Mandrake

Apothecaries swear by the mandrake root for its curative properties and it’s used across much of The Empire to treat ailments of the stomach and pain in the joints. In Balgrendia, people fear the root for its similarity to a particularly strange breed of Faerie. Like the plant for which they are named, mandrakes appear as gnarled, stunted children made from soft wood, but with the faces of old, bitter men. Leafy fronds sprout from the tops of their heads and wave and rustle as they lurch over the ground. Mandrakes prey on mortal children. They gather at the edges of the woods, black eyes glinting as they watch their victims at play. They wait for a child to run off alone, perhaps to hide or weep from the cruelty of an older child, and then converge to haul their victim off to a dreadful end.

Genetic Ancestor(s)