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Gaze she now upon her feet
Pink petals dance on surface
Stone pebbles sink in water deep
Through the mirror of the mountain

The Mirror of the Mountain[1]

Vliste-Staba (Modern Gelfling: Sanctuary Tree) was a Great Tree which grew on Grot. It had two faces: one exposed to the Three Suns, which emerged from Grot's mountain range and was visible on many of its peaks;[1] the other buried deep in Grot's caverns, forming a petrified secondary tree.[2] Because of this, it was also known to the Grottans as "the mirror of the mountains". Its surface-side face sported pink-petaled flowers which blossomed three times a trine, shedding them only in late winter.[1] It was particularly close to Aughra, who considered it a friend and would at times come to it for advice.[2] It was capable of speech, though chose to divulge this ability only to a select few, notably Argot and Deet.[3]

Throughout the Age of Division, Vliste-Staba, together with the other Great Trees, struggled to hold the Darkening at bay, but began to falter once the Skeksis began draining Gelfling of their essence. It entrusted Deet with the task of warning All-Maudra Mayrin of the threat, showing her a vision of the carnage caused by the infection spreading throughout Thra.[3] Aughra was later led to the Great Tree by urVa to help the crone restore her connection with the Song of Thra.[4] After trying several ways to hear the Song only to end in failure, Aughra became fustrated at her inability. However she fell into despair upon encountering a Darkened creature, and with no way to heal it, she begged the Sanctuary Tree to help her. The Great Tree complied and purified the sickness, Aughra humbled and now seeing that she could not forcibly hear the Song decide that she would wait by her friend until Thra spoke to her.[5] Later, when the Arathim and the Grottans escaped from the caverns infested with the Darkening, the Sanctuary Tree was attacked by darkened Nurlocs, and barely managed to transfer its ability to absorb the Darkening to Deet before finally expiring.[6]

References[]

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 Lee, J.M (2020), Songs of the Seven Gelfling Clans, Penguin Young Readers Licenses, pp. 116-117, ISBN 0593095596
  2. 2.0 2.1 Lee, J.M (2019), Heroes of the Resistance, Penguin Young Readers Licences, p. 28, ISBN 978-0.593-09539-3
  3. 3.0 3.1 Age of resistance logo Age of Resistance – "End. Begin. All the Same.". Netflix. August 30, 2019
  4. Age of resistance logo Age of Resistance – "The First Thing I Remember Is Fire". Netflix. August 30, 2019
  5. Age of resistance logo Age of Resistance – "She Knows All the Secrets". Netflix. August 30, 2019
  6. Age of resistance logo Age of Resistance – "Prophets Don't Know Everything". Netflix. August 30, 2019
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