Dryad Sylph
Avg. Height: 5'10"
Avg. Weight: 140 lb
Avg. Lifespan: 600
Physical Characteristics:
Eyes: | Every shade of brown and green; enormous, thick-lashed. | Hair: | Every shade of brown and green; similar in texture to their preferred trees. | Skin: | Bark colored. | Body Type: | Thin, ethereal, yet strong and dextrous; extremely long fingers and toes. | Clothing: |
Region: Kuthgard
Languages: Common, elvish
Stat Adjustments:
Strength: | 6 |
Reflexes: | 4 |
Endurance: | 4 |
Dexterity: | 6 |
Reasoning: | 0 |
Wisdom: | 8 |
Will: | 4 |
Intelligence: | 4 |
Special: Vulnerable to fire.
Bonus to Foraging and Outdoorsman learn rates.
Penalty to Lockpicking and Mechanisms learn rates.
On delicate feet both lighte and swifte
Fleeting and elusive as the morning miste
Guardian of the woode, keeper of the seasons
Sayeth Mother Serene, for Her own private reasons
Childe of the goddess who glows from above
Bathing them all in the white lighte of love
So goes the first several lines of a song that the naiads are known to sing in their strangely haunting voices about their sister race; the dryads — the wood faeries.
One of the sub-races of sylphs, the dryad holds a special place in the ecology of the planet Thrael. Their connection with the forests is unique to their race, and is unlike anything else experienced by the other races in Thrael. Although separate entities, the relationship between a dryad and its home-forest is symbiotic in that when one flourishes it has the strength to nurture the other. When one is weakened, the other is sapped.
Living in deep glades and lush verdant woods, the dryads are a shy and quiet race when viewed by others. Dryads are only comfortable where the trunks of trees crowd their paths and the undergrowth provides innumerable hidey-holes, this is where they spend their lives in symbiosis with nature. Dryads are the longest-lived of the sylphs, with their lifespan approaching that of the sylvani at 600 years.
Although appearing to be secretive to outsiders, they are simply a close-knit race that prefers to be amongst their own. Interbreeding with other races is impossible, and therefore in the dyradian culture having an intimate relationship outside their own kind is completely unthinkable. If asked, one might whisper, "Does the mighty banewood sire a delicate birch?". Many more females are born than males, although the ratio is such that the race maintains itself, even if it doesn't grow and swell in numbers. Given the disproportionate numbers of females, marriage is not a common practice and male children are guarded extra carefully to ensure that they grow to maturity.
Ruled by a matriarchy, each clan is the law unto their own forest, and leadership is handed down from mothers to daughters. Since squabbles are rare, the ruling mother uses her position primarily to maintain the natural order, that of guarding the forest. She will also direct saplings that grow too closely together to be carefully transplanted to areas where they will have room to flourish, thin the lower branches when needed, trim deadwood, and even carry in water to sustain the forest in seasons of drought.
Being mistaken as frail due to their thin, almost ethereal appearance, their strength and dexterity takes most by surprise. Extremely long fingers and toes enhance their ability to climb trees and jump from limb to limb, and tiny children traverse the forest safely from the upper canopy of the forest long before their feet ever touch the ground. When old and less agile, the ancient members of the clan will again ascend to the higher branches to live out their final days safe from predators below.
Hair and eyes in every shade of brown and green imaginable and bark-colored skin that is forever shaded by the forest make this race distinctive through contrast. Living in specific types of woods, the dryads seem to take on the characteristics of "their" trees, almost like chameleons. Willow dryads have long silky flowing hair that streams down their backs and spills over their shoulders, while fir dryads typically have short spiky hair that appears almost bristly. Enormous eyes framed by thick lashes lend them an innocent childish appearance that is belied by their ferocity, which shows itself immediately if their forest is threatened. When danger to their wood arises, they attack with the fury of self-defense, for to kill a tree is to kill the dryad who lives within its branches.
Shunning every modern convenience, dryads have not changed their culture or lifestyle since their origins. Thin, supple twigs padded with leaves and lashed with vines to the boughs of tree branches provide platforms that are "home" and the forest supplies all else. Nuts and berries along with wild game provide nourishment, while leaves and flowers are woven into the little clothing they deem necessary. Their internal rhythm mimics that of the seasons. New births are almost inevitably in the spring and they are most joyous and alive in the summer. Autumn brings a quieting along with the bittersweet knowledge that winter; the petite-death is not far behind. In the coldest season, the dryads slow down and spend their time drawing on fallen bark and carving deadwood.
Their artwork is prized in various parts of the world. Not so much for its beauty, although much of it is spectacular, but for the innate magic that resides within the wood itself and the reverence that was placed into the creation of the item, imbuing it with protective magicks. They guard their art as carefully as they do their living trees and will only sell to those they deem worthy.
Born of the forest, at one with the trees
Cousins to those who live in the seas
Guardian of the woode, keeper of the seasons
Sayeth Mother Serene, for her own private reasons
Childe of the goddess who glows from above
Bathing them all in the white lighte of love