We're authors

The Mar have fought the Drakes for resources for centuries, but even the wizards fear those rare times when the Drakes organize an invasion. To better understand why, read the book.

More than just authors

OTHER PROJECTS

HANGOUTS

COMICS

Kalysut

The kalysut is a species of tree that appears capable of growing virtually anywhere there is soil. Kalysut are recognizeable by their eight-pointed leaves (the primary component of torutsen) and their sweet sap (known as morutsen), but their other characteristics are entirely dependant upon the environment in which they grow. Kalysuts growing in a marsh in Marrishland have stilt-like roots that help them avoid trunk rot, for example, while kalysuts in Flecterra have larger leaves and longer trunks to help them compete with other rain forest trees.

This is not, as was once believed by scholars, a matter of speciation, as was illustrated by the Saat Demonstration (5,923 I.D.). Asgird Saat collected a seed from a tiny-leafed kalysut growing on the Gien Peninsula thousands of miles away and planted it near a few marsh-dwelling kalysuts in Marrishland. Not only did the seed germinate, the tree it produced resembled the other kalysuts in the area. Several scholars voiced doubts, believing the alleged transplant was, in fact, the offspring of one of the other marsh-dwelling kalysuts in the vicinity. Asgird Saat then reversed the experiment, taking a seed from a Mar kalysut and planting it in a garden on the Gien Peninsula, where a tiny-leaved kalysut soon grew. Later variations of the Saat Demonstration have produced similar results.

It is not surprising that the kalysut is regarded as a sacred tree in virtually all cultures, both within Marrishland and outside of it. While the Saat Demonstration brought yet another mystery of the kalysut to the attention of scholars, the tree's significance as the source of both morutsen and torutsen made it important to Mar wizards long before Asgird's birth.

(Contributed by Weard Krag Arkum)