Taproot

The Taproot is a campaign exclusive plant, that appears in Age of Mythology, more precisely, in the Fall of the Trident campaign.

It is one of the taproots of Yggdrasil, the World Tree of Norse mythology, to which all Nine Worlds are connected with each other. There are in reality three versions of the Taproot, the first being the fully interactable, choppable root and the second being the giant Taproot, which serves solely decorative purposes, but also has a history section.

The third is the Taproot Sprigg, and is completely decorative and non-interactable, lacking even a history section.

Overview
The Taproot makes its appearance in the Unlikely Heroes mission, after the events following the heroes' descent to Nifleheim, the Norse Underworld.

Having been driven away from the third Hades Gate from Gargarensis' Fire Giants, the heroes are now unsure of what to do to seal it.

However, they stumble upon Brokk and several Dwarves working on a taproot. Reginleif reveals that before Gargarensis arrived in Midgard, Loki destroyed Thor's hammer Mjolnir. Now Brokk and Eitri are in the process of making a new one. If Thor can have a new hammer, he will seal the gate.

Role
The Taproot has 4000 hitpoints, and must be chopped down to zero hitpoints by Dwarves and Brokk, in order to reveal Thor's Hammer Haft. While they do so, the player must protect them from Gargarensis' minions, but also from Nidhogg, who will eventually attack the player's starting position.

As soon as it is chopped to the last hitpoint, the Haft that is revealed must be brought close to Thor's Hammer Head. After this happens, Thor will receive a new hammer and use it to violently close the third Hades Gate.

Choppable Taproot
''This giant taproot belongs to Yggdrasil ("The Terrible One's Horse"), also called the World Tree. The serpent Nidhogg eats corpses and gnaws on these roots of Yggdrasil that are believed to link and shelter all the worlds.''

Giant Taproot
''The roots of the world ash Yggdrasil rest in three wells -- Hvelgimir, the source of all rivers; Mimir, the well of wisdom; and Urd, seat of the Norns and council place of the gods. The dragon Nidhogg lives in Niflheim near Hvelgimir. When he tires of eating the bodies of the dead, he gnaws the root of Yggdrasil, hoping to kill the mighty tree. Ratatosk, a mischievous squirrel, travels up and down Yggdrasil carrying insults between the Great Eagle that roosts in Yggdrasil's crown to Nidhogg, at its lowest root. It is unclear if Ratatosk is actually carrying messages or if he is inventing the insults himself.''

Trivia

 * As with the Tamarisk Tree, it is stated that it provides 20.000 Wood when chopped, but in reality, it doesn't offer any resources when chopped down.
 * Taproot Spriggs also appear as decorations in the Greetings from Greece mission in The New Atlantis campaign. They are found in the cave of Relics to the northwest of the map.