The Forest Father is a spirit of many names: Tree Father, World Tree, First Forest, and many more. During the Green Age, he planted the Trees of Life. They were conduits for his verdant compassion and the seeds of the mighty forests that covered Athas during that time. Now, a portion of Forest Father’s essence withers each time a Tree of Life is used by a sorcerer-king or other defiler. This once-mighty spirit is being bled out of existence little by little, and as his vitality is spent, so too are his mind and memory being lost.
The pockets of forest that still exist on Athas are jealously guarded by Forest Father. The genocidal Cleansing Wars waged by the sorcerer-kings pushed many species to extinction but failed to eradicate the spirits that tethered those creatures to the world. Forest Father gathered these wandering spirits under his care, to soothe the wounds left by the conflict and to protect the world from the bestial instincts they were left with. They are The Lost, and they now dwell within Forest Father’s secluded domains.
Forest Father is fiercely opposed to change. His devotees teach that change is an avenue for disrespect; it taints tradition and order in the same way that defiling magic overturned the natural order of the world.
On the island of Shault in the Sea of Silt, the powerful druid Mearedes is often called “little grandmother” by the residents of that remote place. Few outsiders realize that this is because the primal spirit who guards the island is known as the Grandfather Oak. The spirit encourages islanders to venerate ancient traditions, maintain age-old rites, and be wary of outsiders. Any who violate these cultural norms are punished. Like the Shault islanders, those who honor Forest Father have little compassion or mercy for those who defile the land. Having endured centuries of anguish and the constant whittling-away of defiling, Forest Father no longer retains enough of his wits to urge restraint on his followers.
For all his cruelty, Forest Father is still a spirit of growth and renewal. Many life wardens draw their power from this spirit. The mightiest of them become verdant lords (Player’s Handbook 2). Shamans can evoke the power of Forest Father with tree father’s bounty and tree father’s ward (Primal Power).
Though Forest Father clings but thinly to rational
thought, he is capable of bestowing blessings on those
who please him or perform great services. Verdant
presence and primeval vigor are his rewards. They are
suitable for characters who thwart powerful defilers,
restore sizable areas of natural life, or who befriend
and impress Mearedes.