Gopher Wood

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Gopher Wood is a mission-exclusive NPC on Penacony, and serves as one of the antagonists in Trailblaze Mission chapter In Our Time and Trailblaze Mission chapter Memories are the Prelude to Dreams.

Profile

Gopher Wood was the former Head of the Oak Family, and later became the Dreammaster of The Family's Penacony chapter. Despite his position as a Family leader, he was secretly a Pathstrider of the Order.^[1] He had two adopted children: Sunday and Robin. He was the basis for the cartoon character Old Man Wood.^[4]

After the deaths of the two Nameless who had remained on Penacony (Razalina and Tiernan), the Watchmaker was forced to go to the front lines to quell the Stellaron crisis. It was at that moment his rivals saw an opportunity. By the time Gopher Wood, the representative from the Montour system's Family, arrived at the Watchmaker's call, the Stellaron had already been activated and was seeping into the primordial Synesthesia Dreamscape. The Family helped the Watchmaker swiftly quell the civil unrest and played a part in building Penacony, under the disguise of the Harmony. Those three Amber Eras were known as the Age of Dreaming. The Watchmaker, who had been left in the dark about The Family's true intentions, sent out invitations across the universe, spreading the hype around the land of the dreams.^[5]

However, the Stellaron was never truly sealed by The Family. It existed in a different form within the Dreamscape: the Penacony Grand Theater itself. The opulent dream had been built upon the decay of spirits, with a toxic elixir called "pleasure" flowing through the Dreamscape. It tempted people to indulge in the Dreamscape, and gradually their minds succumbed, becoming nourishment for the sweet dream. Weaknesses that plagued humanity were magnified and nourished by The Family. Penacony became a new kind of prison, even more impenetrable than the previous one. Sadly, the Watchmaker realized this far too late. By then, The Family had a firm grip on Penacony, swiftly quelling any opposition that arose.^[5]

History

Civil Unrest

When Gopher Wood first arrived in Penacony, he was described as a kind person and a gentleman by the Watchmaker.^[6] During the period when the Watchmaker went to the front lines, the townsfolk had a dispute with Gopher Wood, but he forgave the townsfolk for their transgressions and silently resumed his work. The Watchmaker noticed that people were beginning to dislike Gopher Wood, so he held a lecture/grand banquet for Gopher Wood, who became acquainated with the Alfalfa Family.^[7]

According to Clockie: Dreamjoy Memoir — Dreammyth Escapade, "Banana Assassin" failed to assassinate the Watchmaker and the Alfalfa Family Head. The Bloodhound Family suspected that Gopher Wood was the mastermind, but Banana Assassin eventually admitted that it was "Grandpa Pine" all along. With the help of the Watchmaker, the nefarious townsfolk were all arrested and brought to justice. Gopher Wood forgave the townsfolk who framed him and was willing to accept them as his helpers. As Gopher Wood's reputation ascended, the Watchmaker's faith in this friend similarly grew stronger.^[7] It is unknown who served as the basis for Grandpa Pine and Banana Assassin in the cartoon.

After the fall of the traitor, the Watchmaker proposed the idea of inviting more Dreamchasers from the Cosmos to aid in the development effort, and Gopher Wood agreed. The population in Penacony began to grow. Gopher Wood diligently listened to various reports remotely and approved each new regulation that emerged. The Watchmaker recognized his duty and stepped forward to assist Gopher Wood in governing Penacony. Soon, the Watchmaker realized that he was not suitable for the job. His sense of responsibility caused a lot of trouble for Gopher Wood.^[7]

As Penacony developed, the land was divided into individual private territories, and the Dreamchasers within no longer heeded the jurisdiction of Gopher Wood. The rebel Dreamchasers often fought for the ownership of the territory, to the extent of going against Gopher Wood. Complaints swarmed toward the heart of the town like snowflakes, and Gopher Wood finally decided to act and discipline these rebels. He then sent out the guards to arrest the disobedient Dreamchasers and educated them.^[7]

The Watchmaker suggested to Gopher Wood that they should devise a plan to reclaim their lands and unify Penacony. The Watchmaker began to negotiate with the rebels and find a way to reconcile. However, the contradictions between the two factions could not be resolved overnight. To seize the most fertile land in the desert, the rebels got into a violent conflict with Gopher Wood's guards. Asna, Head of the Iris Family, embarked on her concert tour through the wasteland, singing songs of peace to quell both factions' anger. Unfortunately, along the way, she encountered the lingering remnants of monsters and was killed. Neither the rebels nor Gopher Wood rescued her, and they blamed each other for it.^[7]

The rebel boss began to recruit soldiers, gearing up for an imminent large-scape battle. Mercenaries from the Cosmos could be seen marching toward the desert. Gopher Wood preemptively investigated the rebels' movements and got rid of their mercenaries. To counter Gopher Wood, the rebel boss planted explosives in his home. Unfortunately, Gopher Wood failed to detect anything amiss and unknowingly entered the house. His house collapsed in explosion. Glaux and the Nightingale Family managed to rescue him, but his wings were severed in the explosion.^[8] Seeing how badly wounded Gopher Wood was, the Watchmaker felt remorseful. Sensing his inability to make significant decisions in town, the Watchmaker no longer wanted to hold back Gopher Wood and quietly vanished.^[7]

Gopher Wood could no longer tolerate the rebels. To ensure the welfare of the remaining townsfolk, he ventured into the desert alone and confronted the rebels, extending countless "branches" as he showed no mercy in using his power. In the end, the rebels were apprehended and chased out of Penacony by Gopher Wood. And for those who surrendered, he accepted them as new generations of townsfolk. Since then, the Dreamchasers and the townsfolk have united as one. While Penacony reunited with the new lands, the Watchmaker had reappeared before Gopher Wood.^[7]

Unity of the Five Major Lineages

In 2151 AE, the long-anticipated Dreamweaving Project officially launched. The Twelve Dreamscapes were slated to be completed within this Amber Era. As construction of the Twelve Dreamscapes was almost near its end, Gopher Wood declared the "unity of the five major lineages," pushing for all lineages to join The Family under the Harmony. The Nightingale Family and its head, Glaux, initially refused to join The Family. However, their members were treated brutally by the Hounds from the Bloodhound Family. Under pressure, Glaux resigned from his position and founded Paperfold Academy to better protect the Dreamweavers.^[9] He was succeeded by Fischer, who ultimately made the decision for the Nightingale Family to join The Family in order to avoid pointless bloodshed.

Dreamburn Riots

As construction of the Twelve Dreamscapes was completed, Gopher Wood was pleased with the result. Seeing Penacony developing into a wealthy and bustling place, the IPC surprisingly extended an olive branch to Penacony, and Gopher Wood accepted the IPC's offer to make peace for the time being.^[10]

More and more tourists flocked to the town and formed the majority of the population of Penacony. Unwilling to live by the rules set by the old townsfolk like Gopher Wood, they demanded to get involved in the town management every day. To maintain peace in Penacony, Gopher Wood stood his ground and rejected the request. The newcomers left disgruntled and started wreaking havoc in the streets. Realizing their efforts were in vain, the rebels decided to show Gopher Wood their might in an event known as the "Dreamburn Riots."^[10]

The rebels brought monsters from outside into the town, leaving the streets in pandemonium. The Bloodhound Family all rushed out to the streets to maintain order. The rebels "sprinkled poison all over the flower fields" (presumably referring to Sweet Dreams Troupe), causing the "flowers" to "grow scary thorns" (presumably referring to Dreamjolt Troupe) that started hurting the innocent. Maeven Ellis, Head of the Iris Family, put herself before the townsfolk. She tried awakening the "unruly flowers", but their thorns hurt her left eye. The Watchmaker hurried to the chaotic streets only to find everything ablaze.^[10][11]

As nobody was guarding the The Reverie Hotel,^[12][13] the rebels set the Hotel on fire. Gopher Wood rushed into the hotel to save people and his body was immolated. This historical event would be the basis of the play Night of Burning Dreams.^[14] Left without his physical body, Gopher Wood began possessing ravens or other Oak Family members for his public appearances.^[15]

Family's Punishment

At some point after Celenova's election, a messenger from The Family's main branch visited Penacony to punish Gopher Wood for the incompetence of not summoning the Eternal Centurion to eliminate the villains that assaulted him in the Dreamburn Riots. Gopher Wood then was punished with another "blessing" that his name would lose all meaning and he could not speak out about the Stellaron's true origins of Harmony, which ultimately led to his betrayal of The Family and the Harmony. His third Divine Law later confessed to Firefly that he had manipulated the Stellaron to resurrect the Order.^[16]

Conflicts with the Watchmaker

Gopher Wood became a man of few words after the Dreamburn Riots. He stopped discussing Penacony's future with the Watchmaker anymore. Instead, he started implementing changes to the town alone. The Watchmaker reconnected with his old friends in other Family lineages, hoping to make them see Gopher Wood's mistake, but he got no support. The Watchmaker made his way to Dewlight Pavillion, hoping to have a chat with Gopher Wood, but was promptly escorted out.^[10]

The Watchmaker returned to the abandoned Dreamflux Reef and revamped it with the help of Gallagher, Micah and Orla. Gopher Wood found out about Dreamflux Reef and issued the Watchmaker a warning. The population of Dreamflux Reef was growing, but Gopher Wood's influence kept encroaching the village's borders. Due to the worsening living conditions, many chose to return to Penacony. As the Watchmaker dug deeper into Penacony's secrets, he found out that Gopher Wood was stealing everyone's emotions to repair the collapsing Dreamscape.^[10]

The Watchmaker came up with a great idea: they would organize a festival, using the "Watchmaker's Legacy" as a facade, and send invitations to the entire Cosmos to gather people and fight against The Family. He asked Gallagher to make sure to send an invitation to the Astral Express, so he can leave the true legacy for the Express. Gallagher would execute the plan during the Charmony Festival in the first year of 2158 AE.^[17]

Resurrecting the Order

Later on Gopher Wood tried to unveil Xipe's third face and discovered that it was not the Propagation, but found a worthy information that when The Swarm wreak havoc it is when the Order reached its unprecedented peak through people's prayer.^[16] To lay the foundation of the "Eternal Dream", Gopher Wood has murdered AR-214 when she cross past Penacony and help fight The Swarm. He discovered that Glamoth Knight are Pathstrider of Propagation and use her remains to recreate The Swarm Disaster in Penacony through the Stellaron. He also accompany with The Dahlia to make sure Gopher Wood plan work by lured Firefly into the Memory Zone to find out about the Propagation and face the Stellaron.^[18]

Sunday and Robin were orphaned after a Stellaron crisis destroyed their home and killed their mother. They were both adopted into The Family by Gopher Wood, who recognized their potential as "twins of the Order"^[19] and brought them to Penacony.^[5] However, Gopher Wood would take a particular interest in Sunday. To become the Bronze Melodia of the Oak Family, Sunday went under Gopher Wood's personal tutelage from a young age.^[20] He was thus much closer to Gopher Wood than his sister, and would be secretly raised with the teachings of the Order rather than the Harmony. However, to guide Robin to her Harmony's path, Gopher Wood gave her the Divine Law (I) as a parting gift.^[18] Gopher Wood even gave Sunday control over the management of Aideen Park for a short time so as to teach the boy how to enforce Order.^[20] After Robin's departure from Penacony, Gopher Wood's influence on Sunday only strengthened. Sunday would continue to rise up the ranks of the Family and eventually become head of the Oak Family, all while secretly harboring loyalty to the Order.

After Sunday became the Oak Family Head, the ravens possessed by Gopher Wood acted as Sunday's Servant^[21] to monitor the Dreamscape.

After Acheron slashed Ten Stonehearts: Aventurine of Stratagems in Clock Studios Theme Park, Gopher Wood possessed other Family members to confront Acheron. He recognized her identity as a Self-Annihilator of Nihility and asked her to leave Penacony, as her rare ability to remain unaffected by the power of other Paths but still unconsciously infiltrate them posed a threat to the Family. Acheron acquiesced, but later shared the information she had learned from the encounter with Black Swan, Dan Heng and Boothill on the Astral Express.^[22][23]

After Robin had her suspicions confirmed by Sunday at Dreamflux Reef that Gopher Wood had been harnessing the power of the Stellaron, she gave up her role as the Chordmaster.^[5] The twins and Welt then confronted Gopher Wood in the Golden Hour. During the negotiation, Welt realized that Gopher Wood and Sunday's loyalty did not lie with Xipe the Harmony, but with Ena the Order. As their allegiance to the Order was exposed, Gopher Wood ordered Sunday to put Welt and Robin to sleep.^[1] However, Welt had kept Aventurine's Token on himself, which was actually an IPC miniature transmitter with the ability to track the wielder's location or contact the wielder when needed. Before being put to sleep, Welt used the transmitter to send a message to the IPC.^[5]

3 system hours before the Charmony Festival began, Gopher Wood realized that Welt had used the transmitter, so the secrets of the Order had spread like wildfire within The Family, and IPC starships were already gathering towards Asdana. Though Gopher Wood had originally planned for Robin to act as the Chordmaster of the Charmony Festival and harness the power of the Harmony to resurrect Ena the Order, Sunday stepped in to take Robin's place, as he knew she did not wish to sing for the Order. Sunday finally asked Gopher Wood why he had chosen to bring the Order to Penacony instead of a desperate world. Gopher Wood answered that it was for "justice," and advised Sunday not to make the same mistake as the Harmony did by losing justice. Sunday surmised from this answer that it was not Gopher Wood who had manipulated the Dreamscape with the Stellaron, but rather someone (or something) else. However, Gopher Wood abruptly ended their conversation. Shortly afterward, the ravens he had possessed collapsed and seemingly died for unknown reasons.^[22] After Ena's dream was shattered, the branch of The Family from the Montour System soon arrived and swiftly took control of the situation, and Gopher Wood's death was officially confirmed. ^[18][24]

Missions and Events

Trailblaze Missions

• In Our Time
  • The Great Train Robbery
  • Small Town Grotesque
  • Seabiscuit
  • Beauty and Destruction
  • Everything that Rises Must Converge
• Memories are the Prelude to Dreams
  • The Moment Before My Death
  • Omen in the Trees

Trailblaze Continuances

• How to Lose Your Way to the Top: The Zero-Dollar Strategy
  • All-You-Can-Lose Challenge: Final Day (projection)

Character Mentions

Character Stories

Character	Stories
Robin • Summeretto	Character Story: Part IV
Sunday	Character Story: Part III

Character Voice-Overs

Character	Voice-Overs
Robin • Summeretto	About Gopher Wood  ▶ ▶ ▶ ▶ When I was younger, Mr. Gopher Wood often encouraged us to make choices bravely and take on our responsibilities. "When all paths on the ground have been exhausted, birds must leave their footprints in the sky." Even if we err or fail... only by moving forward can we free ourselves from the manipulation of others.

Readables

• A Letter from an Apostate
• Night of Burning Dreams Script
• Planet of Festivities Collectible Card
• Ratite's Selection: Private Collection Auction Catalog
• Reply from the Dreammaster
• Undelivered Prayer Book

HoYoLAB Articles

• "An Old Journal in Dewlight Pavilion"
• Pom-Pom's Intel: Penacony

Gallery

Dreamscape Pass Sticker
Gopher Wood

Videos

Cameos

Sunday Trailer "Soloist"

Sunday Trailer — "Soloist"
Official YouTube Video

Trivia

• Gopher Wood has the following aliases:
  • Dreammaster
  • CHORUS (codename in Blues Brigade)^[3]
• The Divine Laws of Gopher Wood are references to various works of literature.
  • Divine Law (I): "11:15█The gods bestowed upon us heavenly fire, and with it divine tribulations. Let them be, for we are all mortals, born to love and to suffer."^[25] is adapted from the 1800 German poem "Die Heimath" by Friedrich Hölderlin.

    Denn sie, die uns das himmlische Feuer leihn,
    Die Götter schenken heiliges Laid uns auch,
    Drum bleibe diß. Ein Sohn der Erde
    Schein’ ich; zu lieben gemacht, zu leiden.

  • Divine Law (II): "11:30█ Repent and return to righteousness. Though you soar like an eagle and make your nest among the stars, I will bring you down from there."^[25] is adapted from the Bible (Obadiah 1:4).
  • Divine Law (III): "11:45█Paradise shall fall into this world of sorrow, and once dawn breaks, it will shatter in the light of day. How could anything golden abide in glory forever?"^[25] is adapted from the 1923 poem "Nothing Gold Can Stay" by Robert Frost.

    Then leaf subsides to leaf.
    So Eden sank to grief,
    So dawn goes down to day.
    Nothing gold can stay.

Etymology

• Gopher Wood (Hebrew: עץ גֹּפֶר) is the material God commands Noah to build the Ark from (Genesis 6:14).

Other Languages

Change History

References