>I've often wondered about how the Aldryami manage to maintain both
>some kind of identification with "their" breed of tree (white oak,
>yellow pine, redwood, bristlecone) and a species-level dedication to
>the understanding of the welfare of the forest as a whole.
I don't think most individual Aldryami do have this view of the forest as a whole. It's restricted to those trees/dryads that have existed long enough to gain that understanding. Within the forest there are all sorts of squabbling groups. However when threatened by outsiders they put aside their quarrels to deal with the threat. And the leaders of the forest are those who do understand that it's the forest as a whole that matters. Those leaders remember the last time humans broke their word, and the time before that.
>Perhaps finding a way to break this magical community is one of the
>ways to fight the Reforestation. Could it be that the Bristlecone
>Elves are much much less than enthusiastic about the White Pine
>Elves' aggressive forest expansion plans?
I'm sure this is true but the disagreement is more a matter of how soon and by what means. The Reforestation is an attempt to return to the Green Age and I think an important objective of the leaders of all the forests.
-- Donald Oddy http://www.grove.demon.co.uk/
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