Wandering Wroshir is a nomadic tree-city built within the branches of a massive wroshir tree that has grown around the body of (C), a colossal [[Simis|Simian]] creature the size of a small island, who wanders the surface of Mobius and carries the city with him. (C) migrates across the surface of [[Mobius]], following warmer weather and ensuring that the wroshir tree always gets sufficient rainfall. > [!infobox|right wikipedia] > # Wandering Wroshir > ![[wandering_wroshir_Cover.jpeg|cover hsmall]] > ###### General Information > | | | > | ---- | ---- | > | **Also known as** | <ul><li>Little Simis<li>The City that Follows the Wind</ul> | > | **Established** | ~40,000 A.U. | > | **Leadership** | Council of Elders | > ###### Location Information > | | | > | ---- | ---- | > | **Planet** | [[Mobius]] | > | **Continent** | Varies | > | **Region** | Varies | > | **Districts** | <ul><li>Trapezius<li>Great Oblique<li>Underbelly</ul> | > | **Points of Interest** | <ul><li>The Holy Seed<li>The Fur<li>The Head</ul> | > ###### Societal Information > | | | > | ---- | ---- | > | **Population** | ~4000 | > | **Predominant Species** | [[Csorgo]] | > | **Affiliation** | Unaffiliated | > [!Table of Contents]+ > 1. [[#Description]] > 1. [[#Environment]] > 2. [[#Districts]] > 3. [[#Points of Interest]] > 2. [[#Map]] > 3. [[#Society]] > 1. [[#Culture]] > 2. [[#Government]] > 3. [[#Demographics]] > 4. [[#Notable People]] > 4. [[#History]] # Description The great tree that houses the city of Wandering Wroshir is carried on the body of (C), a colossal katarn—a species of large feline carnivores with reptilian features native to [[Simis]]. Over centuries, the branches of the tree have grown around (C)'s body, resembling the wool of a sheep. Katarn are revered predators on [[Simis]], where they prowl the deeper, lightless levels of the world's complex vertical ecosystem. But there they typically grow no larger than about 3-6 feet in length and between 80–150 pounds. (C), by contrast, has grown to a length of over a mile and stands nearly 3000 feet tall at the shoulders. Aside from his great size, (C) appears visually similar to all katarn, with fur which is normally pale yellowish to dark golden with dark spots grouped in rosettes, but possessing the ability to shift coloration as a form of camouflage. Katarn have wide-set feline heads with large eyes. Katarn upper and lower eyelids are joined, with only a pinhole large enough for the pupil to see through. Each eye can pivot and focus independently, allowing katarn to observe two different objects simultaneously. Their legs tend to splay outward, contributing to a swaying gait. And katarn have distinctive prehensile tails that generally remain curled in a characteristic swirl when not being used to grab onto something. ![[wandering_wroshir2.jpg|left|250]] The actual city of Wandering Wroshir itself consists of a vast network of treehouses and other naturalistic structures built into the branches of the tree. Many of the city's structures, particularly in the more affluent Trapezius neighborhood and parts of Great Oblique, are created by "Tree Whisperers"—skilled botanists who shape and cultivate the trunks and branches into the structures that are needed. In the less affluent areas, treehouse-like structures created at least partially out of artificial materials are more common. ## Environment The environment of Wandering Wroshir does vary slightly as (C) migrates across [[Mobius]]. But because he migrates specifically following warm, temperate weather with moderate rainfall in order to maintain the wroshir tree, the climate does stay more consistent across the year than most cities which experience seasonal variations. ## Districts And Points of Interest ![[leo-amaral-tree-city.jpg|banner p+ccb]] Wandering Wroshir consists of three officially recognized neighborhoods: (1) Trapezius; (2) Great Oblique; and (3) Underbelly. The sublayer of (C)'s fur that is intertwined with the wroshir tree's roots deep below the city is often considered an "unofficial" fourth neighborhood. Other areas of (C)'s body such as his legs and tail which remain uncovered by the tree are uninhabited and largely inaccessible due to (C)'s movements. And (C)'s head, while more physically accessible, is considered a sacred site which only the Guardian is permitted to enter. ### Trapezius The neighborhood of Trapezius occupies the branches growing around (C)'s upper back and the back of his neck. Trapezius is centered around The Holy Seed—the sacred site of the wroshir seedling which landed on (C)'s back and from which the entire tree-city grew. This neighborhood is widely considered the best place to live on all of Wandering Wroshir, with ready access to sunlight and rain and upright trees not marred by any farming or agricultural production. Trapezius is the seat of the ruling Council of Elders and where community gatherings are held. The neighborhood is idyllic—almost artificially so—and is carefully curated to highlight its natural beauty and conceal the presence of technology. Buildings here are created through careful cultivation and shaping of the branches of the wroshir tree, so they blend naturally into the landscape. Tourism of Trapezius is heavily encouraged, but available housing is nearly impossible to find for anyone who wants to live there. **Points of Interest** * **The Holy Seed:** The heart of the city is The Holy Seed—the sacred site of the original wroshir seed which was entrusted to the city's founder, (F), and brought to Mobius along with (C), ultimately taking root on his back and growing to cover his body. The site is now surrounded by an enormous, ornate temple constructed entirely out of the shaped and cultivated branches of the wroshir tree itself. The site is a wonder of naturalistic beauty, tended by an entire team of Tree Whisperers and a dedicated staff of florists, horticulturists, arborists, botanists, and lepidopterists who ensure that the temple is always filled with blooming flowers, perfectly manicured gardens, and swarms of the most beautiful butterflies on the planet. The Holy Seed is also regarded as the place in Wandering Wroshir where all births should take place in the presence of the life-giving energy of the wroshir seed. In theory, the Holy Seed is supposed to be open for any citizen of Wandering Wroshir and it is widely taught that giving birth anywhere else would be anathema. But in practice, giving birth at the Holy Seed often ends up being arranged only for the elite of the city's society. ### Great Oblique Great Oblique is the largest of Wandering Wroshir's three neighborhoods, and occupies (C)'s entire lower back and both of his sides. The trees here get about the same amount of light and rain as Trapezius, making it a plentiful region for farming. But the trees here are also harder to travel among, as they grow up and around the sides of (C)'s body seeking light and rain. This also makes them a bit more difficult to shape through cultivation, and thus building construction relies a bit more on interweaving non-natural elements with the natural canopy of the tree. Great Oblique is also the major commercial hub of the city, containing most of its markets. ### Underbelly The Underbelly occupies the underside of (C)'s torso, and thus receives the least amount of rain or natural light. To deal with the lack of light, residents here use mirrors and glass prisms to redirect light from the edges of the district. But these efforts can only compensate so much, and the Underbelly still tends to be much darker than the rest of Wandering Wroshir. Because of the lack of light, the trees here are extremely resistant to natural shaping, because they grow in whatever direction maximizes the small amount of light they receive. Thus, buildings here are much more heavily reliant on artificial construction methods, and the presence of technology is much more visible. The Underbelly is the least desirable (official) neighborhood on Wandering Wroshir. ### The Fur Although not considered an "official" neighborhood, there is a small class of people who live among the sub-layer of (C)'s fur with which the roots of the wroshir tree are intertwined and out of which the branches grow. The region is sparsely populated by the few people whose jobs grooming (C)'s fur and tending to the roots of the wroshir tree necessitate their presence there. ### The Head Also not considered an official neighborhood, (C)'s head is considered sacred and off-limits to anyone other than the Guardian. The Guardian makes periodic pilgrimages to (C)'s head to commune with him, passing along information about the city and receiving information about (C)'s path through Mobius. # Map # Society Wandering Wroshir's society is deeply spiritual and centered around veneration for the city's original Founder, the wroshir tree, and the great katarn, (C), who carries the city upon his body. The spirit of the Founder is personified by the city's Guardian—a person who is believed to be the direct spiritual descendent and embodiment of the Founder. Every time a Guardian dies, a new Guardian is announced by the city's Council of Elders, chosen from among those born immediately after the Guardian's death. The [[Csorgo]] of Wandering Wroshir share their ancestors' tradition of raising and tending to giant butterflies, which they ride as a form of transportation. The giant butterflies of Wandering Wroshir, however, were cross-bred with a species of giant millipede at some point in the city's history, leading to their giant butterflies having the distinctive trait of possessing thousands of legs. Many inhabitants of Wandering Wroshir, both [[Csorgo]] and non-[[Csorgo]] alike, ride their thousand-legged giant butterflies as their primary source of transportation. Other residents traverse the branches of the tree-city in a variety of other ways, including bridges, ropes, and ladders. Another popular form of transportation was absorbed from highly-resourceful [[Arctander]] immigrants. They developed bracelets which extend outwards and then snap around branches, allowing the wearer to swing from branch to branch. The economy in the neighborhood of Trapezius is entirely centered around trade without any reliance on an intermediate currency. Routine, day-to-day trade for goods such as food, clothes, and other necessities is typically handled informally. But all trade in major goods, property, and commercial services are heavily regulated and subject to approval by the Council of Elders. This makes it very difficult for anyone outside the ruling class that lives in Trapezius to break into the central trade economy without sufficient connections. In the other districts, trade primarily takes places without regulation and tends to use a wide variety of foreign currencies that have been picked up and absorbed as (C) travels across [[Mobius]] and absorbs new residents from different regions. The city's economy relies heavily on tree products, most of which are cultivated in the Great Oblique, such as nuts, fruit, syrup, teas, spices made from bark or dried buds, timber, furniture, and paper. Importantly, any products which rely on wood can only be produced from timber that breaks off from the wroshir tree naturally, as the city's governing tenets prohibit marring the tree. In addition to edible tree products, the diet of the populace of Wandering Wroshir also relies heavily on the cultivation of bugs that inhabit the branches of the wroshir tree. Bugs are a major, necessary source of food since growing traditional crops is difficult due to both the tree cover and lack of soil. The majority of bug cultivation takes place in the Underbelly neighborhood. ## Culture The culture on Wandering Wroshir takes many influences from [[Csorgo]] culture on [[Simis]], where the Founder and (C) originated. There is a similar focus on living in harmony with nature and reverence for the wroshir tree that the city and its people call home. But over the centuries, Wandering Wroshir's culture has also diverged in certain ways from that of [[Simis]]. The city's origin story has led to a deep reverence for the wind in addition to the trees. Anyone who chooses to live in the city is expected to treat the "Tenents of the Founder" as truth and live their lives accordingly. > **The Tenets of the Founder** > 1. We live our lives in harmony with the wroshir, never marring it for our own gain and accepting with gladness the fruits that it produces. > 2. We follow the spirit of the wind as it whispers to (C), moving with joy in whatever direction it takes us. > 3. We happily share the branches of our city with any who wish to call it home, welcoming them to be blown along with us. The official stance of the city's leadership has always been that these tenets were created by the Founder, and have been faithfully passed along, without alteration, throughout the centuries. Independent historians, however, have called this into question, and believe that the tenants were likely created decades or even centuries after the Founder's death, and have likely undergone changes over time. The tenets have taken on a greater meaning than their literal words. They function as proverbs representing three core principles of Wandering Wroshir's society: harmony with nature, going with the flow, and cooperation. To outsiders these tenets sound extremely laid-back and would tend to create the impression that society in Wandering Wroshir is undemanding and non-judgmental. But the powerful religious elite who rule the city use these tenets to impose an image of the city as a place that is destined to be happy, joyful, and cooperative, and to, at times, enforce that image even at the expense of the realities of the actual needs and desires of the populace. ## Government The government of Wandering Wroshir is a theocratic oligarchy led by a Council of Elders and centered around the religious veneration of the Founder and their tenets. Officially, there is no name for the religion, as its tenets are simply treated as a matter of fact to be accepted by all new arrivals and taught to all children. Outside scholars have come to refer to the city's religion as "Founderism," but use of that term within the city is heavily discouraged. Recognition and observance of other belief systems is not in any way illegal, but is simply taken as matter of fact that they are secondary to the principles of the Founder. The Council of Elders consists of five members, all of whom are technically co-equal. Three of the Council's seats are held by the most senior Tree Whisperers representing the Arboreal Guild for each of the city's three official neighborhoods. The remaining two seats are held by the High Arborist and Vice-Arborist of the Holy Seed—the two highest officials within the temple that forms the center of the city's religion. Officially, the Guardian holds a non-voting, ex officio seat on the Council, though most Guardians rarely participate in regular business and typically are only present for ceremonial functions. ## Demographics Since the founding of Wandering Wroshir, the leaders of the city have always placed a great emphasis on encouraging migration of [[Csorgo]] people from [[Simis]] to Wandering Wroshir. Having grown from one of the few wroshir seeds to have ever successfully taken root anywhere outside of [[Simis]], the [[Csorgo]] leaders of the city have always viewed the city as a special place of destiny for the [[Csorgo]] people. Migration from [[Simis]] alone, however, would never have been enough to sustain the growth of Wandering Wroshir into a successful city. So the city has always maintained an open-door policy to immigrants from anywhere that (C) roams. Although the population remains majority-[[Csorgo]], there is a wide mix of other species present. Membership in the religious and political elite, however, tends to remain almost exclusively [[Csorgo]], despite the lack of any official policy to that effect. ## Notable People # History The following is the Founding Myth of Wandering Wroshir, taught to all children: > Countless generations past, a child of Simis was approached by the wisest of the katarn, the Great CREATURE NAME (C). C chose the young Csorgo, FOUNDER NAME (F), from amongst her kin and formed with her a bond that would surpass the laws of time. Chosen by C, and mighty in her own right, F was entrusted with a seed of the Great Wroshyr tree, only produced once every century. Reaching the age of majority just as the seed cone bloomed, F was tasked with finding its rightful rooting place, and so she set off from Simis with her childhood companion. Together, they traveled far and wide, from one moon to another and around the endless strip. C never left her side, and F never left his. As they traveled, C grew larger and larger, larger than any other of his species. Their seemingly endless travels and the bond between them helped each hone their gifts; so as F grew in strength, so too did C in wisdom. But, wise as he already was, they say C’s wisdom had nowhere to go. And so he grew to contain it. And still, they trekked onward, driven by their purpose. > One day, as F sat atop C’s head, she despaired of ever fulfilling her quest and finding the rightful soil for the new Wroshyr’s roots. It seemed that she and C had visited every corner of the loop. As her rage at her continued failure nearly consumed her, a gust of wind came from her back, practically spiritual in its strength. F knew that the wind had come to guide her, to guide the seed. For wind is made by the trees, and how best are seeds spread by on the breeze? F stood, cupping the seed in her hands as the wind urged her on. But as she lifted her hands to offer the seed to the wind, a new wind arose. Too fast for F to close her hands and protect the seed, the new wind wrenched it from her grasp. Strong but fleeting, the second wind died quickly, but the damage had been done. For a moment, it seemed the seed hovered suspended over C’s back, so large now that his fur was a forest in and of itself. The seed dropped as F could only look on, and though she scoured the forest of C’s back, she could not find it. > F never spoke of the time that followed or the anguish she must have felt. All we know is that one day, during her daily search, she came across a seedling. For the new Wroshyr had taken root on C himself. Large as he and small as the seedling were, he could not feel it. F, confused by the seedling’s choice, tried to uproot it so that she might fix her mistake and plant the seed elsewhere. But all of F’s strength could not uproot what was not a mistake, for the winds knew that no one place could be worthy of our Wandering Wroshyr. Instead, we must be free to move with the wind and follow where it leads. F came to see that this was what the winds had intended all along, and she sent word to Simis that the seedling had finally found root. Soon no longer a seedling, our founder helped guide the tree’s branches into what would become our home, stretching around the still-growing C, who welcomed the trust and responsibility as he pledged himself the Wandering Wroshyr’s protector forevermore. > However, though the roots of the roots of the Wroshyr would extend C’s life, they could not extend F’s. Knowing both that he alone could not protect the tree and that his spirit would diminish without his beloved companion, C reached out through their bond at the very moment of F’s passing and pulled her spirit into himself. But great as he is, and much as he loved her, very few creatures can possess two spirits at once, and soon C was forced to let her go. Accessing the power of their combined connection to the people whose home they had founded, C was able to keep F’s spirit close. He tethered her spirit to that of a newborn babe, born in that moment at the site of the first seedling, so that he might see his friend live again. > And so he does this still. When one such blessed child of Wroshyr passes on, he chooses another. In this way, he ensures that he is never without his companion, and that the Wandering Wroshyr will always have two guardians bound to its, and our protection. So chosen at birth, countless generations of guardians have grown to be C’s next companion, our founder’s next voice, and our home’s next protector.