Old Father Tree
From Glen Cook Wiki
Old Father Tree is a deciduous-type tree located in the geographic center of the Plain of Fear, twenty feet tall and ten feet thick. A faint tinkling can sometimes be heard from its leaves. It is actually a godlike being from another dimension summoned in a previous age to keep buried an evil lord similar to the Dominator. The Lady has heard legends of this event in her youth centuries ago; she says the summoning was so mighty that thousands died and entire counties were devastated, which is why the Plain is a largely desolate place.
The Tree is the reason why the Plain of Fear is populated by strange beings found nowhere else in the world such as windwhales, talking menhirs, walking trees, flying mantas, reverse centaurs, and several groups of very small yet intelligent creatures; they were all brought over from the Tree's home dimension. The Lady speculates that the odd, magical and very dangerous Change Storms which sweep the Plain occasionally (unpredictably transforming anything in their way) are the dreams of the Tree.
Old Father Tree is a grumpy being who almost never deigns to communicate directly with people, preferring to talk through the inscrutable and taciturn menhirs. However, he controls the entire Plain, and decides to help the White Rose and the Rebels. His support is the backbone of the Rebel forces. Despite the fact that he can't get too close to Darling - her magical null field almost allowed the Tree's prisoner to escape once - he has enormous respect for her.
Sapling son
In response to Croaker's entreaties for help, and out of concern for the future safety of his Plain creatures, the Tree concludes that the Dominator is too strong for the Lady and Darling. He sires a sapling son, resembling a silver-bark poplar, to imprison the Silver Spike; it is replanted with the spike driven into its trunk after the death of the Dominator in the Barrowland. It is powerful enough to chase away the persistent Toadkiller Dog for a period. Eventually, thieves led by Old Man Fish and Smeds Stahl succeed in burning the inexperienced sapling, and steal the spike. Ultimately, the spike is permanently disposed of by Father Tree after it is returned by Darling and her associates. The sapling is presumably still alive, as it was said to have been only "stunned" by the flames.
Old Father Tree's power
Old Father Tree is easily one of the most powerful characters encountered in the Black Company series. No other character exhibited comparable strength. The only known characters who could conceivably rival Father Tree are Kina, the Tree's unnamed prisoner, and the Dominator during their respective primes, and possibly the entity Shivetya.
In a singularly spectacular demonstration of his power, Father Tree
- summoned a violent change storm to reveal the true forms of Toadkiller Dog and Tracker,
- swatted the nearly unstoppable Toadkiller Dog three times with his branches, then blasted him with a massive lightning bolt,
- made Tracker a loyal subject with the powers of his voice and magic,
- struck Scorn and Blister out of the sky by destroying their carpets and intercepted their explosive spears,
- then, several minutes later, subdued vastly powerful, Dominator-like prisoner who nearly escaped his subterranean prison.
All this was done while the Tree was at least partially within the anti-magical null of Darling; that is, he defeated all these enemies despite suffering a significant handicap.
The prisoner beneath
In the very distant past of the events of the chronicles, a great warlord with power akin to the Dominator was overcome by forces of light, and buried deep in the ground. According to Lady's memories of certain ancient legends, Old Father Tree (a sapling at the time) was summoned to keep this ancient lord interred.
After untold ages, this unnamed prisoner nearly escaped because the Tree was weakened by Darling's null. As soon as she was moved far enough away, the Tree regained enough strength to totally subdue his captive. The prisoner's arm still remained exposed for a time aboveground, however, and nearly broke Croaker's ankle when he accidentally walked close enough. The arm was described as greenish in color and leathery, with nails like claws; later, Croaker observed that Father Tree was slowly growing thick roots around the arm, to once again envelop the prisoner completely.
