Sapling of Yggdrasil

A dense forest seems completely out of place in the middle of The Berth of Arnesport, but here it stands, surrounding a massive 300 foot tall tree that seems larger every time one returns to it. This magnificent specimen is the offspring of Yggdrasil, the World Tree that connects all the Planes.

It was planted by Taln Wolfheart when he buried the plunder from a Druid vessel in his modest hideout in Arnesport, but it quickly took root and shot up into a massive hollow tree that he now uses as a fortress. It is surrounded by smaller trees with a treetop village where most of Taln's beastial crew live, but the tree itself is the center of his piracy operation. Its wide branches serve as docks for Spelljamming ships, the interior is filled with mossy platforms connected by helical staircases running around the inside of the trunk where pirates drink and gamble and feast. The very top is reserved for high ranking captains only, and Taln's private quarters are suspended at the very pinnacle. About halfway down the trunk there is an arena where the berserkers challenge each other in bloodsport (just in front of a hidden portal to The Beastlands). At the base of the tree magical hotsprings rejuvenate those who rest in them, fed by waters from another portal nearby.

Beneath it all are catacombs in the roots of the sapling where foul stale air hangs in eerie silence. These twisting passageways are difficult to navigate and have not been fully mapped, but several more portals to other planes exist down there in the dark. One of these portals is connected to The Shadowfell close to the lost citadel of Phylornel.

The different portals leak energy from the attached planes into the tree, and inhabitants will experience effects similar to those in the outer planes. Most of the tree is filled with the beastial hunger and heightened hunting instincts that accompany The Beastlands. The catacombs are seeping with the dread and advanced darkness that is inherent to The Shadowfell.