The Dryads of the Witcherverse
The ancient forest of Brokilon is nested between kingdoms of Temeria, Brugge, Verden and Cidaris, in the north bordering with Velen's No Man's Land.The forest itself is ancient and untamed and by all means dangerous for anyone but friends of the dryads, which are not numerous.
The dryads are all female forest race that is slightly variable in the looks, in all cases athletic youngish women, from the pure dryads of the green and forest colors all the way to dryads only in name and culture - the human children, stolen and brought up among them. The nature of the dryads is dual, they are reputed to be the best archers in the world and along with their silent prowling skills, they are known to kill intruders into their lands without even being detected, and they are reputed to show very little mercy. However, among their own people under the rule of queen Eithné they are caring creatures of the forest with love for music. Dressed in simple fabrics of masking colors, leaves or nothing at all, dryads often paint their bodies to blend further with their surroundings and live among the trees which they can shape with their touch. As a single gender race, they are entirely dependable on other races for procreation, an they pick from among the intruders or visitors. Any child born by a Dryad, no matter the father, shall be a full blooded dryad. |
The Song of The Forest
South of Ceann Treise the river Ribín runs, down south to Ceann Sleá where her crossing lies. As Ribín runs it divides two worlds as it divides the land, protecting our beloved home, the ever green ever living Brokilon. Brokilon. Our home. Our kingdom. Our last stand. For decades we did not want to fight. For decades we slowly retreated from where the an duine set their feet, where they came with flame and axes to fall the ancients, for decades we hoped they'd stop and find their place in the all embracing mother's arms. We were blind. Locusts, they die with the winter, but an duine they do not. And their kingdoms now lie in all directions, and so close to Duén Canell, the heart of the forest. They shall never have it, not as long as the last of us breathes. For Lady Eithné, our queen sister commands us, and we shall be the swallow, the swift, we shall be the fox, the cunning, we shall be the wolf, the deadly, we shall be the bear, the enduring. We shall be the Brokilon. In life. In death. In rebirth. Forever. |
A Detailed Overview
What is a Dryad?
The dryads is a term that is widely used for the wild women of Brokilon, it is also a term that is used for a specific non-human race. The fact that there are two different types of dryads of course creates confusion which however is born from the dryads outlook on the universe. From a dryad's perspective the differences between races are not in their shapes and colors of the skin, but in their way of life - therefore a human can be as much a dryad to the dryads if they abide to their outlook on the world and live in union with the nature. This is natural to them, since they are single gender species and to procreate they always need a male of another species.
The Born dryads
An intercourse between male of any species and a dryad will always produce a female infant that will share traits dominantly of the mother dryad. They will be of green color, they will have their physical disposition, sharp ears and their ability to shape wood with mere touch and as well shall inherit the higher resistance to diseases and longer life span that can reach up to even hundreds of years.
The Brought Up Dryads
As a matter of principle, the dryads do not slaughter children and while having no interest in small boys, they have been known to kidnap even human girl infants and subsequently bring them up as one of them within the confines of the forest Brokilon. Naturally such dryads would still have a set of abilities depending on their actual race, as with physical disposition - and merely become dryads spiritually, taken as sisters among the fellow dryads and treated with the same respect (by most, there are always exceptions, and some of the dryads can harbor mistrust towards these based on their past experiences with humanity), and are taught their superior archery skills. The brought up dryads are relatively rare in the dryad population and largely a minority.
The Dryad Society
The dryad society works on principles of equality and respect of elders with an exception of the so called Dryad Queen, Eithné, the eldest and wisest, the leader of the forest nation. Generally, a dryad is a sister to a dryad, no matter their origins, and they are all seeing themselves as a natural part of the forest. Their society is very open, Brokilon does not really know much meaning of personal wealth, their living is shared as is fitting one family. After all, their roof are all the canopies of the trees of the forest, the whole forest is their living room. That said, there are still places in the forest where the dryads meet and commune, rest and enjoy their life, hearts of the forest much like the one most important to them, the Duén Canell, the Place of the Oak, where the Queen Eithné resides.
When it comes to maintenance of their numbers, the single gendered dryad race is dependable on other races. As such the ideal state for the dryads is peace, which is however at the moment unachievable. Following the principles of natural selection dryads are always more interested in strong individuals, able hunters, warriors and similar. Of course seeing how most humans are considering dryads enemies, obtaining such can be difficult and therefore the more usual source is from the ranks of the Scoia'tael, or elves generally. As such the humans still play an important part, if at times largely against their will or decision. When it comes to men, dryads are not very possessive, they do not form partnerships or long lasting bonds, they do not mind sharing. Similarly, dryads do not have very strong maternal bonds - the mothers take care and feed their babies for the most necessary part, before the very young children become part of the community and are brought up, tought and trained communaly, part of the large family of all dryads.
Generally, the core values of the dryads can be summarized to keeping fit, being good but respectful hunters, ability to take what is necessary and avoiding greed. Their natural longing to be keepers and caretakers of the forest fuels their longing for unachievable peace, the ideal and natural state to them. It is because of these values, among other things, why the dryads keep to defensive tactics and do not raid into human lands.
The Circle of Life
Spiritually, the dryads believe in the mother nature and the great circle of rebirth within her arms. In their world when something dies, something else begins and each death serves to fuel new life. Much like a dryad eating a fish translates to the dryad's world simply as making the fish part of their bloodstream, and them becoming continuation and extension of the fishes life, they themselves know then they die they will live on within animals that eat their flesh and within trees that will accept them through the roots from the soil. Within this principles the trees are the sacred beings, with their life spanning over centuries, they become continuation of countless beings through their life, and as such a death of a single tree seems like a death of thousands to a dryad - which as much as it is acceptable within normal circle of life - they have hard time to accept when the wood of the tree is taken from the natural circle and preserved within buildings or burned for ashes. This in essence is at the core of their conflict with human kingdoms, aside of the (un)natural drive of humans to eliminate them as untameable beasts of course.
The Defenders of the Great Forest
Brokilon is the forest that houses the center of dryad culture, the Duén Canell, and is widely considered the last untamed forest wide and far around the Northern Kingdoms. It is the last stand for the dryads, meeting them outside of Brokilon is a rare occurance, even when not entirely unheard of. As such, they are extremely dedicated to keep the last bastion of Mother Nature and hold it against all influences of civilisation. The borders of the forest are decorated by arrows left in the ground, fallen branches and in decaying bodies of intruders, as a warning to those who would want to approach the forest uninvited. The dryads are stealthy and expert archers and most everyone living near Brokilon knows that, and a trip to the Brokilon can easily become the last journey of anyone's life. Given the warnings scattered on the forest edge, when someone seems dedicated to penetrate further into the forest uninvited, the dryads are likely to act before asking any questions. This is extremely true with the humans, since the elder races maintain friendly terms with the dryads through their more respectful relation towards the nature, and the Scoia'tael commandos often enter it and are given not only place to rest in safety, but also often times are provided healing. In return, the commandos provide early warnings about forming raids into the forest or help with the defense of the forest even. And yet, even this alliance has it's sharp edges, as dryads do not agree with the Scoia'tael aggressive raids into human lands that bring unnecessary attention of the kingoms towards the forest.
At times, for one reason or another, even humans that are for whatever reason deemed worthy, are allowed to wander into the forest and even gain audience with the dryads, most often such individuals being druids who as well have long lasting friendly terms with the dryads. However, even such are more than likely to be greeted away from the hearts of the forest, and if lead to one, they are likely to be blindfolded both for the trip there and for escort out.
The Dryad Fashion
The dryads are various, and as such their dressing customs can differ. While a large portion of their population wanders around simply bare naked, just somewhat decorated by jewelry of living leaves, branches and flowers (which do not wither on the born dryads due to their affinity to the trees), others tend to dress into more complicated attires made of leaves as per their preference. Dryads from the forest borders in addition tend to decorate themselves with spoils of war, such as fabrics (but practically never armors, metal parts, or generally heavily refined pieces) which they sometimes utilize in uncommon manners. A separate group in terms of fashion is formed by the brought up dryads who lack both the dryad's natural resistence to illnesses and tree shaping ability, and so they at times dress up in much human or elven manner, for the sheer practicality of it.
The Tree Shaping
The dryads are the spirits of the forest, and they naturally live in union with trees and flowers. As such, they can shape trees and branches to their will, even though such a process is understood by the dryad as a symbiotic process. They would never ask a tree to shape in a manner that would cause it damage and harm. Also, this ability is not instant. While tiny branches move almost instantly on their touch, which accounts for the dryads ability to pass through the forest almost unhindered where others would not pass due to the heavy growth, the larger the mass, the slower the shaping. To form a tree into a shape of a shelter or housing takes weeks and weeks.
The Stealth
When a dryad is in the forest of Brokylon, they are in their natural habitat. They can move fast and concealed and thanks to colors of their hair, skin and their body paints they are very hard to spot. That already makes them hard to track. However if they decide to fully hide out of sight (actually post that they are hiding), they become nearly invisible. (You can determine this by an easy mechanic - if someone enters the scene with a hiding dryad, they get one free roll of their Perception+Chance dice against the dryad's Agility+Precision value. If actively searching because of some valid reason, it is the same roll every round of search, with a bonus +3 for the one searching. The dryad's concealment is broken when she moves or does any violent or loud action).
The Great Healing
The Brokilon forest, being the nature's sanctuary can be a harsh place, but also a place of healing and dryads are known to be healers with no comparison, much due to their knowledge of local unique herbs they can utilize. Most notable being Conynhaela and Purple Living Bone, the world's best cure for shattered bones.
Conynhaela is a magical cure which grows only in Brokilon and enables the rapid regeneration damaged or broken bones. It is only used by Brokilon's dryads. Conynhaela enters the body literally growing roots which penetrate the patient, allowing the simultaneous penetration of a second symbiotic root known as "Purple living bone". The skin of the cured person retains permanent, visible dark spots wherever the conynhaela entered the body. Side effects of this treatment include greater nerve sensitivity, and pain in the joints. These aches tend to be more evident in the winter.
The Forest Connection
The dryads are beings of a strong connection to their natural habitat and their strength and health seems to be largely depending on the strength and health of the nature surrounding them. Due to these reasons the dryads, for as long as they are in the forest of Brokilon do not seem to be affected by weather obstacles such as coldness, nor they seem to be subduing to any illnesses. However, this ability has it's limits and the less nature in the are where they are, the lesser effect this ability takes. So while in the meadows the dryads become more vulnerable, for instance in cities where they can not gain connection to the forest at all they do suffer greatly of such effects - not that they would be less resistant to cold than humans, but being unused to such effects they hold a higher mental impact on them and deepens their suffering.