| “ | She would never forget the sound of a tree speaking, or that day when she'd discovered that intelligent, alien creatures completely surrounded her. | ” |
Cabeswater is a sentient, magical forest that encompasses the heart of Henrietta's ley line.
Description[]
Cabeswater is an ancient, often tarrying entity which no one fully comprehends. The gang loves it and it loves them. Cabeswater serves as a meter for how "energized" the ley line is. Inside Cabeswater, the laws of physics and reality are flexible, meaning the thoughts and feelings of anyone who enters can change physical aspects of the forest. Examples include, monsters who manifest themselves, a tree trunk that shows people who climb inside dark visions of the future, and foliage that undergoes seasonal changes in the span of a few hours.
Time is warped, so the amount of time spent inside Cabeswater can be completely different from how much time has elapsed on the outside. This is because all times are the same to Cabeswater and thus it can speed, slow, or stop how the people in and around it experience time. It can also change the time of day or year within its boundaries at will.
Numerous tree-lights live within Cabeswater, though Cabeswater itself is a separate being. It is unknown if the form of a highly magical forest is the only way it can appear.
The Trees[]
The trees in the forest are ancient, watchful, wise, and embody the magical qualities of Cabeswater. They communicate in fragmented Latin, and later, English. To the best of their abilities, the trees respond to the boys' requests, particularly Adam Parrish and Ronan Lynch, such as keeping them safe, altering the climate, helping them weather time-skips, and locate lost things.
The Raven Boys[]
Adam Parrish sacrifices himself to become Cabeswater's "hands and eyes" in exchange for Cabeswater waking the ley line. This amplifies the ley line, increasing the frequency and intensity of magical events in Henrietta. With Cabeswater now rooted in his physical and spiritual self, Adam is granted a psychic boost that allows him to use tarot cards and other magical artifacts to communicate with Cabeswater more effectively.
The Dream Thieves[]
The gang is initially reluctant to go back to Cabeswater after Adam's sacrifice, not knowing what might have changed since then. When they finally do go back, the forest has disappeared due to Joseph Kavinsky's dreaming sapping the ley line of energy.
The Raven King[]
Adam spends much of his time removing obstructions from the ley line's energy pathway. Ronan confesses to Adam that he dreamt Cabeswater's current form, though he didn't dream the entity itself. As a dreamer, Ronan grew up drawing energy from the ley line to manifest objects from his dreams, but during his adolescence, Ronan accidentally turned Cabeswater into a magical forest capable of sustaining dream creatures.
Cabeswater sacrifices itself to bring Gansey back after his second death. But due to its control over time, it can't truly die, it just loses its corporeal form and disappears to another moment on the ley line. It has one last goodbye with Blue, Ronan, and Adam before sacrificing itself to save Gansey.
Gallery[]
