Noble Spirits

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Noble Spirits form the leadership and warrior caste of the Sylvaneth. Their Households form the standing armies of the Glades, and they are charged with preserving and adding to the racial memories of their people.[1a][2a]

Personality

Noble Spirits tend to be more sombre and serious than the Forest Folk. They also tend to be more high-minded, less prone to acting on instinct, and more likely to consider the nuances of a situation - though they are just as merciless to their enemies as their more flighty kin.[2b]

Abilities

As beings attuned to life magic, most Noble Spirits are able to travel within the realmroots; while many can travel only a relatively short distance, there are those who can travel far further. Many are also powerful spellcasters who know all manner of spells to help cure and maintain the balance of nature, as well as knowing ways to turn nature against those who seek to disrupt that balance.[1c][2f]

Keepers of Knowledge

Noble Spirits live for an exceedingly long time, and there are Treelord Ancients who remember the halcyon days of the Age of Growth. Their memories are also exceedingly accurate; it is common for the Treelord Ancients to commit the names and faces of every member of a wargrove to memory in order to sing of the battle in the future. This also means that elder Noble Spirits have access to centuries of unclouded memories from which they can recall all matter of ancient lore.[2b][2c][2f]

Yet even the hardiest tree will eventually fall. The Noble Spirits' most precious possessions are their Lamentiri, strange soul-seeds that they carry with them from the moment they are podborn. These "heartseeds" - as some mortals call them - collect the essence and memories of the bearer as well as contain echoes of the memories of previous generations. When a Noble Spirit dies, the Branchwyches harvest their lamentiri and return it to the soulpod groves, where the essence and memories contained within the seed are released, allowing future generations from that grove to benefit from the knowledge of the fallen. The racial memories contained within the lamentiri are said to reach back so far that they contain dim echoes of the Protectors and the World-That-Was. [1a][1b][2c]

Leaders

The Noble Spirits lead the Sylvaneth Clans and Glades in both peace and war. Most members of the Royal Moot are the Regents of the Glades, the old-growth Treelord Ancients who rule the glades, the powerful kinship-empires of the tree-folk. Other Ancients lead the clans of the glades, assisted by other Treelords who act as lorekeepers and generals. Beneath them are the captains of the martial Households and the druidic Branchwyches who protect and care for the vital soulpod groves.[1c][2d][2e]

These leaders perform similar duties to their equivalents among the "quickblooded" mortals, pursuing diplomacy with foreign powers and mediating internal disputes, planning the development of their holdings, and ensuring that their lands are prosperous and protected. However, there is one key difference between these lords of the sylvaneth and those of mortals: the Spirit Song. Sylvaneth leaders and other elder Noble Spirits amplify this mystic chorus that suffuses sylvaneth life. With it they ensure that their clans and households act in harmony, communicate across vast distances, and in times of war sing the dark notes that call for the mustering of a wargrove.[2a][2d][2e]

Warriors

Warfare is mainly the province of the younger Treelords and the Tree-Revenants, though the Ancients are powerful fighters and spellcasters when sufficiently roused. The younger Treelords act as captains to the Households while the main body of the formations are Tree-Revenants. The elder Treelords and Ancients often think of these younger Noble Spirits as impulsive and aggressive, but even a young Treelord can have over a century of personal experience and the knowledge contained within their lamentiri to guide them.[1c][2f]

The standing armies of the clans - the Households - spend times of peace garrisoning enclaves and places of power and patrolling their clan's holdings. When it is time for war, they are the first to respond to the calls of their leaders to join the wargrove.[1b][2b]

It is usually one of the most senior members of a clan who begins to sing the Song of War to begin mustering a wargrove. When the other Lords of the Clan join in the harmony, the call can travel great distances - and even further if it is sung from a place of power. Once a sufficient strength has been mustered, the Noble Spirit who called for the assembly acts as the wargrove's general, supported by trusted lieutenants selected from the other Noble Spirits and Free Spirits who have answered their call.[2b][2e]

Sources