Whispers in the Grain
Filed under: Mirecourt Entities | Memory-Bound Flora | Thought-Retentive Constructs
Taxonomic Reference: Animam Sylvarum
Alias: The Knotted Men, Hollowkins, Memory Trees
Contributor: FDG Field Botanist No. 12
Last updated: May 2025
Overview
They do not move.
They do not chase.
They simply wait to be touched.
The Root-Sworn are semi-sentient, vegetative constructs scattered throughout Mirecourt’s forgotten corners. Part tree, part vessel, part echo, these entities function as living repositories—storing grief, secrets, or entire fragments of mind.
Their bark is scarred with suggestion.
Their roots reach like hands.
They remember what others try to forget.
Appearance
- Torsos: Thick, gnarled tree trunks shaped vaguely like hunched or kneeling humans. Some have multiple fused forms—arms tangled together, faces melted sideways into bark.
- Faces: Appear stretched or sunken across the trunk. Eyes are often knots or empty cavities. The mouth, if visible, never moves—but you can still hear it speak.
- Arms: Branches twisted into limb-like extensions, sometimes posed in gestures of offering or restraint.
- Roots: Long and finger-like. Exposed root systems extend outward like hands waiting to be grasped.
One FDG sketch is annotated:
“Saw it whisper—mouth never moved. Sound came from inside the tree behind me.”
Behaviour and Predation
- Passive Lures:
The Root-Sworn do not move or vocalize in typical ways. Their lure is proximity and suggestion. Individuals report feeling:- drawn toward the tree by an old memory
- compelled to place their hand in a root-clasp or knot
- overcome with a sense of déjà vu or misplaced familiarity
- Memory Drain / Fugue Induction:
Upon contact with root-hands, victims enter a fugue state, often lasting minutes or hours. During this period:- recent memories are extracted
- personal details blur
- the victim may speak aloud in voices that are not their own
- Effigy Growth:
Within days of contact, the Root-Sworn may sprout a small wooden figure:- A miniature, simplified carving of the person who touched it
- Often wearing some form of mimicry—a scarf, a hat, a pendant
- These figures have been known to whisper, bleed sap, or cry real water during rainstorms
Known Earth Manifestation
St. Mary Hoo (Winter Floods, 1986):
Following repeated flooding of a condemned barn on the outskirts of the village, locals reported:
- soft muttering sounds coming from the willow-line
- frozen figures standing among floodwater
- missing pets and one elderly farmer—whose coat and boot prints were found, but no body
Two weeks later, a tiny wooden figure wrapped in the farmer’s actual scarf was found stuck into the mud, staring toward the river.
FDG intervention was delayed due to regional containment conflicts. The barn has since been demolished. The field remains avoided by locals.
Folklore and Signs
- The Hollowkin Dream:
Sleepers who’ve walked near a Root-Sworn site often dream of being planted, watching through bark, or repeating the same sentence over and over while birds peck their eyes. - Memory Trees:
In some border villages, these entities are seen as sacred—burden-bearers for the old and dying. It’s said that if you whisper your last secret into the crook of a Root-Sworn’s “ear,” your grief will be preserved… but may grow a voice of its own. - The Uncarved Return:
A local saying warns: “If your wooden double returns to you uncarved—burn it, or lose what it was meant to hold.”
Summary for Field Operatives
| Trait | Detail |
|---|---|
| Threat Level | Medium. Passive but psychologically invasive. Long-term memory disruption common. |
| Signs of Presence | Tree-forms with human shapes, root hands, whispering in still air, sudden memory blanks |
| Containment Risk | High. Entities rooted too deeply to move. Field containment only. |
| Engagement Advice | Do not touch exposed root-hands. Approach in pairs. If effigy appears, isolate it in an iron-lined case and record everything it says before disposal. Consider emotional residue contamination likely.** |
Quote from Field Report #312 (St. Mary Hoo):
“He kept asking what day it was. Said he remembered being a tree and watching a hundred winters.
Then he handed me a carved wooden version of his wife. Said she’d been whispering to him from the mud.”
—Local account, submitted anonymously
Faylinn Defence Group 