Laerad

Laerad, the Roots of the World

From every layer of the Demon City, from the shores of Kimbery and the slopes of Qaf, roots thick as redwoods rise into the sky. They converge in the trunk of Laerad, a tree as broad as Creation, whose branches of copper and serpentine tangle with Jacint’s roads and whose island-sized leaves reflect the mad green sun. Laerad’s roots dig ever deeper into the Demon City, warping metal and cracking stone; teams of demons struggle to cut them back, for the roots have shattered seven times seven Malfean layers over the centuries of imprisonment, nor will they stop until all of Malfeas is a tangled woody morass. The great tree’s roots even worm their way into Creation each Calibration, only to be gnawed and burned away by the Elemental Dragons. Quendalon

Origination
Progeny Count: 2:2:0
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• Hamza-Hathmet, the Shining Mountains (FourWillowsWeeping)
  Between the roots of Laerad coils Hamza-Hathmet, whose back is as broad as a lake, whose scales are great hills, whose mouth is a rocky crag! The great serpent guards the roots of the Universal Tree, slowly shifting his coils. Beneath and between his scales are gaps riddled with caves; these delve deep into his porphyry flesh. Digging in the caves of the Shining Mountains can reveal the great demon's veins that run with peacock-blue blood. This blood clots into masses of copper and emeralds. But do so with care! Adorjan rests inside Hamza-Hathmet when the sand of Cecelyne chafes her breezes, and he drives her to cool the itching pains inside his body.
  It is almost impossible to emerge from the demon-mountains in the same place as one began. Though their pace seems languid, a moment within is like ten moments without, and cometimes collapses and avid diggers change the pattern of tunnels. When he wishes, Hamza-Hathmet may appear as a tall, white-skinned man; sand falls from his hands and from his mouth when he speaks. He cannot abide the sound of a virgin singing, or the taste of a maiden's monthly bleeding.

• Yggdrasil (Nero's Boot)
  Laerad is the greatest of all trees, but it has a heart of blood and spirit that dwells deep within it. There is a tree within the tree, and that inner tree is named Yggdrasil, The Tree that Spans the Sky. As a skeleton is to a human, so is Yggdrasil to Laerad. Yggdrasil embodies all that is enduring, all that is strong and resilient, and all forms of endurance come from the Tree that Spans the Sky. Hateful at his imprisonment inside a prison inside a prison, Yggdrasil seeks to drown Creation in his roots, for he is now a blight to all that lives, a cancer that knows no limit.
  • Nidhogg, Progenitive, The Serpent of Night (Nero's Boot)
    At the base of Yggdrassil, within Laerad's trunk, there coils a vast serpent as black as night, and her name is Nidhogg. For as she gnaws at Yggdrassil, he bleeds, and Nidhogg breaths on the blood, fashioning it into demons to plague the lands of men. The Serpent of Night is bitter, for once she was Yggdrassil's lover, but now she is only his perpetual slayer. She eats of his flesh and bark, hoping to bring him down and render him dead of heart as she is.
  • Ratatosk, Expressive, The Trickster Among the Branches (Nero's Boot)
    Ratatosk is a tiny thing, a squirrel that dwells in the upper branches of Laerad, almost invisible between the bark and leaves. But she holds great power, for she is the Trickster Among the Branches, and all demons fear her arrival. Those who wander Laerad are often victims of her cruel tricks, as she often steals eyes, souls, and destinies, as well as those puny mundane belongings she will take. Those who summon Ratatosk must beware, for no magic can prevent her eventual betrayal of her master.

Comments

Yay for the new page! Now that its here, I'll restate my earlier comment on your excellent work on Yggdrasil. Thinking about all the residents of the World Tree in Norse Myth, here are my suggestions for its Souls (i.e. 2nd Circle Demons): Nidhogg/Defining, Ratatosk/Messenger, the Eagle/Warden, Vidofnir/Expressive, 4 Deer/Indulgent, Mimisbrunnr/Wisdom, Urdarbrunnr/Reflective, Hevergelmir/Progenitive. - Glamourweaver

I did not like the execution of Yggdrasil and Nidhogg. Therefore, I present Hamza-Hathmet. - willows

Very nice! (Though I'm not so sure about a Third Circle demon exercising compulsion over a Yozi.) The name "Laerad" is, in fact, an obscure Norse eponym for Yggdrasil, the World Ash. I prefer a subtle touch, and the demons provided by Nero's Boot strike me as excessively derivative. - Quendalon

Thank you! It's meant to be more of a symbiotic relationship than a compulsion; feel free to revise it to explain that better (I couldn't think how) or perhaps change A. to one of her daughters. - willows

I still like the idea of Laerad, but sadly the ascension of Szoreny undermines its Yozi-treeishness. (Why does Szoreny get to be a Yozi, anyway? Vitalius and Hrotsvitha are jealous!) Any thoughts on what, if anything, to do with this one? - Quendalon