Overview
Rootwalkers are Leakborn creatures -- beings that exist because of the Wellspring leaks, not animals that were enhanced by them. They are condensed Growth-stream energy: where Heartcraft leaks have been pouring into the earth for thousands of years, the earth occasionally stands up.
Eight to fifteen feet tall, they look like the forest floor decided to walk. Their faces are hollows where bioluminescent moss grows in patterns that shift based on their mood.
Behavior
Gentle unless threatened. They communicate through root networks, vibrations in the soil, and the bioluminescent patterns on their faces. Heartcraft practitioners can read them. Everyone else just sees a terrifying tree-giant emerging from the ground.
They guard the Thornwood forest. They maintain the ecosystem, redistribute nutrients, and protect convergence points from disruption.
Significance
When the Loom destabilizes, the Rootwalkers become agitated -- pacing the forest perimeter, gathering near the academy walls. Anne is the first student to communicate with one directly. It shows her, through root-network imagery, that the ground beneath Thornwood is cracking.