The Rogue Sapling, once simply a young, innocent tree in Valley's End, has somehow managed to integrate itself into the Umbral Deluge's hivemind. By acting as a sentient conduit, the Sapling has seemingly accelerated the Deluge’s spread into an exponential surge. This connection also rewards it with immense power, allowing it to harness portions of the hivemind to operate in both an offensive and defensive capacity.
Notably, the Sapling is astronomically larger than a normal tree during the events of the adventure, especially considering its age. This is caused by a combination of the physical mutiliation that comes as an effect of late-stage Deluge influence and its intimate connection with the hivemind.
While Professor E. Gadd, Cachely, and the others interpret the Rogue Sapling simply as a mindless, corrupted titan capable of nothing but destruction, this is a gross misconception. The Sapling has, rather miraculously, managed to gain some influence over the hivemind's actions. Its main goal, while unclear to everyone until its unfortunate defeat, was to stop the spread of the Deluge by acting as a vacuum for the spread of the corruption.
Its connection to the hivemind, combined with its retained sentience, allowed it to encourage the concentration of all new spores exclusively within the small region of Valley's End. The objective following this concentration was to quarantine the Deluge by eliminating or repositioning all life in a ring around the edges of the corruption. However, the Sapling was never able to reach this stage of its plan.
Personality
Due to its constant focus on trying to harness the Deluge, the Rogue Sapling often struggles to speak in full sentences. Because of this, its communication conveys as cryptic or incomplete to the receiving party. Without this immense pressure, the Sapling is highly intelligent and uses that to protect its fellow trees.
Speech Patterns
The Sapling speaks almost exclusively in fragmented sentences. Too much of its cognitive energy is spent elsewhere, leaving little for verbal communication. The words that do manage to escape its mouth, however, often convey a sense of immense intelligence and eloquence.