Godtree

Godtrees are gargantuan fungoran colonial mega-organisms that act as entire biomes in their own right. Only one Godtree is known within the local area of the Basin, and it towers a seemingly impossible 450 meters tall. Godtrees siphon a massive amount of resources from the surrounding area, but also act as lifegivers for countless species that call it home. The Godtree is thought to be a fruit, a direct extension of the OS. Because of this, it is able to receive a massive stream of nutrients, contributed almost equally from all around the Basin.

The known Godtree has grown out of a huge area of waterfalls, using the power of the surrounding water to further fuel its massive size. The ground "level" of the Godtree is a massive network of hard, fungoran "bark" roots, creating a porous, membranous area that is somewhat like a river delta in three dimensions. It is complex, humid, and in some places, claustrophobic, but also provides pockets that many animals claim as homes, with access to shelter, food, and running water all nearby. On the exterior of the ground level are countless "pool pads", large fungoral pads that serve to collect waterfall mists and rainwater. Atop these rather rigid pads, pools of crystal clear water form, staying for a time before the water is siphoned down back into the tree. These pads also excrete a sweet, viscous nectar that mixes into the water, providing food for symbiotic species that help conduct maintenance on the Godtree. Again, the Godtrees are biomes and ecosystems within themselves, acting as gargantuan colonies of life.

Moving above the root level, the interior of the Godtree has huge, hollow chambers, where many species make their homes. Godtree symbiotes wage a neverending war against voracious parasites.

The great, vast canopy of the Godtree is host to yet many more symbiotic species, even including a small Rahk settlement, built specifically to respect, worship, and assist in maintaining the tree. This settlement is seen by many Rahk as the Jerusalem of their religion, the holy city which all Rahk seek to make a pilgrimage to, to worship and speak with the great Godtree, and by proxy, the OS. The Godtree serves as a direct conduit to the OS, and is seen as the only sacred, pure, and safe method of direct communication.

## Layers

As a gargantuan, incredibly complex colonial organism, the Godtree is composed of various layers, each acting as their own microbiome.

### Canopy Emergence

The Canopy Emergence is the highest portion of the Godtree, far above the low-hanging mists of the Verdant Strangle. Some of the lighter, smaller flying fauna of the Basin call this layer their home. This layer of the Godtree produces some unique fruits, vines, and epiphytic fungora species that are only able to grow in the high-altitude yet nutrient dense microbiome of the Godtree emergence.

### Canopy Periphery

On the outskirts of the canopy, vast, hanging lichens, slime molds, carnivorous fungoral epiphytes, and fauna abound. The periphery is mainly populated by various forms of fungoral growth and the agile omnivorous species that feed on it.

### Canopy Core

The core of the Godtrees canopy provides a dark, thick network of growth, nutrients, and shelter high above the unforgiving Verdancy. For species that are able to fly or climb, the canopy core makes for a somewhat safe location. Although due to the sheer number of species that have relocated here, the core has become a rather competitive and vicious microbiome in itself. The agile climbers that leap through the branches of the core have become prime targets for the large serpentine Lurkdragons that stalk the core. Carnivorous fungoral trap plants also populate the core, acting as nutrient reclaimers for the tree itself.

### Trunk Exterior

While the top and bottom thirds of the Godtree are veritably overgrown, the midtrunk exterior remains mostly uncorrupted. The hardy, thick stemwalls prove to be a difficult place for life to take hold. As life does, some species have found a way, drilling into the wall itself to plant themselves and siphon nutrients from the wall, but even these hardy species are rather insignificant when compared to the tree as a whole.

### Trunk Core

The upper internal core of the Godtree is a labyrinthine, cavernous gnarled network of honeycomb/mycelium-like structures that make up the "skeleton" of the tree. In combination with the countless species that call the Godtree home, this results in innumerable offshoots, paths, both natural and artificial caves, dens, burrows, nests, and more. While most of the species that live within the core are more than happy to go about their own business, it is all too easy to get lost and wander into the burrow of a dangerous territorial species.

### Nectar Pools

Some sections within the core open up into large areas of "nectar pools" where the Godtree produces a thick, syrupy nectar. This nectar is extremely rich in nutrients and sugar, and as such is the lifeblood of many of the species that live within. These nectar pool areas appear as large, tiered waterfalls that ooze the syrupy substance into the crevices and pads of the core, with many pools of various sizes forming. The nectar produces a subtle phosphorescence, accented by the bioluminescence of the native hanging molds and lichens. Large swarms of insects swarm about the nectar pools, gathering nectar for their nearby hives. The cavern-adapted descendants of climbing animals that once wandered in seeking either food or shelter now drink from the pools or eat the insects of the hives with long, anteater-like tongues.

### Fungal Pads

Near the base of the Godtree, fueled by the OS's symbiotic mycelial network, large mushroom-esque shoots rise up out of the trunk and root network of the tree, forming large, rigid pads somewhat reminiscent of Lilypads. These large pads serve to gather both moisture and unfortunate life that falls from the heights of the canopy, funneling nutrients back into the tree and OS. Hard to reach for most species, the pools are a boon to the algae-eating flyers that come to eat, drink, and bathe in the pools. Incredibly complex and unique algae form in these pools, with some thought to have special uses for manufacturing, or even have psychoactive properties.

### Understory

As the Godtree is situated on top of a massive waterfall system, its robust root network has much of its mass above ground, allowing the waterfalls to run mostly unimpeded through. This forms an oppressively humid and misty labyrinth of roots jutting out of a huge network of the rushing rapids of a river waterfall delta. This layer of the Godtree is so misty, murky, and overgrown, that it almost appears underwater. As a source of fresh water, nutrients, and food for many of the Basin's species, without any of the safety of elevation, the understory is an extremely dangerous area.

### Root Falls

On the falls side of the Godtree, water gushes out between root and fungal stalk that juts from the tree. A huge, misty waterfall system contends with the relentless growth of the Godtree, forming a membranous root network penetrated by countless waterfalls of all sizes. These roots are covered in moss, algae, lichen, and fungora of all types, and remain perpetually damp and slippery. Strange hook-handed amphibian descendants claw their way along the undersides of these mossy structures like slimy versions of sloths. Bold sparkdragons sometimes attempt to weave through the porous network to snatch some of these "salamander sloths" as an easy meal. Mosses, lichens, fungora, and algae all prosper here, growing into massive alien forms that are only possible through the perpetual humidity.

### Rootcaves

While the perimeter of the Godtree's base disperses into countless overgrown roots , the membranous and labyrinthine core of the tree descends down into a massive, misty pit, further perpetuated by roots and oversized mycelial growth. This then radiates out into a relatively shallow cave network where rock has, over eons, been carved away by root and mycelium alike. This cave network is not technically the Graveroot, but serves as a sort of annexed entryway to it.