Threetrees

Threetrees

Threetrees is the native capital of the Farseas and one of the two largest cities in the swamplands — the other being Nykhas Rest, which Threetrees, by sheer virtue of its sprawl, is five times the size of. Operated by the Coralhearts, the city is populated by hundreds of thousands of swamp denizens all blending in a mosaic of beastly civilization the likes of which no Cormyrean nobleperson would have dreamed possible.

Urban Scale, Agricultural Sprawl & The Three Trees

There are many distinct districts across Threetrees, most of them agricultural by virtue of the city's immense horizontal spread across the fertile marsh shelves, reed paddies, aquaculture channels, and fungal terraces.

At the heart of the metropolis stand the central districts, built into and across the titular three trees — three massive, ancient swamp trees that reach hundreds of feet upwards and are several hundred feet around. Dotted all over with windows and doors, and linked by catwalks, causeways, superstructure, and suspension bridging stretching back and forth like spider's strands, these vertical canopy districts house markets, council chambers, shrines, and thousands of tiered dwellings suspended high above the black water.

Political History

Threetrees' growth into a true metropolis was enabled in part by Eleanor Osrin's network of food, shelter, and religious infrastructure, which created the social scaffolding the settlement needed to unite beast-peoples from across the marshes.

In its early years, Threetrees was governed by a multi-species council drawn from the noble families of the frog and lizardfolk peoples — the traditional inhabitants of the deep swamp who managed trade, defense, and civic security across its sprawling districts. While the Wartscale Family held early prominence in Nykhas Rest, Threetrees eclipsed it fivefold in physical footprint and population to become the undisputed political heart of the Farseas.

The Suh'Skel Overthrow (~1505 DR)

The old council's rule ended violently in approximately 1505 DR, when The Suh'Skel — the Shadow Scale militant insurrection — stormed the city and seized control. The Suh'Skel, a radical lizardfolk faction driven by the conviction that human and imperial influence must be expelled from the Farseas entirely, had long been building power in the deeper marshes.

The climax of the insurrection occurred at the Triple-Gallows Tree — a massive, centuries-old triple-trunked swamp tree at the heart of the city that has served as a gathering point, a courtroom, and now a site of grim legend. This was the location of the final showdown between the old council forces and the Suh'Skel, and the tree still bears the marks of that conflict.

Papa Croakus and Gran Sombra

Threetrees holds deep spiritual significance in the Swamp Gods pantheon. The vestiges of both Papa Croakus — prime patriarch of Ghedebo and head of the Swamp Pantheon — and Gran Sombra — the ancestor spirit and trickster deity — are rooted in this city. Their presence is felt in the old shrines, the spirit-carved bark of the great trees, and the voodoo rhythms that still echo through the markets. Even with Papa Croakus now held hostage by the Irungarten family, his spiritual fingerprints remain throughout Threetrees.

Current Rule: The Coralhearts

Following the Suh'Skel's seizure of power, governance of Threetrees passed to the Coralheart Family — a politically ascendant dynasty who now operate the city, having succeeded the Wartscale Family as the dominant native political force in the Farseas. Xevus Coralheart, a lizardfolk council member from earlier in the city's history (whose kidnapping opened Season 1 of The Farsea Chronicles), represents this family's long involvement in Threetrees' governance, while marsh scout Bogg operates in Suzail seeking leads on the vanished Coralheart Matriarch.

See also: Coralheart Family, Xevus Coralheart, Bogg, Nykhas Rest, The Suh'Skel, Swamp Gods, Papa Croakus, Gran Sombra