Sunday, September 27, 2020

Dryad&Hamadryad

 Dryads are the elven-looking fey guardians of single trees. Hamadryads are their jacked up versions that watch over entire forests. Both like to use charm and guile to trick folks into helping them, but the latter often bring some bigger friends into the fray as well.

Llikanthika was a Hamadryad that fell into a deep sleep several millennia ago. When she laid, her demesne was a massive, deep forest, and her subjects were legion, with dozens of dryads and other fey at her call. When she finally wakes, she finds her self in but a little park, a tiny speck of green in a massive, gray city. Some kids stumble upon her soon after, and only their childish innocence stops her hand. The kids, for their part, now bear a terrible responsibility - stopping the wraith of nature itself from being unleashed upon the city...

Not all dryads rely on charms to win allies for their cause. Drizilla, the Dealin' Dryad, is a well known card player and gambler. When playing against her, the stakes will inevitably go from gold and baubles to favours owed to the forest itself.

The emerald forest is so big that not even a hamadryad can take care of it alone. Several of them have banded together, and ritually crowned Queen Amalfia as the Archidryad. She now watches over an entire continent's worth of deep and lush forests, bonded to the Tree of Ages, the oldest living organism. While Amalfia is good-natured, if somewhat stern and impulsive, she hides a secret - unlike other hamadryads, who rule over more sinister beings of nature, Amalfia has a second form: that of a green woman, nature's wrath incarnate. If the forest is threatened, or any of her hamadryads and dryads hurt, Amalfia will fly into a rage, and her fury matches that of gods.

No comments:

Post a Comment