Arcadian Dryad

"Students, listen up!
Do you see all these forests on this local map?
Each bigger patch of nature has a dedicated guardian to protect it from harm.
These guardian angels of the green took form as tall-grown tree-entities with, as it is usual for the creations of the Veil, female features.
The arcadian Dryad is a peace-loving, sapient entity living in complete harmony with her dedicated forest.
If you desire save travels through those forests do not intentionally hurt flora nor fauna. If you do nature itself will rise up against you."

Mauze Tung

Basic Information

Anatomy

The arcadian dryad usually appears in form of a bipedal, high-grown humanoid tree made from materials of the forest. A combination of bark, leaves, lianas, moss, and roots got tailored together by the Veil to be a reminiscence of their home turf. As each dryad originates from the first, all appear in a clearly feminine form.
The stance and anatomy of a dryad can shift fluently with the health of their forest and their beliefs.
For example, while representatives of swampy areas appear hunched and gloomy, dryads of the far north wear fir needles instead of leaves.

Genetics and Reproduction

Reproduction is completely impossible under normal conditions, which covers most of the world. Only in the far lands of the Squa'osa Archipelago as well as the frigid south of Sepernius are the streams of the veil that twisted to cancel out the rules of nature. While Sepernius is entirely off the charts for dryads to even exist, is Squa'osa a different case. In these tropical places, it is quite common, that Elves undergo an union with dryads which can result in the birth of a Woodelf, a warm-blooded mammal with bark-like skin and a deep connection to the green. Other unions besides with elves are possible as well, but even in these twisted lands only rarely to be seen.

Growth Rate & Stages

Dryads get created by the Veil after a forest grows to a certain size and appear as a sprout in the arcane centre. That sprout grows and takes in the knowledge of the green to unroot themselves as a dryad six months later. From that moment onwards their age is the age of their forest; they grow and shrivel away with their area's rise and demise. It is said, that a dryad dies when the forest becomes completely inhabitable for its many critters.

Civilization and Culture

Naming Traditions

The name of a dryad is determined by the way, their area of protection get called by the locals. They, however, usually take obligations to slightly change the given name to fit more into how the locals are calling themselves.
So adjusted the former guardian of the V'densl deepwoods her name to Videns.

History

When the planet Prius got created by the Veil aeons ago the four dominant streams of magic took control over its creation.
These streams took form as Sylph, Ifrit, Undine and Dryad.
Dryad created the flora and fauna of the dry lands formed by her siblings. She is considered the earth mother and one of the four nature deities.
As Prius got finally finished the siblings returned into the streams of the Veil dividing themselves into many to protect their sensitive creation.
From that time on each green spot on Prius had one designated guardian, an envoy of the first; an arcadian dryad.

Interspecies Relations and Assumptions

Dryads rarely get in contact with other sapient species. They are primarily rooted to their place of creation and only interfere with the fleshy folk if their lands are threatened.
Due to many myths, that got created around the healing, rejuvenating effects of the fluids of them, druids of nature seek them out to trade devotion and protection of the green against their aid to solve unsolvable illnesses. While those liquids are not the universal solver for every issue, dryads happily help out the kind and faithful.

There are records of dryads, who took these relations to a more personal level and even rarer left their grounds to follow their beating wooden heart.
If such a situation happens the former area of the disloyal guardian will be left alone without guardianship for six months before a new dryad gets created out of the remaining earthly threads...if enough will be left after the time has passed.

"If that is the price we have to pay to be together then mark my words.
I will do everything in my power to protect your forest from harm until a replacement arrives.
You can trust me, Videns.
Even if I have to use up all stored favours to accomplish that, I will not let the love of my life down!"

Furor Opilio

Videns, acolyte of time by Soulwing98

Origin/Ancestry

Born from The Veil

Lifespan

1000 - 1500 years
dependant of the health
of their linked woods

Average Height

2.1 - 4.5 m

Average Weight

92 - 220 kg

Perception & sensory capabilities

Dryads are deeply nature-bound.
While possessing eyes and ear-holes to survive on their own, their main form of perception is the perception of the green.
They are hearing with aid of the flora and seeing as well as smelling through the fauna. The dryad is the forest and the forest is she.
Furthermore dryads possess the ability to manipulate nature reaching from growing a single root to commanding an entire forest at once turning each tree, every fern and all animals into weapons of protection against those seeking to destroy without consent.

Biological Cycle

Visual traits of dryads shift fluently with the seasons. They bloom up in the spring, wear saturated colours in summer, red, yellow and brown in autumn and retreat into the arcane protected areas of the woods until winter has passed. This differs strongly for the evergreen variants, who mostly stay the same all year long.

Languages

"Fear not, little Mantis, you who has entered my domain.
...
Why I am able to speak your tongue?
You are living in my swamps and I am learning from the wilds.
Your ascendants were once connected to me before the strange mechanical being arrived.
But I won't forget,
o child of nature."

Dryad of Étomo

Dryads have no language of their own, they rather learn languages by listening to the wanderers passing their domain and harnessing the library of the green, which safe-keeps every sentence of every species, that got spoken in their presence. Their verbal capabilities can reach all the way from being mute to be fluent in every language common to their surroundings.