Tallspire Willow

The Tallspire Willow grows along every significant river and water channel on Tauria. Its slender trunk rises to considerable height before branching into long, trailing fronds that sway continuously in the Taurian winds — even on still days, the Tallspire Willows move, as though they receive winds from a direction the air has not yet reached. Their root systems grip river banks with extraordinary tenacity, preventing erosion during the seasonal floods.

The wood is light, flexible, and strong along the grain. The tribe's craftspeople use it for everything that must flex without breaking: basket frames, light roof structures, the curved ribs of the Talbok-drawn carriages.

Giliad's Field Note

The sound of Tallspire Willows in wind has become, for me, the sound of being near water even when I cannot see it. When the wind shifts on the plain and I hear that particular soft sweep, I know a river runs within two hundred paces. Dendera uses it in her patrol routes now. She did not thank me. She did not need to. — G.