The World of The Tree

While the king's empire covers the majority of the world, its capital city is Borlaug. After acquiring (AKA stealing) The Tree from Edenburg, a small group of nomads founded a town that (thanks to the gifts of The Tree) prospered and grew into what would become the most powerful and wealthy city in the world. The king's castle, high priest's church, and Knowledge Tower are in the center of the city, while Grex lives in the slums on the outskirts of Borlaug, near the city's massive walls. 

The gold coins, like the one Grex carries, serve as symbols of membership and trust within The Fracas, the secret organization Grex has unwittingly become involved in. However, these coins aren’t just simple tokens of loyalty—they are steeped in ancient history.  

The coins originated from The Fracas's early days when a group of scholars, warriors, and philosophers broke away from the Kingdom of Borlaug’s ruling class. Their goal was to protect knowledge and artifacts that they believed were misused by the corrupt monarchy and religious leaders. One of their greatest treasures was The Tree.

In their quest to protect this tree and other relics, The Fracas created the gold coins, each marked with the symbol of a tree growing from an open book. This symbol represented their mission: the preservation of both life and knowledge. Carrying a coin was a way of identifying members without words, a subtle way of gaining access to hidden allies and secret safehouses.  

The coins weren’t handed out freely. They had to be earned by showing loyalty, courage, or a significant act of rebellion against the monarchy or the church. A person bearing the coin was considered trusted and could call upon other members for aid. However, the coins also carried danger: being caught with one by the wrong faction, like The Fifth Force, could mean a swift execution.

The coin that Grex carries was once the possession of a higher-ranking member of The Fracas, and it was given to him because he’s unwittingly stepped into an important role that’s about to unfold.

Known for its lighthouse atop the cliff that protects the bay, the fishing village of Ateros is where the high priest, Jordan Durand, flees to while being pursued by Foxglove, a ruthless member of The Fifth Force. 

The ruins of the once-great port city of Fenestra. Destroyed by Borlaug during the Realm War twelve years before the start of the book, the king ordered that the city should not be rebuilt to use it as a symbol of what would happen to those who dared to rebel against his authority. 

The city-state of Petrichor is a remote island over a week's sail from the next closest land mass. This is where the Epiphites (along with Grex's love interest, Anning) fled to after being forced from their homeland by the king's army. The Epiphites live in caves cut from the cliff face of the island, climbing ladders and swinging on ropes to visit their neighbors or to reach the plateau where they tend their crops and livestock. 

Living on Petrichor is a dangerous life--one misstep can mean death--but the Epiphites choose the danger of freedom over the oppression of the king. 

The armor Fish, Frisco, and (eventually) Grex wear, which they call their "panoply." The outer layer looks like matte-black scales that are lightweight but virtually indestructible. The scales protect the wearer from piercing objects like a sword or arrow tip, while a padded layer beneath distributes any blunt force hit across a wider area to limit the risk of injury to the wearer. 

The substance used in the scales (which is the same as used in Frisco and Grex's swords) was developed a century earlier by Catherine, a young commoner who was allowed to eat the fruit of The Tree in an experiment by the king and high priest that had three children eat of the fruit to see what would happen. Threatened by Catherine's weapon-making abilities, she was forced to flee the kingdom, and eventually founded the Isle of the Warrior Women.