#ithersta

𝐼𝓉𝒽𝑒𝓇𝓈𝓉𝒶 is the reality of life and growth, where leaves sing while falling off the tree and the water whispers its wisdom while you drink it.

~admin j

Meet Palontras, the fluffy doctor of Ithersta! 🌸🌳

They begin, as all plants do, as simple seeds. Except these Seeds were born from the Sanctuary in the Valley of the Seasons.

As such, they are born with an awareness stronger than any other plant life, allowing them to speak telepathically with others.

They are trained by the Guardians of the Seasons until they are ready to go through the Ritual of the Seasons.

The Ritual is more of a coming of age/graduation ceremony, after which the Seed finds a host for themselves.

After that, they will gain the spiritual power with which to create their own Forest and spread Light.

Such former Seeds include Seir, Sein, Seia and Seik.

Sein is the Light and Eyes of the Spirit Tree of Nibel, Ori’s homeland

Seir is the Light of the Spirit Willow of Niwen, whom Ori succeeded after the Willow succumbed to the Decay.

Seia is the Light of the Spirit Blossom of Lemuria. It’s my headcanon in this AU that the Explorers were in Lemuria while it was in a state of Decay, like Niwen was. Aurora’s ancestor bonded herself with Seia and inherited her powers of light, which were passed down the generations through the firstborn children.

As long as they ruled, or at least lived in the country, Lemuria would have its Light.

Seik is the Light of the Spirit Tree of Rime, located in the Denial section. This is the Seed that bonded with the Fox in Seasons After Fall.

After successfully completing the Ritual, the Seed went on to find a proper host, while the Fox became a new Guardian.

Once bonded with a tree host long enough, the Spirit Seed will start to produce new Light Spirits.

Being bonded extends the Tree host’s lifespan well beyond is expected capacity, but when the Tree host eventually starts to wither and decay or the Light Seed is stolen away, the Forest/land they protect will go through a period of Decay.

The Decay can be rectified either by returning the Seed or a Light Spirit sacrificing itself to give the Tree new life.

In the worst case scenario, where the tree host is too old and sick to be functional even with the Light Seed, a Light Spirit can bond with the Seed instead, becoming a new Spirit Tree.

If the Seed cannot find a new host, it will die as well.

This is what happened to the Spirit Tree that used to reside on the Mainland in the Pale City.

The City was built on top of a fully decayed Spirit Forest, and the Signal Tower was constructed over where the Tree once stood.

Like the Seeds, the Signal needs a host to broadcast its will through.

When the tree host dies, its spirit becomes one of the tree people as seen in Ithersta.

When the Seed dies, it’s Light returns to Primeve and it’s consciousness is reborn as either a Valoka or a human, depending on certain circumstances.

In this AU, the Light of the Mainland, Seim, was reborn as Mono. His Tuning powers may have originated from exposure to the Signal, but they could also have manifested from his past life as a Light Seed.