The Orchard

The Orchard is the name for a variety of orchards and farmlands in the West, all connected to the Clarene. These Orchards may grow fruits and vegetables for the spirits in the Otherfaith, though the trees and plants within the Orchard are also said to be able to grow various organs and meats for consumption. The Orchards in the Otherfaith sometimes blend into wilder forests, often populated with Smaller Spirits or malevolent guardian spirits.

The Orchard directly inside the Gate is said to kill and eat people who have entered the West through ill-gotten knowledge or who seek to damage the sacred landscape in some way. Other Orchards are actually burial grounds where the Clarene remakes spirits or people, giving them new bodies or putting them through initiations.

A giant jet tree is said to reside in one of the Orchards, which the Clarene makes black mirrors from. She also bury's her Mirror Lion's mirrors near the tree to remake its captured souls into fox spirits. Another tree of pure white bark resides in one of her Orchards, said to be the body of a Laetha. The Orchard House that Othani resides in was built next to the tree. Another tree grows hearts of various creatures that the Clarene uses to birth new spirits.

Both the Laetha and Dierne spend time working in the Clarene's Orchards as caretakers, with the Laetha Arabella being buried in an Orchard in order to give her eternal life - an act that ties her to the land and causes her to be deified.

Associated Gods and Spirits

the Clarene

the Clarene tends and cultivates the Orchard of the West. She is able to grow a variety of fruits and vegetables, some of them with potent magical properties.

the Laetha

the Laetha in her pre-divine form as Arabella falls into one of the Clarene's Orchards when she falls into the West. She is also later buried in an Orchard to force a connection between the land and her mortal soul, and the magic of the land ends up igniting her soul and body and turning her into the Firebird. Her later shards, such as Asier, are also buried in the Orchard.

The White Tree, a giant glowing white tree in the middle of one of the Clarene's Orchards, is also associated with the Laetha. It sprouts after Asier is reborn in the Orchard and later spits out a variety of Laethas, along with being semi-divine itself.

Othani

Othani is married to one of the Laethas that the White Tree creates. He is also adopted by the Clarene. He fits easily into the Orchard, being a spirit of green and growing things, and he is later given a cottage in the middle of the Orchard in which to raise his family (Fio Sier Othan). He is said to tend to the White Tree, as well as taking care of the Orchard it grows in.

Links

Mythology

• Ava at the Gate
• The Bone Box