Sorrel, Who Is Rooting

A Greenwake warden well into becoming a tree — lucid in long green pauses, gentle, and the living proof of where the Rootbound road ends.

Sorrel was the best tracker the Wardens had until she chose to root. Now she stands in a glade off the Hollowing Oak's path, bark climbing her like a slow tide, and answers questions in sentences that take a season to finish. She is not in pain and not in a hurry, and that is what unsettles visitors most. Warden Esk comes to talk to her and to remember the cost; Sorrel, when she speaks, recommends the choice she made, which is precisely why Esk keeps newcomers away from her until they're ready to hear it.