A Beary Special Cinderella Story

"Wait!" I said, as he began to turn away. "Why would you take me? You must know I have no magic, not really: I can't change silver to gold for you in your kingdom, if you take me away."

"Of course you can, mortal girl," he said over his shoulder, as if I was the one being a fool. "A power claimed and challenged and thrice carried out is true; the proving makes it so." And then he stepped forward and the heavy door swung shut in my face, leaving me with a casket full of silver coins and a belly full of dismay.

​Witch-Trees of Irrisen

After 1,400 years of winter, nearly all growing things in Irrisen are long dead or locked in eternal hibernation. The great birches, elms, and oaks of the forests are bare of leaves, and only tall evergreens such as firs, pines, and spruces provide a green break to the endless blues and whites of ice and snow. The coniferous winteryew tree, believed to have been brought to Golarion from some far-off world by Baba Yaga, is absolutely essential to the survival of many species of Irrisen. Winteryews’ cones produce edible seeds year-round, and their bark, which grows back even in Irrisen’s frigid temperatures when stripped from the trunk, provides nutrition for other animals, including humans. Were it not for the winteryew, known colloquially as the “witch-tree,” no wildlife could survive in this wintry land.
 - Mike Shel. (2013). Irrisen, Land of Eternal Winter, p. 3. Paizo Publishing, LLC.