The Prophecy of the Tree

by Geryys of Leng, a comment on the original text

It is written in the Ancient Book of Thudd that ‘a Creature of one Horne shall rule over all for ages long’ but that ‘its reign shall not end peacefully, for the Creature, though powerful, shall not be in its proper place’.

Eventually, it is written, ‘The Creature shall rise up against itself and commence upon The Great Rampage’ and it will call upon its kin from ‘Between’ for assistance in this matter, ‘though it knoweth not what it doeth for its folly demandeth more than its wisdom can provide’ and its kin shall be, ‘many in number and loathsome beyond description’.

Yet those who believe in the Tree shall come through, for is it not the nature of trees to protect those who shelter under them?

Friends, the time of The Great Rampage is upon us and we must prepare; for is it not written, ‘Those who are prepared shall endure’? And let us not forget that preparedness does not refer solely to physical preparedness but also to the cultivation of, ‘the spiritual rose garden of the soul’. Through contemplation of the Tree we provide ourselves with a bulwark against the wayward foibles of all that assail us.

Do not lose heart, for as it says in chapter 14, verse 12, ‘Yea though The Great Rampage shall indeed be terrible it shall not last, for the Angel Mira shall descend upon the Creature and proceed to lay about it with the Great Sword of Yelm and this shall distract it from its loathsome acts’.

This shall be the Time of the Planting of the Seed. When the scales are in the balance then shall the effect of planting a seed be great indeed. Thus shall it always be.

Then shall a mighty battle rage for four days and four nights for the kindred of the Creature must be repelled and the Angel Mira shall not find the slaying of the Creature an easy task. This shall be a tumultuous time, ‘the ground will shake and the sky will be riven with sympathy for the rage that endureth’.

It is written that some who were thought to be lost shall return and some who were thought to be strong shall be weak. Those who believe in the Tree shall be protected, for whenever the Chaos of the Friends of the Creature reaches to warp the true believers, they shall be protected by bringing the image of the Tree to mind. To do this in battle is made easier through previous practise. The Tree shall be in our thoughts, but the Tree shall fall.

Many Prophets from throughout the Realms shall attend to witness the Great Struggle yet they shall not be able to intervene directly as ‘the die is already cast’.

The Prophets shall be like a great glowing sphere around the two combatants, the Angel Mira and the Creature of the Horne, ‘As each Prophet hangs in the sky so shall their fruit be located upon the Tree (chapter 17, verse 12).

Yet the followers of the Tree shall not stand by and watch for this is their time to be busy. The Planting of the Seed will succeed because the Followers of the Tree are strong in their determination to hold back the friends of the Creature. The Followers of the Tree will provide succour to the great heroes who fight by invoking the calmness and inner strength of the tree.

Eventually the Horrible Truth will dawn for the Angel Mira, when she realises that she cannot slay the Creature, for though she has many resources they are not firmly rooted. Yet this Horrible Truth will create a door of understanding through which The Angel Mira shall reach for the Method of Resolution.

The Angel Mira shall perceive ‘with dread clarity’ that the Creature will have an aspect of existence that should not be destroyed but that one may tame the other through sacrifice.

Therefore she will call upon the Sacrifice to wield the knife, and the Tree shall be ‘drowned in the blood of the Sacrifice’. Thus shall the Angel Mira, the Creature of the Horne and the Sacrifice continue as aspects of the Tree and each shall be represented thereupon.

A drop of blood from the Sacrifice shall prepare the ground and the Angel Mira shall let fall upon the Seed the blood from the sacrifice and cause it to germinate. And the tears of the Prophets shall water the Seed and it shall commence to grow. Thus shall the Seed be blessed and the rain of true striving and the tears of compassion shall not fall on barren ground, ‘which shall be like unto a candle to all creation’ (chapter 17, verse 34).

The Tree will die but from the Seed shall grow a new Tree.

Then shall the Prophets fall upon the Creature’s kin and hold them back while grows the Sapling. And those from Between shall be defeated for a time until they are called forth again. ‘The Prophets shall earn the gratitude of the Tree and it will bless them with a rich harvest.’ So the Prophet Geryys of Leng once spake.

At last shall come The Hour of the Tree. The Great Tree shall grow in the centre of ‘that which is’ and its roots shall grow down and fill up the spaces between and its mighty trunk will grow up towards the light. Its many branches shall grow far and wide, providing beneficent shade and bearing fruit. And the prophets shall each take a fruit and plant each according to its element and from each fruit shall grow a Lesser Tree that representeth that element.

Those who follow a prophet shall receive the blessings of the Lesser Tree of the Prophet. Yet they shall also have the protection of the Great Tree, for those who believe in the Great Tree shall not be bound unto one prophet and shall receive protection according to their faith.

Thus a worshipper may transfer his faith from one prophet to another through the channel of the Tree, just as it is possible to move from one fruit on a tree to another by moving from fruit to twig to branch to trunk and out again. Thus shall the worshippers receive the blessed shade of the Tree.

Thus shall the Prophets and their followers live in harmony under the trees.

So it is written in the Book of Thudd.