How to treants feel about mistletoe?

[Huw]

I've just taken my first walk in the local woods after the recent North European storms, and with all the trees and branches which have come down, I've seen large quantities of mistletoe close up for the first time. Some of these bunches are huge.

Anyway, mistletoe is a parasite and a plant. How would treants regard it? Would it be a disease to be removed from forests, or simply another plant to be protected and nurtured. How would a treant which was infested with mistletoe feel? Would it be painful, a minor inconvenience or even a blessing? How would other tree dependant creatures, such as dryads, feel about it?

 

[DragonLancer]

Its all still a part of nature it's cycles. They might keep it in checkin certain places sacred to them but otherwise I can't see them worrying about it.

 

[BullMarkOne]

Its all still a part of nature it's cycles. They might keep it in checkin certain places sacred to them but otherwise I can't see them worrying about it.

Seems sensible, but inspires me to ask the question: "What about magically altered mistletoe?"
Say Bob, the evil wizard type is having problems with the local treant population messing in his nefarious plots. To get them out of his hair, Bob whomps up some debilitating parasitic mistletoe. The mistletoe of course should go out of control from that point Might make a good adventure hook/backstory anyway.

 

[Griffith Dragonlake]

Seems sensible, but inspires me to ask the question: "What about magically altered mistletoe?"
Say Bob, the evil wizard type is having problems with the local treant population messing in his nefarious plots. To get them out of his hair, Bob whomps up some debilitating parasitic mistletoe. The mistletoe of course should go out of control from that point Might make a good adventure hook/backstory anyway.

Or consider kudzu. “The plant that ate the South.” There’s also the eucalyptus trees that took over the San Francisco Bay Area. Both plants were imports that overwhelmed the local flora. How would the treants respond to such foreign invasions?

 

[Prince of Happiness]

Or consider kudzu. “The plant that ate the South.” There’s also the eucalyptus trees that took over the San Francisco Bay Area. Both plants were imports that overwhelmed the local flora. How would the treants respond to such foreign invasions?

What if the eucalyptus trees had treants as well? I can imagine a warmer southern wood that has become very dangerous because the treants are having their own "race war."

 

[Set]

How would a treant which was infested with mistletoe feel? Would it be painful, a minor inconvenience or even a blessing? How would other tree dependant creatures, such as dryads, feel about it?

If it's thriving on a tree that is already weakened by insect predation or some sort of blight, it's just doing it's part in bringing that sucker down. "It's all part of life's rich pattern, Brenda..."

If it's growing on a dryad's oak, or a treant's own body, it's gonna be as well-regarded as athlete's foot fungus. Sacred blessing? Not so much. Even the most bug-friendly entomologist is going to pluck that tick off of his leg (although, if he's a total bug-nut, he won't squish it)...

 

[LoneWolf23]

What if the eucalyptus trees had treants as well? I can imagine a warmer southern wood that has become very dangerous because the treants are having their own "race war."

Oh, plant life is utterly ruthless when it comes to competing with other plant life for sunlight, water and minerals. If Treants are seperated into "races" based on the type of tree, things could seriously get messy...

 

[TheAuldGrump]

If it's thriving on a tree that is already weakened by insect predation or some sort of blight, it's just doing it's part in bringing that sucker down. "It's all part of life's rich pattern, Brenda..."

If it's growing on a dryad's oak, or a treant's own body, it's gonna be as well-regarded as athlete's foot fungus. Sacred blessing? Not so much. Even the most bug-friendly entomologist is going to pluck that tick off of his leg (although, if he's a total bug-nut, he won't squish it)...

Or it may be regarded in the same way as earrings, a necklace or a tattoo - Mistletoe does very little (if any) harm to the host plant. Bracket fungus, and moss is also not all that bad for the tree, at least while it is living. (Mossbeard sounds like a good Treantish name....) Now Dutch Elm Disease....

The Auld Grump

 

[heirodule]

What if the eucalyptus trees had treants as well? I can imagine a warmer southern wood that has become very dangerous because the treants are having their own "race war."

There is unrest in the forest,
There is trouble with the trees,
For the maples want more sunlight
And the oaks ignore their pleas.

The trouble with the maples,
(And they're quite convinced they're right)
They say the oaks are just too lofty
And they grab up all the light.
But the oaks can't help their feelings
If they like the way they're made.
And they wonder why the maples
Can't be happy in their shade.

There is trouble in the forest,
And the creatures all have fled,
As the maples scream "Oppression!"
And the oaks just shake their heads

So the maples formed a union
And demanded equal rights.
"The oaks are just too greedy;
We will make them give us light."
Now there's no more oak oppression,
For they passed a noble law,
And the trees are all kept equal
By hatchet, axe, and saw.

 

[Arkhandus]

Or consider kudzu. “The plant that ate the South.” There’s also the eucalyptus trees that took over the San Francisco Bay Area. Both plants were imports that overwhelmed the local flora. How would the treants respond to such foreign invasions?

Beseeching the nearest druids to fix the imbalance in local nature that was caused by foreign devils bringing plants that did not belong in the region. Then the druids either bring in creatures from the foreign lands to feed on the foreign plants and curb their impact on the native flora and fauna. Or they remove the foreign plants and transplant them to a region where they belong.

Of course, druids aren't above destroying a bit for the greater good of nature...... And destroying whatever impertinant mortals forced them to do so, for causing such a disturbance in nature in the first place. After all, nature destroys too; plants compete, animals prey on one another, natural disasters destroy indiscriminately.....and druids are instruments of nature, both its bounty and its wrath.



heirodule: That poem's cool.