Blood Hollow

> ***"During my trek across Haven, I can count all Blood Hollow trees I've encountered on one hand. At the time I thought they were oddly shaped Rose-Wood trees, but since their wood was black rather than red, I would begin to think otherwise. As I approached it, I watched as a Cumone landed on its leaves, only to then fall over dead almost immediately, which in turn taught me to stay away from it." -William Tancard's: Haveborne Flora illustrated.***
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## Blood Hollow

An average Blood Hollow tree during dusk, with its red leaves illuminating the area around itself.

## Physical

### Physical Description:

* Black colored bark
* Red luminescent leaves
* Crooked trunks
* Downward facing branches

## **Overview**

The **Blood Hollow** tree is an extremely rare tree native exclusively to the small island of **Bloodmoore**, of planet **Haven**, located in the eastern **Geilda Ocean**. They are famed for the blood-red coloring of their leaves and have been likened to that of the Rose-Wood tree due to their similar hue, and it is believed that they are a genus of the Rose-Wood, due to its native island's massive amounts of Rose-Woods trees. They are very rare, with only a handful known to exist across the entire Bloodmoore Island. One will want to be cautious when approaching the trees as their leaves are very poisonous. They are very short-lived, only having a lifespan of around sixteen standard years.

## **Physical**

The physical appearance of a Blood Hollow tree looks like a wilted and dying Rose-Wood tree, with branches pointed downward and a crooked trunk, giving a somewhat somber atmosphere around it. Its branches are extremely frail, with an individual being able to tear them off with minimal effort, as well, its overall structure is incredibly weak, only taking around eighty pounds per square inch to crack it. Blood Hollow trees will almost always be alone in their respective area, with no other trees growing around them, as a Blood Hollow tree's roots extend for several meters in all directions, preventing the growth of any other nearby tree.

It will typically take around sixteen standard years for a Blood Hollow tree to fully grow, and they all share a common height of only sixteen feet, growing afoot for each year of its life. And once they begin to die, they will leave the only acorn they produce throughout their entire life, making a new tree take its place. Their leaves as previously mentioned are exceptionally poisonous to the touch for most animals, as they evolved to protect against small insects from feeding upon them. These leaves also glow with an ominous red glow through a form of bioluminescence, though there doesn't seem to be an exact reason as to why this is. This light produced by the tree ironically entices insects to said leaves, making the tree a living bug zapper.

## **Usage**

As the Blood Hollow tree remains one of the rarest trees on planet Haven, as well as its dangerous nature, the Ambrosia Alliance has outlawed any attempts to cut down the tree and use its wood for any purpose. Instead, observatories have been built around select Blood Hollow trees for Haven flora enthusiasts, leading to the tree's acorns being extremely sought after by tree keepers.

Almost every Blood Hollow tree known functions as a nest for the insect known as the *"**Blood Ants**"* an extremely aggressive species of ant native to the island of Bloodmoore, as it is the only tree known to house them. The ants themselves create long and elaborate mazes of corridors across the entire length and volume of the tree, usually having a population of hundreds of millions in a single tree. They will also often eat the insects outside of the tree who died while attempting to eat its poisonous leaves.