Appearance

Dunarthos is merged with the World Tree, both spiritually and physically. He takes no form and does not manifest in any way to mortals. All that remains of the god that once was is the image of a weathered face set deep at the base of the trunk of the World Tree.

Tenets

Dunarthos exists in a state unlike other gods. Becoming one with the World Tree has both evolved and enlightened his once celestial form, making him a hybrid of nature itself. Along with the tenets that Dunarthos expects of his followers, there is a single rule that he demands from all. This rule, known as Nature’s Law, is written in every known language and script at the base of the World Tree. It is as follows:

Five things a Dunarthos follower should do:

1. The branches and roots of the World Tree lead to the planes beyond. Protect them and ensure that they remain healthy and active.

2. Reap only what has been sown. Never take more than you give, both in your life and from the land.

3. The True Fae are intrinsic to the forest and the lands. Protect them if they are in danger, for you are their guardians.

4. You do not live in mortal society and you are not bound by its rules or laws. There is only one law: Nature’s Law.

5. Be generous, but expect generosity in return. Those that take your gifts and do not give back to the lands shall see Sybil called to hunt.

Five things a Dunarthos follower should not do:

1. Suffer those that would corrupt nature. Unnatural decay and disease, as well as those that use them as tools, should be cleansed with extreme prejudice.

2. Waste, or suffer those who do. Use everything you take. What cannot be used should be returned to the land, including what others have failed give back.

3. Turn away those that would enter your forests as guests. Instead, offer them your bounty and generosity. If they break Nature’s Law, call forth the hunt.

4. Tolerate acts of industrialisation, no matter the benefit to you or your kin. Work towards reclaiming cities and towns so that they may be once again under Dunarthos’ protection.

5. Fail to train the hunters and farmers who would take their bounty from the land. Guide them, as a teacher, to respect and nurture.

Celestial Heaven: The World Tree, Yggdrasil, The Tree of Life, Arborvitae

When Dunarthos merged with the mortally wounded World Tree to heal the damage that the Firstborn Nidhogg had wrought, it took all that he was to stabilize its condition. This included abandoning his Celestial Heaven, with his former spiritual hunting grounds now set adrift, uncontrolled on the Astral Winds. The change was confusing for his longtime worshippers, to say the least.

Furthermore, while the World Tree connects to all the Planes in the Inner Realm, it is in and of itself its own plane of existence, making Dunarthos one of the only divine beings without their own celestial realm. While the Spirits of his faithful and his angelic servants are still bound to the tree and will reform here if slain elsewhere, the unique circumstances of his merger mean that Dunarthos does not have a full measure of control over his realm. While he is extremely powerful, he cannot bar access to those that seek to travel here, nor is he always aware of what goes on in his realm. This is especially true for the upper branches and the lower roots, where the Firstborn dragons Vedfolnir and Nidhoog, respectively, have their own domains.

Thus, most of Dunarthos’ faithful tend to keep to the Trunk of the World Tree, where Father Arthos’ influence dominates. The trunk of the World Tree is so utterly enormous that it defies description. Many of his eldest Spirits have attempted to circumnavigate its bulk, but most have given up after wasting years for little gain. Endless highways and smaller roads twist throughout the trunk, and if one could stand far enough back, these paths would appear as if they were but the wood grain itself! Natural law is rather loose along these wooded roads; gravity seems to often change direction and orientation, while most paths have vast sections where it would appear as if you were walking along the wall or ceiling to an outside observer.

Those who worshipped Dunarthos in life tended to gather in small, quaint villages carved into the bark along these roads. Here, they live as one with the natural world, taking special care so that their presence or any inadvertent neglect that might arise because of the former does not harm the World Tree any further. While these settlements are often places of respite and good cheer, the Spirits present there still have a duty to fulfil. While Dunarthos’ sacrifice stabilized the World Tree, it did not completely heal it, and Nidhogg’s ravaging of its lower roots continues unabated to this day. As Dunarthos himself is not able to freely walk his realm to heal the damage as it becomes known, he relies upon his followers to perform this noble task in his stead. It is a common sight to see followers of Sybil hunting the minions of Nidhogg, with Spirits sworn to Dunarthos following up behind to heal the land of the scars inflicted upon it by the preceding battles. While this ceaseless endeavour is often a thankless one, the Spirits that carry it out know full well the consequences that would arise should they fail. It should also be noted that Dunarthos’ most annoying pest in all his realm is annoying white squirrel who lives in the World Tree named Ratatoskr.

Realms Within The World Tree

• The Crown of the Sky

While many things in creation can be said to be infinite, nowhere, perhaps, is this state more obvious than the winding branches of the World Tree. No matter how far one might walk, one will never reach the end of a particular branch so long as one remains on Dunarthos’ plane itself. However, many portals do lie along their length, and if one were to traverse the planar doorways, one would find that the branch does, in fact, have an end. It just ends in another plane.

While most were destroyed long ago, a small number of stable portals to nearly all of the planes of existence can be found along these branches. Dunarthos cannot block these off entirely, but he will also not permit intruders free ingress onto his holy form. Guardians were required to protect these interplanar passages, and Dunarthos found them in a number of scattered clans of Therianthropes that dwelt among the branches. These were-creatures were once the devoted servants of a dead Einish god, but since then, they have rededicated their lives to the service of Dunarthos and Sybil, respectively. With their fearsome strength, animalistic fury, and sapient minds, precious few intruders are able to escape the reach of their claws and teeth. Only those capable of feats of great strength or stealth can hope to get past their watchful guard and traverse the portals beyond.

Although Dunarthos exerts great influence over those that dwell upon The Crown of the Sky, his dominion is challenged by the great dragon Vedfolnir. She is a curious beast, said to be more eagle than dragon in appearance and form. Her domain in the Age of Dreams was the sky itself, and she protected the Branches of the Dreamleaf and all the realms of life they led. While she abhors the nihilistic violence of her Firstborn brother Nidhogg, she shares with him a powerful hatred of Dunarthos and what she claims to be the corruption that was ushered forth with his merger with the World Tree. Thus, she and her servants wage eternal war against all who serve Father Arthos in the Branches above.

• The Roots Below

Must and the scent of rot hangs heavily in the air amongst the Roots of Yggdrasil, for while the branches are a place of light and life, the roots lead to nought but death and darkness. It is said in the earliest of days that the tree drew its sustenance from all that went to die at its base, and in turn, this decay fed the upper realms above.

This is still true to a degree, at least. The energies that escape from those that die travel along the roots to nourish the tree and all the life that dwells upon it. Not quite to the extent it once did, as in the earliest ages, the sheer power that flowed through the tree would have healed wounds like the ones Nidhogg dealt in mere minutes. Now, they linger and often require the additional efforts of Dunarthos’ faithful Spirits to fully heal.

The savage and crafty Firstborn Nidhogg makes his domain here, and along with his clans of Brown Draconians, he constantly gnaws upon the roots of Yggdrasil in his quest to kill the World Tree for good. The earliest legends of the Firstborn indicate that he was not always like this, and in the Age of Dreams, he was a protector of the Dreamleaf’s sacred roots, and jealousy guarded them against any that would seek to damage or pervert them. However, it seems that when the Dreamleaf was sundered, something within his mind broke along with it. With his sacred purpose no longer able to be fulfilled, he now seeks to simply end it all.

He had almost succeeded in his task during the Celestial War while the gods were otherwise occupied, and were it not for the sacrifice of Dunarthos and the intervention of Sybil, creation itself may have ended that day. Nidhogg still carries the wounds delivered by the spear of the Huntress, but he has not yet ceased his grim feast. Sybil would have slain him long ago, but Nidhogg alone knows how to fully navigate the twisted mass of decaying roots and has escaped every time she has gotten close enough to strike.

• The Wormwood

It is said that there is but one sacred place in all the World Tree’s many points of interest that neither Dunarthos nor any that serve him can access or even observe. At the heart of the great World Tree lies a realm unclaimed by any Dragon and forbidden to all Gods, yet open to any mortal willing and able to traverse its primaeval fields. Known to most beings as The Wormwood, it is the very source of primal nature itself, the original template for all that exists in the natural world. All that grows here is simply larger, healthier, and far more vibrant and alive than any plant found on Arthos, or indeed any other realm, including the World Tree itself! Indeed, any animal that walks, flies, or crawls in The Wormwood is as it was before the Dreamleaf was sundered, singular in form and name. There is but one Wolf, one Squirrel, and one Eagle, each fully sapient, incredibly powerful, and impossibly ancient. Only the primordial Hunt-Masters, ancient Spirits of unknown origins who owe allegiance to no one, are permitted to dwell permanently alongside the natives of this plane. Here they live in harmony with nature as it should be until they are summoned by mortals to punish those that would defile it elsewhere.

As wondrous as this pristine savage garden is, its verdant forests and golden hills hide an even greater treasure. It is said that in the earliest ages of creation, the blue dragon Doranth made his lair here upon these hallowed grounds. He did so that he might guard the arcane font known as the Eternal Wellspring, for it was believed to be the source of all magic that flowed throughout creation. When Doranth sundered the Dreamleaf to spite Salam, much of the Eternal Wellspring and its power was lost forever. The Axioms that fueled it were shattered, with their remains lost or sent screaming across Arthos and its neighbouring planes of existence.

And yet, so powerful was Doranth in those earliest days that many of his protections held firm and have kept Dunarthos, Sybil, and all other gods from entering The Wormwood or seizing control of the Eternal Wellspring ever since. While it is theorized that if the Wellspring still exists, it is likely only a trickle, that and the treasures Doranth left behind would likely grant near-godlike power for anyone with the necessary skills and knowledge required to exploit them.

• The Caverns of Fate

In an ancient, hidden alcove shorn into the tree lies the entrance to the Caverns of Fate. These ancient tunnels are the dwelling of the Norns, celestial servants of Dunarthos left behind by now-dead Gods. Fed from a natural and hidden font that not even Dunarthos himself can access, these tunnels supply magic throughout the tree, with said arcane power being sourced from three legendary wells. Known as Hvergelmir, Mimisbrunnr, and Urdarbrunnr, these arcane wells lie in well-hidden corners of this network, each fervently protected by one of the Norns. While it is rumoured that drinking from one of these wells would grant knowledge of powerful and long-forgotten magics, the Norns are so secretive that not even the greatest of scholars know what mystic gifts may rest within their waters. In fact, the Norns are so enigmatic that not even Sybil herself is granted entry, although many Spirits who served her or Dunarthos in life do join the Norns in service. Here they work to gently guide the flow of magic and repair the damage done by the conflict between Salam and Doranth that took place countless centuries ago.