
A story about climbing a tree.
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The World is a Giant Tree.

The world is literally a giant tree.
The Fungal Forests, the Swamps,
even the soil beneath Jasper's feet is ALL weaved throughout the roots of the tree and thusly called The Roots.
Here is the main home where humanity resides and thrives.
The Roots are varied in its biomes but generally don't permeate too far beyond what you could find in a forest. As a result sand dunes, mountains, jungles, and islands don't exist within the world.
All the "trees" are either branches stemming from the roots or overgrown mushrooms grown from the leaves of the world tree that reaches towards the heavens.
Everyone who lives in the roots wonders what's atop the crown of the world tree, and often ponder what life is like inside the tree but the journey inwards is highly dangerous -- it houses monsters, magic, and various other intelligent life.

ThE ROOTS!

The Roots
Houses diverse biomes and seasons -- all of which are restricted to what you'd find in a forest. This includes marshy swamps, frigid boreal winters, and sprawling greenery wherever the sun can see.Outside of animals, the main intelligent species within the roots are Humans. The Roots is also devoid of predators.Colonies of Mushrooms towering above like tree's litter the Roots, and are called the Fungal Forests. Within these colonies Humans find shelter, and often holds both celebrations and festivals all year long.Denizens of the Roots carved houses and
residences into the stems of these
Mushrooms, using their caps as roofing and shelter.Yggdrasil, Eden, the World Tree,
whichever name you call it -- it's rumored to have all life originate from it.When the denizens of the Roots aren't busy celebrating or trying to survive in this paradise, curiosity will lead them to wonder what resides at the top of the World Tree's crown.

Wood is Scavenged not harvested.

Gifts from the Tree
All the wood used for carving, tools,
and architecture is collected from
the branches that fell off the World Tree.No wood is harvested from the tree itself,
after all, harvesting from The Tree is Taboo.Metals do exist within the soil between each root. They are harvested and collected for use to make more advanced tools, machinery, and so on.Amber is a magical gem only found from the tree (the sap from the tree is magical in nature and crystalizes
into amber which can then be used for tools and accessories.) and is acquired through trade from the Mycelimen and Beastman -- other species that travel from The Tree to the Roots.There they exchange the goods you can only find in their respective regions.

Animals are bigger than normal.

BIG BIRDS
All small critters and avians that you could find in a forest exist but are now massive in scale. They aren't proportional to the Tree, but are jurassic in comparison to Humans.
Birds can be ridden to fly, Squirrels and Lizards can be mounted for fast traversal, yet none of these fantastically scaled creatures are threats to Humans. After all, all Predators live inside the Tree.
These colossal creatures nestle into nests amongst the Roots, and are reluctant to ascend the tree where their lives are at risk. No bird nor rodent dare ascend the heights of the Tree.

The people of the Tree.

Humans
Societies that live in the Roots of the World Tree alongside the giant creatures in harmony. Humans are identified by their lack of hair or scales, and individual thinking. They are the embodiment of potential, and come up with the most innovation.
Mycelimen
An animate colony of Mushrooms that sprouted arms and legs. This friendly species live within The Tree, and while they are absent of thought they are very expressive and rely on instinct to survive.
Beastmen
The Capstone of variety in a species -- every natural predator you'd find in a Forrest is instead bi-pedal with more human characteristics. While they come in many shapes and sizes, the more carnivorous the Beastman the higher the odds they'll reside within the tree.


Jasper Oakley
Jasper is a soft-spoken Carpenter's son who makes wood carvings but not much else.
He finds pleasure in the simple parts of life, small moments with friends, sleeping in late, and eating good food.
He's rather docile, but always happy and smiling when he gets to be around the person he loves the most in the world, Willow.
Enchanted by her, she is his definition of perfection; flaws and all.
She pulls him out of the monotony of a complacent life and instead dares to explore the Roots through a lens of wonder and whimsy.

Jasper however is no exception to life's grand tax of existing. To have loved is to have lost, there are many capstones of people who he feels chained to through grief. A part of his character and story is exploring the themes of how trauma and tragedy are often the catalyst of kindness. The shackles of his grief puppeteer him in the background.

Characteristics
Always is wearing an Acorn Hat. Also typically doesn't change his clothing style, a creature of habit.
Kind hearted, tries to find the best in people.
Soft boy.
Loves to get immersed within stories.
Doesn't know how to climb.
LOVES Willow more than life itself.

Gallery
Jasper and Willow
The crux of the story that's important for you to know is built upon the whole relationship and love between these two people.
Jasper will stand in the rain for an entire day with flowers in hand just to walk Willow home.
Willow shows her love by making tasty deserts, plan out fun picnics, and walk around the roots. Jasper expresses his love for Willow through endless wooden carvings and challenging all of Willow's insecurities. Willow shares all of her stories with Jasper who just loves to hear what she's passionate about.
Willow's earrings were a gift from Jasper to commemorate one of their anniversaries, a symbolic bond of love forever, and she's worn them everyday since.
The couple has been together since they were young and still in school. Now they are both young adults, with Willow doing honest work jumping from job to job ranging from taking people on joyrides atop giant squirrels to transcribing hefty documentation.
Jasper however struggles to find work, and spends a lot of time drifting intrinsically.
WILLOW
Willow enjoys the community at home with the constant festivals and ever-changing trends and goods that dominate the town's lifestyle.
It gives her proper encouragement and inspiration to create whatever seems fun at the moment whether it's clothes, paintings, or even learning instruments.
Beyond that however, her wanderlust is unbridled as she craves to go on and explore the nature of the world in the Roots.
Whenever she's not exploring, you'll often find her curled up with a new book or a nostalgic re-read. She gets absolutely immersed into a good read and will want to share every detail to her love and bestfriend, Jasper.
Her favorite things about Jasper are his kindness to everyone, creativity, and willingness to follow along with her shenanigans.
But most of all she loves the unparalleled attention he gives her, he gleefully makes her feel like she's the only person in the world that matters.


Characteristics
Book snob
Dabbles creativity in everything
Wanderlust Incarnate
Butterfly pin and Amber Star earrings.
Triangle iris's and matching beauty marks on the bottom eyelid. She has straight black hair and often has new stylish clothes.
LOVES Jasper "times infinity"

Gallery
Arden Aspen
Arden feels like the main character of his own story, learning martial arts at a young age he felt like he could take on the world but at the cost of a constant pressure to prove it.
His greatest foil to his ideals is the feeling that he's never good enough, a feeling that was indoctrinated into him by his family who'd occasional give up on him or give him impossible expectations to quarrel with.
He met Jasper when they were young and in school, and bonded over a shared nerdy passion over card games (a very trendy hobby for kids in this world).
In those rare moments where all felt lost, Jasper showed unwarranted kindness to Arden, simply believing in him and encouraging him to keep going a little longer and those few moments of generosity defined their friendship going forwards.
They see each other as friends they'd drop anything for, but as young adults they aren't in contact anymore due to their life going in different directions.


Characteristics
Let's the intrusive thoughts win.
(Young) Rude, and always tries to get a reaction out of people.
(Adult) Takes moment to think before he speaks, he wants to get the wording right.
Has silver hair, blue eyes, defined cheekbones, and one earing with two feathers attached.
Bandaged up arms constantly because he likes to fight, literally.

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