Tree Spirits were probably the strangest group of vassals in the New Empire—indeed, Sandora and I often forgot that they were also an Empire-affiliated species. Like the New Eden Federation and the Civilization Community, they were among those "high-ranking vassals" who served directly under the Empire Command Headquarters, carried out the orders of the imperial household directly, and were qualified to station permanent envoys in Shadow City. More rare than any existing vassal species, however, was the fact that they were an "ancient bloodline" that had survived since the era of the Old Empire.
Wasn't that fact full of dramatic irony?
During the Old Empire era, Tree Spirits had been the least established of all vassals. Their history was brief, their strength mediocre, and though they did not fear battle, most Tree Spirits were somewhat romantic by nature—really, they were a gentle species that cherished life and universal love. They had only ever fought large-scale campaigns when facing the Abyss. A species like that had not even been qualified to serve as cannon fodder on the front lines during the Old Empire era, much less gain even a scrap of imperial knowledge. If disaster had not struck so suddenly, Harlan would have had no choice but to hastily assign the Tree Spirits their final mission as vassals. Otherwise, they probably would never have caught the eye of those military dictators of the Old Empire. Yet history had reached this point, and the Tree Spirits, once the newest recruits, had somehow, perhaps, maybe, possibly... become the senior elders of all vassal species?
I had happened to think of this while chatting with Sandora. Over the past few days, Tree Spirits had become a frequent topic between us, and we were both fascinated by this species that had stumbled its way here.