Unity Apr 2026

It was Elara, a young Trunk-Keeper, who stood in the central plaza where the three levels met.

They were neighbors, but they were not one. The Leaf-Watchers looked down on the "mud-stained" Root-Tenders, and the Root-Tenders resented the "flighty" Leaf-Watchers. The Trunk-Keepers simply stayed in the middle, closing their shutters to the bickering. It was Elara, a young Trunk-Keeper, who stood

The were the first to suffer. Without rain, their high gardens withered. They cried out for water, but the Root-Tenders, bitter from years of being ignored, hoarded the deep-well reserves for themselves. "You have the sun," the Root-Tenders shouted up. "Drink that." The Trunk-Keepers simply stayed in the middle, closing

One summer, the Great Drought hit. For months, not a single drop of rain fell. They cried out for water, but the Root-Tenders,

The built a network of hollowed-out bamboo pipes, a vertical veins system running from the canopy to the soil.

Finally, the Great Tree itself began to lean. Its leaves turned gray, failing to provide shade to the roots below. The ground cracked, and the Root-Tenders found themselves baking in the very earth that used to protect them.