1. Journals

Chronicles of the Shifting Tree

(Fragments gathered from the Bifrost Isles, preserved on birch-parchment, tanned seal-hide, and rune-etched driftwood. Not all entries are whole, nor trustworthy.)


Of all wonders the isles cradle, none holds such weight as the Shifting Tree. Some name it Yggdrasil, some call it the Root Between Stars, yet even those names are but shadows. For the tree is not fixed in place as mortal forests are. It walks, though no footfalls are heard, and it vanishes, though no mist or snow conceals it.

The Arch Druid alone is said to hold the knowing, for their eyes are taught by the breath of the isles themselves. When others search, they find only ordinary pines and willows where once the roots were said to pierce the world.

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Arch Druid Thryma’s Record (Birch-Parchment)

18 Eleint, 788 DR
The Tree stands where all roads of wind and stone meet. Each year, it withdraws, only to return where the veil thins. To see it is to be chosen. To lead the people to it is my sworn duty. The Festival of Roots must never falter, for in its branches rests the balance of the Isles.

Skywatcher Hroth of Midgard (Torn Seal-Hide)

5 Eleasis, 822 DR
I glimpsed its crown on a ridge at dawn. By dusk, the ridge was bare. I left no path unsearched. My failure is not of feet, but of worth.



[Scratched into the hide beside the entry:]

Lies. Only Arch Druids may look upon it. Perhaps he dreamed, or the fey mocked him.

On Sylvenna of the Glimmerfen (oral retelling)

10 Marpenoth, 1000 DR
She was of both isle and elsewhere, her veins full of moonlight. She walked into the mists and found the Tree waiting. She returned with hands glowing like embers, saying the Tree whispered of “roots that drink starlight.” None could follow her. Some claim she never walked among mortals again.



[Red ink annotation:]

This is the only account of a mortal outside the Arch Druids finding the Tree. Fey blood guided her path. None have repeated this feat.

Arch Druid Alvir Stoneshout (Cracked Driftwood Tablet)

25 Eleasis, 1053 DR
The Tree was veiled in smoke this year, hidden in the shifting mists of Muspelheim’s sulfur flats. I followed the crows, who alone seemed unbothered by the stench. When I laid hand to bark, the mists cleared, and the people gathered below its roots for the Festival. The Tree moved thrice that day — yet never left their sight. I believe it wished to dance with us.

Arch Druid Runa Mossvein (Birch-Parchment)

17 Eleint, 1188 DR
Found it upon the cliffs of Vanaheim, where the seafoam turned silver. The Tree hid until the first song of the Dawncaller was sung. Only then did it reveal itself, vast and alive, as though answering the music. The Festival was kept in joy. The sea-winds carried our offerings high into the canopy.

Arch Druid Loki (Soot-Stained Record)

9 Marpenoth, 1321 DR
I searched twelve days through the ridges. Not until the thirteenth did it appear — upon a barren plateau, bare of all but bones. As I set staff to ground, roots tore up from the stone, and the Tree stood as if it had always been there. The Festival was somber that year. I think the Tree grieved, though for what I know not

Child’s Scribble

I saw the Tree once, sitting in a fishing boat! It waved its branches at me and asked for a herring.


[Margin note by Arch Druid Loki:]

Not to be trusted. Keep it in the log regardless — the Tree has its humor.