Fog Trees

The Fog Tree is a type of equatorial tree found on the eastern continent. It doesn't tend to form large forests, though can in optimal conditions, instead fog trees tend to be isolated from each other amongst other trees and along tributaries. They also survive well in windswept areas.

They are hollow with holes in the trunk.

## Name and Cultural Importance

Their name derives from the fact that every early summer they produce immense amounts of fog (known as a White Fog Event). This fog is actually extremely dense spores mixed with warm water vaper.

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### P|o Tbrov Culture

The P|o Tbrov consider this a holy time and seek out these trees during their fog events as the fog has a mild hallucinogenic effect and is thought to be an aphrodisiac. Sometimes offerings are placed in the holes, as gifts to nature in return for fertility and the survival of children. When the Fog Tree ejects its fog is considered the beginning of summer in P|o Tbrov. Black Fog Events are considered bad omens and the tribe will refrain from sex until the next White Fog Event.

### Duranish Folklore

Despite the fact that the Durätšæm originate from the Great Grasslands where Fog Trees do not grow, the long journeys through forests of the Southern Shore made it possible to observe the deadly Black Fog Event and save these strange trees in the memory of the Durätšæm. As part of the tribe settled along the Tjer River, Fog Trees became an important religious symbol - some Durätšæm began to believe that they hold the souls of beings who were not of Ighvæ's descent and no longer had a material body. Therefore they avoided contact with the fog, but the trees, now called Otwakhilætijnæm (meaning *Trees of Spirits/Souls*) were not cut down because of wrath of the spirits that might take revenge on Durätšæm for destroying their shells. Over time, Fog Trees came to be regarded as vessels created by Dura and Juræ for souls of dangerous creatures that could threaten the order of the World.

## Biology and Behavior

The Fog Tree is quite similar to other trees most of the year. Their leaves are relatively thin and their bark is tough and smooth. Most of the year their lifecycle is that of a deciduous tree, in autumn they loose their leaves and in winter they hibernate. But in spring as they are growing new leaves they also begin to produce a sap in their hollow interior. This attracts animals, bacteria and fungi and creates a microecosystem within the tree producing heat and damp.

The heat increases to a boiling point in a small well like cavity beneath the tree which when summer comes. The tree then begins to seep water into the hollow trunk which vaporises. It also releases incredibly dense amounts of spores. These spores are at critical mass within the fog and any sapling in the fog is likely to be pollinated.

Every few years the fog is incredibly thick, smoky and poisonous to animals. In this year a different type of spore is released that implants itself and grows a parthenogenic (clone) sapling. The next one to five years the tree will forgo releasing its spores and the fog will be less thick (known as a Clear Fog Event). The precise timing of these Black Fog Events is not known but tends to correlate with higher wind levels and storms - and Black Fog carried on a the wind or a storm can be mildly toxic for many miles.

### Saplings

All Fog Tree saplings are parthenogenic and produced after Black Fog Events, often growing from dead animals that inhaled the smog. They do not grow to full size, instead budding like a flower at about half height. They capture the spores from the an annual White Fog Event and then sprout the rest of their growth to fully size. This means that an inner core of each tree is a genetic clone of one of its parents.

Most saplings die relatively young as they are highly nutritious and sought-after food-sources by numbers of animals. Saplings that implant themselves near their parent or too close to another Fog Tree in general will tend to die, but the mechanism for this is unknown.

### Range

Their range is from 30°N to 30°S, but don't thrive between 20°N and 20°S. They cannot survive outside that maximum 30° range because they cannot produce the heat necessary to spore efficiently in spring.