Naath: Heart of the Verdwood

Naath stands on the forest floor where the great Vermosa trees root deep and the ley flows join. The city was planned with care and built to last. Homes and halls are shaped around living roots and strengthened with dark stone. Paths are laid in barkstone and marked with sigils so even visitors can keep their way. The Fountain of Naath lies at the center. It is the city’s measuring point, its common well, and the place where public words are spoken. All castes meet here during seasonal rites and council sessions. Outsiders are welcome under watch. The city listens before it acts and remembers what it learns.

Founding and Ground

The first builders chose the site after years of study. Two surface flows meet under the clearing and a third runs deep below. Together they keep the soil strong, the water clean, and the trees steady through storms. Wardens and Lorekeepers mapped the ground in rings, set shrines where the flows brush close to the surface, and fixed the main roads so they never cross in ways that strain the ley. The houses curve with the roots. The watchtowers blend with trunks. Even the drainage follows old channels, so floods break apart before they reach homes.

The Naath Council

The Naath Council is the ruling voice. Elders from the castes sit together in the Fountain Pavilion, speak in turn, and seek consensus. They hold seasonal courts open to the people, then post decisions on the boards at the Pavilion and the Eldertree Gateways. They grant permits for trade, set limits on gathering in the Verdwood, approve large works, and record treaties and truces. The Council moves slowly on purpose. They prefer open votes and clear records to quick bargains. Few outsiders ever see a full session. Those who do often leave with a better sense of how the city thinks, and why it survives.

Castes and Daily Order

Naath works because each caste knows its duty and respects the others. Traders run the market and handle movement of goods. Wardens guard the borders, keep the paths clear, and tend shrines. Lorekeepers hold the city’s memory, track stars and seasons, and judge matters of magic. Councilors speak for the people and bind decisions to law. Lines between castes are not walls. Many families hold more than one skill, and most young elves spend a season helping another caste to learn how the city fits together.

Districts and Their Work

Roothearth is the city’s still center. Families live in dwellings curled around root arches. The courtyards hold herb beds, small fruit trees, and benches worn smooth by use. Carved door sigils tell old stories in a few marks. Evenings bring simple songs, shared food, and quiet talk. The Roothearth teaches patience to the young and steadies the old.

Highgrove Pavilion is wealth with rules. Estates rise on shaped terraces set above the Grovefields. The Merchant Guild keeps its ledgers here, reviews permits for rare goods, and hears appeals on large contracts. Meetings take place in calm rooms screened by moss and rootglass. The Guild’s favor opens doors in a single day. Its displeasure can close them for a season.

Embergrove is craft in motion. Forges burn low and steady. Dye vats steam. Saws bite. Stone dust and wood scent hang in the air. Work is shared and watched. Apprentices bring tools. Masters correct with clear words and steady hands. Finished goods—tools, robes, blades, vessels, banners—move to the stalls before dusk. Nothing here is hidden, and nothing is rushed.

Boughring is where the city gathers to celebrate and remember. The Verdant Amphitheater hosts rites, plays, and oaths. Performers practice in open greens. Painters hang bark-slates and rootcanvas on vine frames and trade work for food when coin runs thin. On feast days the whole district fills with circles of dance, story, and song. On quiet days it still draws a small crowd.

Trailhome is the base of the Seekers. Bunkhouses, yards, armory sheds, and healer groves sit on a rising slope west of the Roothearth. Ezra’s Tavern anchors the square. The job boards there carry city writs, private contracts, and emergency calls. Seekers report, resupply, and head back out. The district remembers names that the wider world forgets.

Leyshade Cloister is study and record. Round halls lie low under moss and roots. Glyphs shift shade across their walls as the day turns. Inside are star charts, sealed histories, and the books of ritual law. Lorekeepers copy memory-echoes into resin-ink volumes, track changes in the flows, and rule on any work of magic that might strain the land.

Trunk Market is life at work. Stalls carry farm produce, foraged goods, tools, and imports. Family and lineage sigils hang above each space. The Stall Hall on the east side handles rare wares and quiet bargains. Guild arbiters move through with bodyguards and clear eyes. Disputes end fast. Fines are paid at once or stalls are closed. At twilight the Food Court fires are lit and the day’s talk is weighed and set aside.

Gates, Patrols, and Records

The Eldertree Gateways face the main roads. Wardens staff each gate by the shift. They record names, origins, and reasons for entry. They note cargo and mark permits. They also warn of current hazards—flooded paths, predator movement, or trouble near Selenmere. Rootwatch patrols circle the city each day. Longer loops push into the Verdwood to check shrines, collect sign, and refresh marker posts. Patrols write brief logs at trailhouses. Lorekeepers review those logs at dawn.

Water and the Lake-Wardens

Lake Selenmere lies to the south. It is cold and deep and holds old stone under its eastern waters. The Lake-Wardens keep boats tied at Selenford. They set fishing quotas, watch the weather, and enforce the ban on reckless spellwork near the shore. When the lake stirs, they respond first. They carry lines, hooks, and quiet iron, and they wear oiled cloaks against mist and spray. Their oath binds them to the water and to the people who depend on it.

Law, Justice, and Penalties

Law in Naath is clear and written. Market theft draws fines or loss of permit. Violence inside the city brings confinement and service to those harmed. Unauthorized magic earns public censure and may earn exile if it puts the flows at risk. The Council hears hard cases in open court, then posts the judgment. The city prefers repair to revenge, but it does not look away from harm. Exile is rare and final unless the Council votes to reverse it.

Rites and the Calendar

The year turns on four main rites and many smaller observances. Spring rites bless tools and mark safe harvest of bark and resin. Summer rites welcome traders and travelers and open new works. Autumn rites set stores, call thanks, and settle market accounts. Winter rites honor the dead and the lost and test the city’s readiness. The Boughring holds the large rites. Smaller rites and personal vows take place at shrines along the flows or at the Fountain.

Magic and Safe Practice

Magic is part of daily life but follows rules. Healing at the Fountain is open to all under Lorekeeper oversight. Weather working near Selenmere requires a lake-warden present. Any working that pulls on the flows must be recorded and witnessed. The Cloister teaches that power is weight. Used with care, it keeps the city whole. Used without care, it harms land and people long after the caster is gone. These rules do not ban foreign magic. They bind all magic to practice that protects the ground.

The Wardens of Rootwatch

Rootwatch carries both blade and prayer. Wardens start as runners, learn signs and trails, then take vows under the trees. They keep the border clear of snares, mark paths, tend shrines, and track beasts and strangers. Their gear is simple: moss-dyed leather, bright-green lantern stones for night work, and signal cords to call help. Many spend weeks beyond the gates and come home thin and quiet. Some do not return. The city names them at winter rites and keeps their tools on display in the Trailhome hall.

The Seekers

The Seekers stand between city law and the wild. They operate with council sanction but outside the castes. They take contracts to recover missing caravans, map disturbed ground, clear dangerous nests, and mediate with neighbors when patrols lack the numbers or freedom to act. They have their own codes: share signs, carry your dead, pay your debts, and report truth to the boards. Some call them reckless. The city keeps hiring them because they go where others will not.

The Merchant Guild

The Merchant Guild is a subset of the Trade Castes with real weight. They issue stall licenses, handle import and export permits, and adjudicate disputes in the Stall Hall. They can fine, close, or exile merchants who break the peace. They also sponsor caravans and help fund works that keep trade moving—road surfacing, bridge repairs, storage courts, and watch posts. Their ledgers show the city’s pulse in coin and goods.

The Lorekeepers

The Lorekeepers guard records and tools of thought. They track star paths so the calendar stays true. They watch the ley so the city can act before trouble grows. They copy maps, court decrees, and patrol logs. They judge magical disputes and teach safe practice. They do not rule, but they shape the rules by explaining what the land can carry and what it cannot. They are steady voices when fear rises.