It’s time for the next installment of, this still unnamed, series. This week I’ll be talking about the antagonist/villains of the story. The Brotherhood of the Great Tree.




Before we talk about the Brotherhood, I need to tell you about the Great Tree.

The Great Tree is a 1000 foot tall tree that is the size of a city block. It is the oldest living thing on this world. It is shaped like a Weeping Willow but the leaves change from a deep dark blue to a silvery grey. It is unlike anything in the land of the Five Countries and the Forest.

The origin’s of the tree are unknown to the Brotherhood.

It comes from a different time. It is the last remnant of a long forgotten age, as far as we know. It isn’t magical or the source of all life, as the Brotherhood, believes. It’s simply a stubborn survivor.  That’s not to say that it is self aware. I haven’t decided about that yet.

The tree isn’t just older than every living thing on the planet it predates the existence of their species.

The tree was there when the world went from vibrant and fruitful to an empty husk and then back again.  It is easy to understand why the Brotherhood worships it.

But how did they find it?

The origin of the Brotherhood is not as glorious as they would like you to believe.

                            
They would tell you that the first Brother was a wise man who journeyed through the Forest looking for the source of all life. One day, guided by a golden bird, he found the great tree. As he basked in it's glory a lone leaf fell to the ground. When it landed it disappeared in a bright silver flash and in it's place where flowers where none had been before. This was a sign to the man that he had found the source of life.

Later other men came and attempted to burn the tree. The wise man, though old, fought them off as best he could. Just as he was going to be slain a branch fell from the tree. The old man lifted the branch and used it as a staff to drive the men off.

The old wise man became the first Brother of the Great Tree. The highest members of the Brother hood know the truth.

Thousands of years ago a woman, escaping from some long forgotten evil and heavily pregnant, stumbled upon the tree. She was astounded by it and sought shelter under it’s branches. That night the evil that she was fleeing arrived at the tree. It could not find her and left to continue the search.

The woman, believing the tree had saved her, made it her home. She soon gave birth to triplets. Three boys, a brotherhood. They grew and lived under the tree. She dedicated her life and the lives of her sons to the tree. That is the origin of the Brotherhood.

As the years went on, that bloodline died and the Brotherhood went from blood relatives to men, always men, whose lives had been sworn to the tree. Like the original Brother’s these men had no choice in the matter.

That brings us to the Brotherhood, the modern version, proper. It’s a religion that on the surface appears to be unconcerned with expansion and converting unbelievers.  Instead they seem to be content with the current size and power of their organization.

Is that actually the case? I’ll answer that later.

Let’s talk about the actual structure of the Brotherhood.

First you have the Leaves. These Brothers are the base of the religion. They are the rank and file with a hierarchy, based on age, all their own.  The Leaves live a life of poverty and servitude. They spend their entire lives tending to the tree and each other.

Certain Leaves are tasked with protecting the Great Tree. They are still Leaves but are also known as The Bark. They are no better than normal Leaves but spend their time protecting the tree from outside hazards, such as wild animals, fires, and other dangers.

Slightly above the Leaves are the Seeds. These men travel the five countries seeking out the next generation of the Brotherhood, and doing good deeds. These are the most pious, and truest believers of the Brotherhood.

Above them are the Rakes and Trimmers.

The Rakes are Brothers whose only job is to track those who have fled the Brotherhood, or Leaves on the Wind, as they are called.  These are boys, like Token, who flee before indoctrination and older Brothers who have tired of the life they were forced to lead.

Rakes are warriors and trackers. They are a small contingent of highly trained Brothers who are always on the move. The Rakes are highly feared amongst the Brothers because they are the only members of the Brotherhood who are allowed to harm and even kill a Brother of the Great Tree.

The Trimmers are a very secret sect of the Brotherhood. They are a small league of assassins and thieves that are tasked with eliminating possible threats to the Brotherhood. Unlike the Rakes they are not allowed to harm other Brothers, although that might change as the story goes on.

While the Leave’s tend to the grounds around the tree and the outside of the tree, the inside (It is partially hollow.) is looked after by the Rings. These men tend to the Great Tree on a different level.

The Leave’s protect the tree from the outside, the Rakes and Trimmers go abroad to deal with issues, but the Rings work inside the tree.

They have two jobs. To keep the Great Tree healthy and to serve the Roots. The second job is really all the Rings are needed for. They do help the Great Tree but they are not necessary. Although you couldn’t tell them that. They truly believe that the Tree would wither without them. They are a conceited bunch.

The second job is serving the Roots, the keepers of the Brotherhood’s past and of all legends, myths, and stories about the Great Tree. The Roots are the most pampered of all the Brothers. They do not live a life of poverty. They live inside the tree in the Hollow, a massive Cathedral/Library that was built inside the tree.

The Brotherhood did not create the open spaces in the tree. There are hollow areas and tunnels all through out the Great Tree. No one knows who made them, how they were made, or when. All that is known is that they do not affect the Great Tree’s health.

Above the Rings, are the ruling body of the Brotherhood the Catkin. The Catkin see themselves as a lone group of flowers among common leaves. They believe they are better than the other Brothers. These men live the most extravagant of lives, filled with vice and gluttony, they are rarely at the Great Tree. Instead, they prefer to travel and indulge. Remember there are three countries where the Brotherhood is in very good standing. These men can get away with much in Artirian and Bwa and practically anything in Sharlem.

As you can imagine the Catkin do very little. They hold onto power by coveting the favor of foreign leaders. So, than, who really rules the Brotherhood? There is always one person who stands above all else.

When it comes to the Brotherhood that man is known as the Crown. The true leader of the Brotherhood. He controls the Rakes, who even the Catkin fear, and the Trimmers. There is not one member of the Brotherhood who does not know and fear the Crown.

He is rarely seen, and even when he is only by the highest members of the Rakes and Trimmers, but is reported to be impossibly old and beautiful. He has defied time and lives a life beholden to no one. The Crown is part King part Pope. He is at once both cold and fierce. His fury knows no bounds but he is patient and thoughtful.

The Crown is the man that Token will have to one day face to be free.

As for his, and by extension the Brotherhood's, motives. The Crown isn’t a religious zealot. He doesn’t need the world to bow to the Great Tree. He simply needs the world to do no harm to the Great Tree. The Crown knows that it’s only a matter of time before someone sees the Great Tree as a prize to be captured or more likely an obstacle to be destroyed.

It is that belief that pushes him. He wants to grow the influence of the Brotherhood, as such he has been making inroads to Nijon and D’Jaladin. His end goal is to have some degree of power in all of the Five Countries so that he can guide them away from the tree.

That is why he is so harsh when it comes to Leaves on the Wind. He knows that a runaway brother can do much harm to the Brotherhood. That, however, isn’t why he has so much hate for Token.  No, Token does something to incite that hatred. What that is, I’m not going to divulge yet.

That’s the bare bones of the Brotherhood. As always these posts document the beginning of this story. Everything here is subject to change and at best just the earliest paint strokes.

Still, these posts are helping me get a better grip on where I want this story to go.

I’m still at 17 pages but I think that will change next week. I can feel an urge to continue this story building.

That’s it for this week. See you next time when I’ll be going over a few ideas I’ve had for what lurks in the Forest, actually I might not be calling it that anymore. I think ‘the Wilds’ sounds better. Maybe ‘the Greens’.  I like that. Yeah, I’m going with the Greens. So next week I’ll talk about the Greens.