Witch's Hair Treant
Witch Hair Treants are eerie and tragic figures, the remnants of treants overtaken by the invasive, sentient witch’s hair lichen. Once mighty guardians of the forest, these treants have been slowly consumed and transformed by the parasitic lichen, their original essence strangled and subdued beneath the lichen’s creeping tendrils. Now, they wander the woods as distorted parodies of their former selves, their actions no longer their own, driven by the invasive will of the witch’s hair.
The appearance of a Witch Hair Treant is unnerving and otherworldly. Their bark, once solid and sturdy, is now brittle and mottled with patches of yellow-green lichen that crawl across their surface in tangled, fibrous webs. Long, sinewy strands of witch’s hair lichen hang from their branches like spectral drapes, swaying and writhing unnaturally, even when there is no wind. These tendrils often reach the ground, spreading out in a web-like pattern that chokes the vegetation beneath, leeching nutrients from the soil and marking the treant’s path with decay. The lichen pulses faintly, its hue shifting subtly, as though it possesses a life and purpose independent of the treant it has claimed.
Their once-expressive faces have been overtaken by the lichen, leaving only hollow indentations where their eyes and mouths used to be. The faintest glimmers of their original consciousness may still flicker deep within, visible only in moments of hesitation or struggle, but these are fleeting and quickly extinguished by the dominating presence of the lichen. When they move, it is slow and deliberate, their massive forms weighed down not just by their size but by the creeping tendrils of witch’s hair that wrap around them like a heavy shroud.
Witch Hair Treants are not inherently malicious, but their actions are dictated by the lichen’s invasive instincts. The witch’s hair drives them to spread its reach, compelling the treant to wander through the forest and use its immense strength to tear down healthy trees and scatter fragments of the lichen wherever it goes. These fragments quickly take root, infesting new areas and beginning the slow process of overtaking other treants or forest giants. The treant’s own natural connection to the forest is twisted into a weapon for the lichen, allowing it to manipulate the surrounding ecosystem to further its spread.
Despite their corrupted state, there is a mournful beauty to Witch Hair Treants. The witch’s hair lichen glimmers faintly in moonlight, its flowing strands giving the treant an ethereal, ghostly appearance. Yet this beauty is deceptive, concealing the parasitic horror beneath. The lichen saps the forest of its vitality, leaving behind a wake of lifeless, barren trees and ground choked by the relentless growth of its fibrous strands. The air around a Witch Hair Treant carries a faint, acrid scent, a sign of the lichen’s slow, consuming rot.
Some believe that the treant’s original essence may still linger beneath the invasive growth, suppressed but not entirely extinguished. These theories give hope to those who seek to reverse the corruption, though such endeavors are fraught with danger. The witch’s hair is cunning and fiercely protective of its hosts, using the treant’s immense strength and natural resilience to defend itself against any who would attempt to sever its grip.
