Dendromancy

The Lords of the Primal Wilds have their own ageless language and alphabet, and the mortals who first made pacts with those fickle eldritch beings learned their tongue — and in the process discovered that the Names that the Primal Lords gave certain trees held power that mortals could wield for their own purposes.

Mastery of Dendromancy requires learning the Primal Names for the sacred trees, and understanding the metaphysical meanings held within them. Once mastered, a Dendromancer can use the woods of those trees, inscribed with their Name, to call forth the magics held within them, using them as a conduit to the power of the Primal Wilds.

If you wish to play an Dendromancer, craft wands or small talismans out of the wood of each of the sacred trees, inscribing the symbol for their Name upon the object. Then, when you’re casting a spell or performing a ritual, call upon one or more trees by their Name, brandishing the wand or talisman as you do so, to evoke their power and shape the magic.

Note: Dendromancy is a form of magic based on a modified version of Ogham, the “tree alphabet” that was used in parts of the Gaelic world before the advent of Christianity. It is not intended for use as a historical study of that language/alphabet or its cultural heritage, as it has been modified heavily to suit the purposes of the game.

<aside> 🍃 The exact properties of the Sacred Trees are still under construction, but if you want to get a general idea of them you can look up the list of Ogham trees to get a sense for what trees are going to be on the list.

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Grassweaving

The Dendromancers of Tomarr and Sunderwyl, lacking access to many of the Sacred Trees of the tradition, have taken to using the grasses of their homelands instead, braiding and twisting them into complex shapes to bind and shape spells and rituals in place of the sacred woods of traditional Dendromancy.

Grassweavers fashion symbols and talismans out of braided grasses and grain stalks, creating unique and sometimes very elaborate shapes for use in rituals. The runic symbols of Dendromancy are still used, but rather than carving them into wood they are fashioned into tokens that are then braided or tied into a woven grass talisman. Battle mages wear such talismans on their person, evoking the power they’ve placed within the object to cast spells. The saying goes that the younger and older the woven talisman, the more powerful it is — younger, because the green grasses and fresh grain stalks still hold the vibrancy of life within them; older, because as they are used for ritual after ritual, the talismans that are durable enough to survive this use slowly absorb the magic channeled through them, becoming almost enchanted in their own right.

If you wish to play a Grassweaver, make or buy some woven straw figures, preferably ones small enough that you can carry around or even wear on your person. Use them as the focus and material components of your spells and rituals, using Dendromancy symbology for the chants and verbal components.