H'Mortee

Template:Nature-Tree The H'Mortee tree is native to Hapes Prime which came close to exctinction on numerous occasions. The tree has become associated with Hapan culture, in particular honour, pride and Hapan martial arts as the ground underneath the trees are often use for traditional dueling with poisoned blades.

Tree

The trees can grow anywhere up to and beyond 20 meters when fully matured. Its thick, smoothed barked truck supports a canopy of heavy green leaves that during the autumn months turn brilliant shades of red. It is a strange thing that a week before winters cold grip moves in the leave quickly turn a dark purple or even black as if tree mourns the coming cold. Branches in the spring months through to late summer hang with a heavy burden of strange seed pods.

Seed Pod

It is the seed pods of the great H'Mortee tree lead it to be known by originally settlers as a tree of death. These pods the size of small bottle of perfume are covered mostly is a hard pod casing, but at its base there is a membrane that a any viewer could use to see a dark liquid inside, the colour of a rich wine. It is this liquid that gives the tree its potency. The contained liquid is a deadly neurotoxin, that when makes contact with a sentients blood can kill in no more then 2-3 hours.

The Hapan government has gone to great lengths to stop the toxin from ever leaving Hapan space, but a small amount is available on the black markets, a popular choice of assassin around the galaxy.

Heritage

The H’Mortee tree embodies the code of honour within the Hapan realm. Ever since the time of the Lorell Raiders, the human population of the Hapes Cluster have used this tree as a symbol for martial honour. When ever a noble's honour was disgraced or disputes needed settling, it was under the great branches of a mature H’Mortee tree that the combatants would meet.

Each noble would then coat their blade in the toxin from the seed pods of the H'Mortee tree, the bout was about the skill of avoid your opponents blade just as much as striking a blow. The noble which drew first blood would of course be declared the winner with the loser being treated by nearby medical staff, in the earlier day there was a large number of cases that where death ensued. Those days the losing competitor would be sick for a week or so afterwards giving them reason to rue the decision they had made.

History and the Future

Though very few of the H'Mortee tree survived the ancient wars it has been made a personnel mission of the royal family to not let these beautiful trees become extinct. Establishing safe garden across Hapes and through out other suitable areas in the Hapan Cluster. It has also become tradition that all Hapan that are granted lordship be given a H'Mortee tree to grow on there property.

See Also

• Hapan nature
• Tree of Wisdom