Unity -

The village of Oakhaven was built around a tree so large its roots served as the town’s foundation and its canopy as the sky. For generations, the village was split into three distinct guilds: the , who lived in the dark soil and managed the water; the Trunk-Keepers , who carved homes into the bark and built the structures; and the Leaf-Watchers , who lived in the heights, harvesting sunlight and rain.

They were neighbors, but they were not one. The Leaf-Watchers looked down on the "mud-stained" Root-Tenders, and the Root-Tenders resented the "flighty" Leaf-Watchers. The Trunk-Keepers simply stayed in the middle, closing their shutters to the bickering. The village of Oakhaven was built around a

The built a network of hollowed-out bamboo pipes, a vertical veins system running from the canopy to the soil. The were the first to suffer

The were the first to suffer. Without rain, their high gardens withered. They cried out for water, but the Root-Tenders, bitter from years of being ignored, hoarded the deep-well reserves for themselves. "You have the sun," the Root-Tenders shouted up. "Drink that." "You have the sun

But soon, the dry heat caused the wood to shrink. The homes began to crack. Without the Root-Tenders’ moisture to keep the bark supple, the very stairs and halls of the village began to crumble.