The golden tree is the shard mark formed in a wielder's palm by a pact with Hrzai. Eira carries it after accepting the god's offer to teach her divine magic.
Wielders
Brynor bore the mark during his pact with Hrzai, who used the name Xelthys. When they agreed to end the pact after he destroyed the Aethrendar Gate, the tree vanished from his palm. He retained almost all his strength because most of the power he had used was his own.
After the final Xalmyrran cycle ended, Hrzai offered Eira a new pact. Eira accepted, and golden light flowed into her palm, leaving the tree mark. She then heard Hrzai within herself for the first time.
The golden tree is the shard mark carried by Hrzai's wielder. Eira bears it in her palm after accepting a pact with the god. Through the mark, she speaks with Hrzai and receives her guidance in healing and protective magic.
Use and limits
Hrzai can speak to Eira and people nearby, appear in a divine body, and visit places apart from her wielder. Eira's shard gives her access to the god's power, unlike Garrik's shard, which enhances his magic without a separate god within it. Hrzai's strength also depends on her followers; when she had only Orin sustaining her, she came close to dying.
Wielders
Brynor carried a golden-tree mark during his pact with Hrzai, who used the name Xelthys. When they agreed to end the pact after he destroyed the Aethrendar Gate, the mark vanished. He retained almost all his strength because most of the power he had used was his own.
After the final Xalmyrran cycle ended, Hrzai offered to teach Eira divine magic. Eira accepted, and golden light flowed into her palm, leaving the tree mark. She then heard Hrzai within herself for the first time.
The golden tree is Hrzai's god core, the first successful creation of Arcanis's divine-magic experiments. It began as a small crystal tree and later appeared as a mark in the palm of her wielder, Eira. Her marked hand is preserved in temporal stasis beneath Maraveth.
Use and limits
Before the hand was preserved in stasis, Eira spoke with Hrzai through the palm mark and drew on her divine magic, including healing and protective shields. Hrzai could speak to people beside her wielder and appear separately in a divine body. The connection was to the god herself, rather than a supply of power without an independent will. Hrzai's strength depended on her followers. After losing them, her reserves dwindled; drawing on her power shortened how long she could survive outside temporal stasis.
History
Creation in Malverand
Arcanis built the prototype in the Malverand Empire to create healing magic. Its dense crystal was much heavier than it looked, with spells carved into the surface. Over decades, thousands of mages contributed their essence and spells, willing the object to heal and restore. It gradually changed shape and color until it resembled a small golden tree.
The guardians tested it in Maraveth in 1790 BX. Their combined senses reached into the artifact, but Thamrielle formed the decisive connection. A golden woman emerged above the tree and immediately reattached Arcanis's severed arm. When she touched the tree, she vanished. Arcanis called this type of creation a god core; the being later appeared in Xalmyrra as Hrzai.
Pacts and preservation
Brynor carried a golden-tree mark during his pact with Hrzai, who used the name Xelthys. When they agreed to end the pact after he destroyed the Aethrendar Gate, the mark disappeared. He retained almost all his strength because most of the power he had used was his own.
After the final Xalmyrran cycle ended, Hrzai offered to teach Eira divine magic. Eira accepted her pact, and golden light flowed into her palm, leaving the tree mark and allowing her to hear Hrzai within herself.
While living in ancient Malverand, Eira severed her marked hand and suspended Hrzai in temporal stasis to conserve her power. Before preserving the Order beneath Maraveth, she removed the hand again and sealed it in a glass casing.
The golden tree is Hrzai's god core, the first successful creation of Arcanis's divine-magic experiments. It began as a small crystal tree and later appeared as a mark in the palm of her wielder, Eira. The core is now inert, left without Hrzai's power after her connection to the God Realm was severed and she was killed.
Use and limits
While the shard was active, the palm mark could glow brightly or remain faintly visible. Through it, Eira spoke with Hrzai and drew on her divine magic, including healing and protective shields. Hrzai could also speak to people beside her wielder and appear separately in a divine body. The connection was to the god herself, rather than a supply of power without an independent will. Hrzai's strength depended on her followers. After losing them, her reserves dwindled; drawing on her power shortened how long she could survive outside temporal stasis.
History
Creation in Malverand
Arcanis built the prototype in the Malverand Empire to create healing magic. Its dense crystal was much heavier than it looked, with spells carved into the surface. Over decades, thousands of mages contributed their essence and spells, willing the object to heal and restore. It gradually changed shape and color until it resembled a small golden tree.
The guardians tested it in Maraveth in 1790 BX. Their combined senses reached into the artifact, but Thamrielle formed the decisive connection. A golden woman emerged above the tree and immediately reattached Arcanis's severed arm. When she touched the tree, she vanished. Arcanis called this type of creation a god core; the being later appeared in Xalmyrra as Hrzai.
Pacts with wielders
Brynor carried a golden-tree mark during his pact with Hrzai, who used the name Xelthys. When they agreed to end the pact after he destroyed the Aethrendar Gate, the mark disappeared. He retained almost all his strength because most of the power he had used was his own.
After the final Xalmyrran cycle ended, Hrzai offered to teach Eira divine magic. Eira accepted her pact, and golden light flowed into her palm, leaving the tree mark and allowing her to hear Hrzai within herself.
Preservation and loss of power
While living in ancient Malverand, Eira severed her marked hand and suspended Hrzai in temporal stasis to conserve her power. Before preserving the Order beneath Maraveth, she removed the hand again and sealed it in a glass casing. After the Order's release, the original hand was reattached, restoring her connection to Hrzai.
Alistair later forced Hrzai to take human form and made Cassian sever her connection to the God Realm. Alistair killed her, and Cassian destroyed the four other gods' released shards on his order. Eira's golden tree was spared, but it had become a dead object with almost no detectable essence.