, 1 gold/turn

Shagbark Glaves
Not all treants have the same thick bark as the oaks, pines, and redwoods who grow to be protectors. These bark-shedding treants are no less called to defend helpless little ones, but they are forced to rely on weapons that let them deflect blows and fight using agility. Many hickories, sycamores, and birches have had long staves made for them with metal infused to form the end into a leaf-like blade. They also frequently carry javelins.
Armor: Light Armor
Weapon: Polearm
Movement: Treant
Training: Militia
Miscellaneous: Throwing Weapons
Total Cost: 6 gold, 1 iron

Shagbark Archers
Even when many of the trees around are the remains of relatives and friends, the forest is still full of regular old trees. Treants can tell friend from lumber, as can the little ones who have lived among them. So for those treants not confident in close combat, and a few brave little ones who sit on their shoulders, quality bows and arrows are easily made. Daily practice together with their built-in high vantage point gives them vicious marksmanship.
Armor: Light Armor
Weapon: Bow
Movement: Treant
Training: Professional
Total Cost: 6 gold, 1 gold/turn

Sequoia Warriors
The great sequoia warriors have not been needed by Voluspa in a few centuries, though their decendants have kept records of their traditions and training over the years. Sequoias are giants, even among other treants. The weapons they wield are metal-infused swords the size of smaller trees. In war time, they have metal infused into hard scales which they hammer onto their already hard and thick bark. And even during times of peace, they spend hours training to prepare themselves, in case they are called to follow in their grandparents footsteps.
Armor: Heavy Armor
Weapon: Great Weapon
Movement: Treant
Training: Elite
Miscellaneous: Throwing Weapons
Total Cost: 11 gold, 3 iron, 2 gold/turn

Druids
Some of Voluspa's people, treant and little ones alike, are in the habit of taming pets. Perhaps it is because of how in tune with nature the people have become, but the bond between master and animal becomes strong, strong enough that they would both fight and die to protect their home and each other. These treants and adventurous little ones keep great wolves and bears as loyal pets, who will follow them wherever they go. Familiar enough with the countryside outside of the forest, the little ones teach the treants how to forage and move quickly everywhere the Life Tree's blessing does not extend. The treants make vests and shields out of shed bark for the little ones to wear as protection.
Armor: Light Armor
Weapon: Spear and Shield
Movement: Treant
Training: Militia
Miscellaneous: Scouts and Warbeasts
Total Cost: 8 gold

Voluspa's current settlements and their approximate positions (As of turn 5 actions):

(1) Grimnismal (Sacred Site, City, Capital, 1 district)
(2) Kerlaugar (Good Ground, Village)
(3) Ormt (Wood, Village)
(4) Kormt (Good Ground, Village)
(5) Honungsbin (Luxury: Honey, Village)
(6) Jarnrika (Iron, Village)