Plant Dossier: White Jaunt Pine
“Be weary of the glittering bark, do not be tempted by the beauty of its fronds. This tree may seem like a rare jewel, but it is much more. It marks this entire forest as a battleground between shadow and faerie…” — Errix Volgenshire
Type: Pine tree
Where to Find: Spontaneously created, no native region or biome. Comfortable range: N/A
Distinguishing Features: White, purple, and chartreuse needles. Slate-gray pinecones that sparkle inside like geodes.
Collision Point
The Feywild and Shadowfell sit just above and just below the Material Plane, respectively. Both of these planes, entire other dimensions, are vague mirrors of the the Material Plane, the place where most commoners live. To the average commoner, these planes would hold little to no significance. Knowledge of the other planes is not particularly cared about, owing to the fact that an extremely small percentage of people ever travel out of their home plane. However, just because these different realities go unnoticed by the average person, it does not make the events happening within such planes any less contentious than what occurs in the Material Plane.
All these places are living and breathing worlds that invisibly co-exist. Yet, in this silent conglomeration, there are moments when planes overlap and cross. These are rare, but allow for travel between the planes; examples are phenomena like fairy circles and shadow crossings. But an even rarer event can occur: the overlapping of all three planes.
In areas where the Feywild, Material Plane, and Shadowfell cross, however brief or long that may be, countless strange effects begin to manifest. The fabric of magic itself if usually twisted and augmented in these areas. Denizens of all three planes may cross and meet one another. Unfortunately, meetings between citizens of the Feywild and Shadowfell are typically marred in violent bloodshed. Legends say the battles between faerie and shade sound like demented music in the night, and are indicative of the vengeful hatred between the two planes.
In areas where this overlap happens, White Jaunt Pines grow spontaneously from the spilled blood of fey. Growing 60 ft. tall in a single night, these trees are shockingly beautiful. Their multicolored opalescent needles glow with a dim UV light. Their dark pinecones aren’t seeds, but organic geodes that often contain impressive crystal formations.
These trees grow after battles between the two planar denizens. Knowing adventurers can use the tell-tale sign of a White Jaunt Pine to verify a planar overlap in the area.
Gameplay Effects
White Jaunt Pines only grow when the blood of fey in a planar crossing mixes in the ground. For this reason, they cannot be extracted or harvested. But a tree normally has 2d12 pinecones worth 20 GP which can be easily taken with no roll required.
Outside of their monetary value. These trees make a perfect place to stage a fey-focused encounter, introduce a portal into the Feywild or Shadowfell, or find pieces of discarded weapons and armor. Roll or pick an option on the White Jaunt Encounter Table if you would like to stage an encounter near one:
