Garagogarag with 'Seihdhara' in both hands - unlike other Treeminds, his weapon was a two part, one part a sword-like club, the other a grand horn which let out a most staggering sound

Garagogarag is a Treemind, bearlike beastmen who dwell in the forests and the caves. Unlike other beastmen, Treeminds are a rather more refined, dignified and intellectual subspecies. They hold dearly to their ancient traditions and ways, they revere nature and trees in particular. Though they do not worship a deity as such, they consider all life to be connected, and that life is most powerfully imbued in trees. The older the tree, the more powerful is the life within it. Garagogarag grew and flourished in this kind of society, and this as invariably affected his personality.

He reveres nature and trees in particular, all he does in life, he does to become ever closer to the great source of life. He is a very quiet creature, preferring to listen and watch. However, when he does speak, his words are short and very thoughtful, making them slightly riddle-like to outsiders. While he has spent most of his life in his homeland, among the tree and the caves and in the mountains, he has had contact with other beastmen. His curiousity means he does not give fearing outsiders much consideration, unless they give him reason to be afraid - or more likely, to be hostile. Further, his tendency to watch and listen means that he has an ability to understand other creatures even if he has no knowledge of their language or if they do not speak their mind.

Overall, a curious, rather wise and thoughtfully kind creature when he chooses to be.

However, Treeminds are not simply adorable teddy bears. Their's is a society which emphasises martial skills and strength. From a young age each Treemind must go through a ritual and is 'bonded' with a weapon which, unless a rare situation arises, stays with them for life.

Where Treeminds feel threatened, or where their tribe and their cherished homeland is in danger, they become furious monstrosities, lethal in combat and capable of rampaging until their enemies have been utterly destroyed - to their last man, woman and child. They would raise villages and towns, bring down garrisons and leave behind them a trail of blood and ruin. What makes Treeminds particularly terrifying in this regard is their unmatched discipline and organisation in war. Their ability to communicate indirectly, almost telepathically though not quite, means that even in their rage they work cohesively and look-out for one another.

Garagogarag is, in this regard, a typical Treemind. His strength and power gained him tremendous respect and allowed him to rise to the position of Tree-Claw, the most prestigious position a warrior Treemind could possess. His sense of duty to the tribe means he would go to any lengths to avenge it and bring about the downfall of its enemies and all who plot and scheme against it. Further, his sense of 'justice' with regards to destroying aggressors can at points depart from the realms of purely 'defensive' combat to an all out battle to the death or the annihilation of said 'aggressor'.

The greatest weakness of Treeminds is undoubtedly their pitifully small numbers. There is no more than one tribe of Treeminds, made up of fifty to sixty individuals in total. This has meant that they tend to be very isolationist and avoid conflict as a whole. With their small numbers and low birthrate, they cannot afford to battle endlessly, and thus they have developed a more or less pacifist way of living - any aggressive expansion is, in their view, unjustifiable. The only war which is justifiable is one against an aggressor who refuses peace. Garagogarag holds dearly to this belief, though he may find himself doing that which he is most disinclined towards...

The outer red line shows the hunting grounds of the Treeminds. They cherish this land and love it much, but it is not part of their core and sacred 'homeland'. This land is where they hunt, from the coast and rivers, they hunt fish, and in the mountains and firsts and on the hills, they hunt down larger prey to feed the tribe. These hunting grounds are generally out of bounds for anyone not a warrior.
The middle, darker red line, shows the sacred 'homeland' of the Treeminds. This land is imbued with the ancient Treemind magic and every inch of it is holy and must be protected against all odds. The Treeminds do not hunt here, shedding of blood is forbidden, and all Treeminds bar Tree-Cubs can roam freely here. The huge Lake Grasidar, and north of it The Solitary Mount, are two of the three most revered places by the Treeminds (the third being Old Bark-Skin, a magnificent and archaic tree located in the inner-most circle.)
The smallest, inner-most circle, is where the tribe is settled. Their homes are located here and that is where the young are kept. At its centre is Old Bark-Skin. Many Treeminds inhabit the impressive girth of Old-Bark-Skin, particularly the Tree-Mind, the Old-Trees, the Tree-Walker and the Tree-Claw. Others also inhabit it, and the rest have their homes around it.

The slave wagon rocked back and forth as it made its way along the road. The horses whinnied and grunted as they clip-clopped along and the horse-master clicked his tongue at them and whipped the reins so they could go faster. The wagon was surrounded, armoured guard rode alongside it, before it and behind it. It had been a good hunt, they caught what they needed. A bearman! Yes, one of those incredibly rare monstrosities from the north! They were going to have fun with this one in the capital for sure! The horse-master smiled to himself and whipped the reins again, egging the horses on.

It had been a surprise encounter in the hills just north of Pae-Zun, quite a distance from where the creatures were usually spotted. They had managed to surround him, cutting off his path to the river and to the rest his kind. He had been curious at first, not showing any signs of fear or aggression, and this had allowed them to get quite close to him before he noticed that something was off. Dressed in all his leaves and strange crown of branches and and horns, he looked a rather fearsome sight, especially with those strange markings slithering all over his body, shifting from a threatening black to a menacing, angry dark red. The horses had not liked that at all, but the men managed to keep them under control. The creatures were usually spotted with clubs or other such weapons, but this one was empty-handed. All the better!

There was silence and stillness for a while as the men stood watching the creature, and it stood watching them. They had studied these creatures for a while before coming, asking a few scholars back in the capital, working out a strategy to capture one. The horse-master had called the mage, and the child, forward and told him to do what he was being paid for. It took a little while, but then the child walked forward and began circling the creature, the mage muttering all the while. The creature circled too, wary but curious of this tiny creature they had sent forth. The child muttered something, a little, high pitched sound, and the creature gave a grunt in response. They both sat, the creature doing so in a rather mesmirised, unnatural way.

'He's caught!' the mage hissed. With that, the horse-master gestured to his men and they charged. The creature looked up, groggy and slow. It tried to get up, but it was too slow. A great mace landed on its head, sending the creature crashing down. But it was not out yet, rolling over, it grabbed the child and got groggily to its feet, attempting to adopt a fighting stance. Strike after strike, the men did not cease. The creature seemed to be purposefully keeping the child away from their weapons - but there was no way it was doing it purposefully. Definitely the magic getting to it, the horse-master convinced himself as he watched the affray. A few men were sent flying due to the wild swipes of the monster, but soon enough it was on its knees. The chains were thrown, bringing it down even further, a muzzle was placed on its mouth - after two failed attempts lost a few men their fingers and hands. It was amusing for the horse-master to watch, this beast would surely be a spectacle in Lairea.

It was dragged into the slave wagon, a run of the mill jail wagon they'd had resized and strengthened for this particular hunt. They didn't want the creature running away if it managed to break the chains. The mage wiped some sweat from his brow.
'As we agreed, I'll be getting half of what you sell it for,' the mage said, looking towards the horse-master, 'as we agreed, Tivullus.'
The horse-master gave him a cold look. Glancing towards a few of his men, he gave a quick nod. Before the mage knew what was upon him, the tip of a sword erupted from his chest. There was a moment of calm before the mage started shaking uncontrollably. His killer let out a hair-raising shriek and tried to let go of the hilt, but to no avail. Before long, both fell dead. The hired guard had been fried to death by some kind of protective spell the mage had cast upon himself. It must have been that strange red amulet. Tivullus looked carefully and found that, to his satisfaction, the strange stone in the amulet was now a dull black. It was as he thought.

'Come on, let's get out of here. Throw the kid in with the thing and let us be on our way!' the child was thrown in, the creature had its muzzle removed and they set-off. A few of the men complaining about broken bones or missing hands had to be cared for. If it was up to Tivullus he would have had them dealt with more permanently, but there was no need to antagonise those he depended on for protection.

The journey back took a few days ride, but the weather was good and no one stopped them - any bandits who may have considered it clearly decided otherwise upon seeing the heavily armed guard and the monstrosity they were carrying.

***

'Rare 'un this! Will bring 'uge crowds no doubt! C'mon, 'oo wants it?!'
There were shouts and screams as the crowd fought over the exotic creature.
'Does 'at kid come with i'?' one of the bidders managed to out-shout the rest.
'Yes, yes, the kid comes with i'! Can't tcha see i' won't le' i' go? C'mon, c'mon, 'oo wan's i'?!' once more the roar of the crowd rose. Bit by bit bidders departed as they gave up. It was three who ended up remaining in the bid. A rather plumb, pink, bald man who was dressed in clothes far too extravagant even for a wealthy Laireanian. The other was a man leaning on a cane and banging a wooden leg to the stone floor every time he shouted a sum of money. His nose was hooked and his body, though by no means as large as the former, was not exactly a model of human muscularity. The third wore a huge black cloak and all that was visible of him was a long white beard which extended as far down as his waist. The one leaning on the cane came out on top.

***

Garagogarag did not struggle much. He knew he was far from home, he could no longer sense his people. The child was still seated on his shoulder, even as these strange little creatures stripped him of all he wore. He was glad he had buried Seihdhar before he ventured beyond the hunting grounds. He had been curious. Meeting other beastmen in the hunting grounds, trading with them and interacting was interesting, but he could never help but feel rather limited.

From his youngest days he had dwelled in the tribal lands, his parents reared him there and the tribe cared for him, but he thirsted for more. What lay beyond the tribal lands? What creatures? What life? Perhaps the source of all life had led him here, had led this strange youngling to him, which sat on his shoulder even now, quiet and unperturbed. Was it not a strange little creature? It spoke sometimes, but other than that did little else. Garagogarag could feel strange energies from it, but he did not understand them - they were very similar to the man they had killed, the one who had been muttering. Perhaps this child was related to him in some way, or perhaps he had been apprenticed to him, in much the same way a Tree-Cub is apprenticed to a Tree-Walker.

The journey here had been long, they had given him very little to eat and he had spent most of his time communicating with the little thing. It muttered in a strange tongue, but Garagogarag understood and responded, and the child seemed to understand him too. It had mostly asked him about his life, and he had obliged.

We are Garagogarag Ogorogo. We are the mighty Tree-Claw. Emerged We from Our Tree-Mother's life-womb many summers ago. We played with other Tree-Cubs. We wrestled. We bested them all. We grew.

When We grew into our tenth summer, We were bonded with Our beautiful Seihdhara. She was waiting for Us by The Solitary Mount. She called to Us during the bonding. We answered. She inspired Us. We fashioned Her. Our precious Seihdhara.

We hunted together, Our Seihdhara and We. We bested all other Tree-Arms, Our Seihdhara and We. We bested Our Master Tree-Claw Horaroh Oharaho, Our Seihdhara and We. We were the Tree-Claw, Our Seihdhara and We.

Many times did We travel. Man places did We see. The Thunderhoofs We befriended. The Skytalons We honoured. We traded much. We offered them wood from the Sleeping-Trees. They offered Us tales and knowledge. They taught Us much. We were good students. Other beastmen We did not approach. Too far.

We grew. Restless We grew. We left Our beautiful Seihdhara. We buried Her beneath the Sacred Earth. The Life led Us away from Her. She is far away now. The Life parted Us from Her. We will to Her one day return. We must as the Life commands obey. We must Grow.

With his crown of branches and horns taken, and his kilt of leaves and bark removed, nothing covering him but his fur, Gar now moves to welcome a brave new world. He will Grow.