Word: Dendroglyph

 

dendroglyph

[ den-droh-glif, den-druh- ]

noun

1. an image, message, or symbol carved into a tree, especially by Indigenous people and often hundreds of years old, providing cultural and historical information not available from other sources: Compare ammoglyph ( def ), geoglyph ( def ), petroglyph ( def ).

   The awe-inspiring dendroglyph was etched into the bark of a large yellow walnut tree in Queensland, Australia, prior to European settlement.

   ***********************************************

                  The party closed in on the forest. The trees seemed to be normal to most of them. They rose up tall and strong, just like trees in other forests. Supposedly though, there was something wrong with them, and the animals that lived in the forest.

                  “Well, let’s get this started.” The party leader, Vincent, said.

   He did not necessarily like camping out in the middle of a wild forest, but it was part of the job and he was mostly used to it by now. Still, the sooner they could finish the job, the better. Most of the others agreed. Packs were checked and weapons prepared. Then they approached the tree line.

   “Wait!” The party druid, Nicole, called out before any of them could enter.

   “What’s wrong?” Vincent said.

   Nicole went to one of the trees and examined it closely. Vincent watched the druid carefully and soon saw what the man was examining. There were small, intricate carvings running along the trunk.

   “Druid speak.” Nicole said. “We use these glyphs to leave messages for others.”

   “Oh, so this is a druid forest?” The party’s tracker, Leona, asked. She brightened up at the thought. If there were druids around, it meant they could lead the party right to whatever was causing problems. That would make he job considerably easier.

   Nicole examined the marks for a moment. “It was. But not anymore, I’m afraid.”

   There was silence as the party let those words settle. What would cause a druidic circle to leave a forest?

   “Do they say why they left?” Vincent asked.

   “No. At least, not specifically. Whatever it was caused them to leave in a hurry. From what I can tell, it seems like something caused to forest itself to become hostile. They came under assault from both plant and animal. The plants out here on the edge weren’t effected when these marks were made, so they were able to at least leave these warning. As for what the problem is, either the druids here didn’t know the nature of it, or there are no glyphs to identify it.”

   “I don’t like either of those options.” The party leader said. “Do they at least try and describe it?”

   Nicole shook his head. “It just says that whatever it is, is evil. And I want you all to know the gravity of that. It is not easy for a druid to think of anything as evil. Even what most people consider an evil, wicked monster is, to us, just another part of nature. But this? They didn’t just use the glyph for evil. They used the one for pure evil. Something that cannot be redeemed or turned to become part of the greater natural world. No, they way they describe whatever it is, they used glyphs for something that needs to be destroyed at any cost. Something that, if left alone, would gladly destroy everything.”

   “Suddenly I’m thinking we’re way out of our depth on this one.” Leona said. She hugged her bow closer and looked nervously at the trees. They did not seem so normal anymore.

                  “Agreed.” Vincent said. “But we still have a job to do. Nicole, translate those glyph and send an animal messenger to the guild. You can send them to the rest of your circle as well. Just get the message out to whoever can contact people stronger than us. Hopefully we’ll be able to find something else out and then live long enough to spread the word more. Once you’re done with that, everyone get ready. Once everyone is prepared, we’re going in.”

                 *******************

   Sounds like the start of a DnD campaign, right? Maybe some enterprising DM can get some inspiration to make something fun for their party.