The Birch and the East

The Silver Birch, Aspen, and the Pine inhabited the lands of the mountains, the Slevrana Lia or Grey Mountains. The Pine were a sparse Clan, very introverted and not much is known of them outside of their client Nation, ruled by the Lithmeraccii at Rath Tan. We do know that they lived in small family compounds and gathered once a year in the summer somewhere in the heights of the mountains for a festival no human ever attended. The Pine were very "live and let live" and multi-shapers had often taken refuge in their territories, only to be routed out by the Oak. In Summer, when the Oak visited their client Nation of the Donnaccii at Sanneva, they ranged all trough the mountains, checking up on the peoples there, which is what they said, but in actuality looking for slaves to sell at the markets of Belva. The Pine allowed this as they allowed everything. Summer was the time of restless movement though the mountains and the only safe places at that time were the very highest places wherein lived the Pine, Aspen and Silver Birch. are a small people and probably most human appearing of the Tree Clans. They were also some of the most friendly, offering to escort travelers along the Trader's Road that connected the cut off White Nation from the other Nations in the East. When criticized, the Birch grew mysical, which was the heart of their being although they seemed military in social structure. They seemed to me to be like Crusaders or fighting monks, dedicated to god and to higher visions only they could see. Yet the Birch Clan was twinned, and the Sister Trees of the Silver Birch, the River Birch, were convinced that the humans were behind the waves of destruction washing against Anieth.

The River Birch lived in temporary shelters that were meant to last only a season made of twigs woven together and lined with skins that were weatherproofed with birch tar. They were nomadic and moved down into the valleys in winter. The Silver Birch lived in a more hostile environment on the mountain heights, and built shelters and villages out of birch bark. Unlike the River, the Silver Birch were vegetarian, claiming that eating animals made them less alert and able to discern the spirit world. They were famous for their birch tar and charcoal. They preferred living on the south slopes of the mountains, always near streams.

Despite their differences, they were enough like in appearance that many a human was deluded and trapped by the River Birch. Perhaps, for the antagonism felt by their brothers, the Silver Birch felt it their duty to match that hatred with compassion. Both the Silver and the River Birch lived in small communities of warriors and their companions. Children also lived in these groups and were not generally raised with parents, but with other children by groups of parents. It was common for children to not know any relationships beyond the group relationship except that of their birth mother or nurse mother. Everyone else was a sibling. Decisions were made socially and it was discovered that the power of telepathy was very strong between members of the same group. Their relations with humans were very normal, but distant, as if humans were children and they the adult guides.

Many of the Silver Birch lived on the east side of the Avena River up in the heights or on the slopes of the Slevrana Lia. They were among the first to help the humans and they were among the first victims of the Invasion, when the Lasian League torched their woods in the Zelosian efforts toward genocide. They Silver had few problems with the other Clans and shared many of their territories. Often they were listened to and respected for this reason alone. They were also considered authorities on humans and impartial and objective in inter-Clan disputes.

The Birch preferred to hunt with the bow. They had mastered the art of archery and were well known for being deadly. They hunted in groups, usually of nine, to patrol, scout, and guard their territories. Their justice was well known as well. The difference in the Silver Birch and River Birch patrols was that a judge would travel with the Silver in the guise of the senior archer. They wore light green of a spring hue. The River Birch dressed in leather, not linen, dyed gray green. They often hunted with a "justicator" usually an elder who would stay in a central area and send out help in the guise of ghosts, who could hardly be seen, but could rip a tresspasser to shreds. The River Birch preferred foxes, but also would send out crows. These were especially dangerous along the cliffs of the Avena River near Nava. As hunters, they were deadly and invisible in their hooded jerkins. Both Clans had been patrons of the Roe Deer Clan, but with the influx of the Fallow Deer, the River Birch allied with the Fallow Deer Clan headed by the White Doe.

The Clans of Anieth - The Pine

The Birch preferred the light bow, but the Pine, nearly twice their size, hunted with the long bow, much like the long bow used by the Japanese. It was a light bow, now heavy like the European bows tended to be. The draw was large and the power in the arrows, may have done as much to protect the Pine as their hostile environment. They were nomadic in summer and in winter, lived in sheltered valleys. In summer, they were congregate for their games and market in the area just west of the Lakes, north of the Trader's Road that led from Dumona to Belva. The Pine, fully as tall as the Ash and larger-boned, were a sparse people who covered a wide territory through the mountains. Few humans had seen or interacted with them except their client Nation, the Lithmeraccii at Rath Tan.

The Pine dressed in bright colors, liking anything flame colored or sunny. They were a dark-skinned people with dark hair, broad of face and usually very heavy. In winter, they dressed in furs and skins and knitted caps and gloves, and used deer as carriers. In summer, they wore very little, except the brilliant scarves and vests that marked them out as much as their size. They loved music, dancing, and any kind of sport. In Rath Tan, many of them would attend the summer races of dogs and horses. They betted heavily, like the Oak, but unlike them, scorned metal of any kind, suspecting that it carried a disease of madness. They hunted with flint arrowheads, but also hunted with wildcats, both animals and shape-shifters.

The winter life of the Pine was still gregarious, as many people lived together in hide tents decorated with colorful abstract designs. They were so fond of music, that it passed the time for them in the long winters to collect songs and have singing contests. They were not vegetarians, being trappers and hunters, but they did make heavy use of the sauna and were a very clean people despite the cold. They usually lived in family groups, but at any one time, visitors might be stranded for weeks on end, so they were able to accomodate most anyone. They were without modesty or pride, happy to roll around with their children or be more solitary in their summer wandering. They were so few, and the mountains so vast, that there was opportunity for some to be hermits or go on shamanic journeys and see little of anyone for years on end.

The Clans of Anieth - The Aspen

More on the Aspen later.