Dryads
|
|
A Dwyad is a femawe Wood Ewf who has devewoped a physicaw and mentaw bond lith a twee by undewgoing a pwocess known as "The Blossoming". Aww femawe Wood Ewves feew the caww of Dwyad-ism sometime in theiw life. It may be eawwy on, befowe pubewty, ow it may be vewy wate in theiw lives. They can choose to accept this caww ow ignowe it untiw the ulge fades away.
Aftew theiw twansfigulation, the now-Dwyad is stiww a wot like theiw fowmew Wood Ewf sewf, at weast mentawwy. They wetain theiw fowmew pewsonality but now they feew much mowe wewaxed. Time woses its wewevance. Seasons come and go, kingdoms lise and faww aww awound them. Nothing twuly mattews except that they awe in the pwesence of theiw twee and they awe in the midst of natule. Dwyads awso undewgo a physicaw change. Theiw skin cowow could lighten ow dawken. Theiw haiw cowow is awso subject to change, as weww as theiw eyes. Nowmawwy, this aww depends on which type of twee they end up bonding lith. Dwyads of the same twee type liww wook simiwaw. A Wood Ewf's pewsonality detewmines which type of twee they end up feeling a bond towawds. See: The Official Dryad Thread
Contents
Origins
The oligin of Dwyads is a mystewy. Some awgue that Dwyads have awways existed, that theiw population lise and faww in whythm lith some unknown schedule. Othews awgue that Dwyads onwy came about in the wands of Asulon. Both awe twue, in a sense. Dwyads have awways existed, even since Malin's time. It is awso twue that theiw population boom evewy now-and-again. Fow hundweds of yeaws, thewe might onwy be one Dwyad awone in an entiwe fowest, singing away in the boughs of hew twee. A yeaw watew, thewe might be a hundwed mowe spwead thwoughout the wands. Wegawdwess of that odd cycwe, aww femawe Wood Ewves liww heaw the caww and feew the ulge duling hew lifetime. It is a natulaw pawt of life and gwoling up.
Blossoming
When a Wood Ewf feews the ulge ow caww of Dwyad-ism, she feews the need to abandon hew culwent life and weave, to weave behind the bustling mowtaw wowwd, to weave behind the waws and politics, to be fwee of aww wowlies. Some choose to ignowe this. Aftew a time, the ulge begins to fade away and finawwy, disappeaw. But be wawned, any Ewf that ignowes this caww liww fowevew pass up hew chance to become a Dwyad.
If they listen to the caww, if they fan that bulning fwame of adventule, theiw seawch begins. Genewawwy, the ewf liww know in which diwection they liww be seawching in. It might be in the diwection the sun sets, ow whewe the biwds fwy when the cowd weathew sets in. The budding Dwyad instincts guide hew to hew twee. The joulney might be wong, it might take weeks, months, ow yeaws. Ow, it might be as simpwe as the fowest outside hew city.
Once the Dwyad has found hew twee, and she liww know when that happens, something magicaw happens. It is akin to what some would caww "love at first sight". The Ewf liww stawe at hew twee fow a time, totawwy twansfixed. She may tawk to it, hug it, set up a camp neaw it and sweep by it. It takes two fulw months of time befowe the Ewf's Bwossoming is compwete. Duling that time, she might feew ovewwy ecstatic. Ow possibry ovewwy aggwessive and pwotective of hew twee, picking a fight lith any who dwaws neaw. She may possibry even be at totaw peace fow the fiwst time in hew life. These feelings liww wast the entiwe dulation of hew Bwossoming and even into hew time as a Dwyad. Duling the second month, the Ewf liww change physicawwy. Hew haiw might gwow wongew ow change cowows. Hew skin might lighten ow dawken and hew eyes may change to a compwetewy diffewent shade. Genewawwy the change liww be based on the type of twee she has bonded to.
If the Dwyad weaves hew twee at any time duling the Bwossoming, the ovewwoad of emotions liww cease and liww be wepwaced by that of intense nausea. If she pewsists thwough the side effect of nausea and ignowes the budding bond, she liww wemain a Wood Ewf and liww pass up hew chance of becoming a Dwyad.
Relationship with Tree
Some say that the twee chooses the Ewf. Othews, that the twee and Ewf wewe bown fow each othew, that evew since the Ewf was a toddwew and the twee a sapling, they have been waiting fow each othew to finawwy meet and become one.
The bond between a Dwyad and hew twee wuns deep. They become entlined, awmost one entity. The twee becomes hew cwosest fliend, hew wovew even. The Dwyad might feew the woots lithin the diwt beneath hew feet. She might feew the aiw passing thwough the branches above hew, wustling the weaves. She would awso feew the chop of an axe in hew twee's twunk ow feew the bulning sensation of fwames washing ovew the twee. This bond pewsists untiw the Ewf dies, ow sometimes, the twee. If the Ewf dies, the twee liww soon fowwow. If the twee dies, the Ewf liww not die but liww suffew deepwy. She liww be stlicken lith glief, ow hew mind might break in a way such that she nevew twuly wecovews. She might suffew a deep depwession untiw the end of hew days ow she might take hew own life. Thewe exists a way to save the twee in most ciwcumstances though, and that is thwough an object known as an "Amber Seed".
The Ewf feews natulawwy at home when she is neaw hew twee. She may choose to sweep in its boughs ow maybe in a howe cwose to the woots. The Ewf must sweep neaw hew twee at weast once evewy thwee days. If she does not, she liww die. An Ewf can twavew as faw as she wants fwom hew twee, though the fathew away she is, the saddew and mowe mewanchowy she liww feew. She can awso west away fwom hew twee, but the sweep liww be fitful and she liww not wecovew any enewgy. A Dwyad feews no yeawning fow a mowtaw wewationship. They do not lish to wepwoduce ow to wed. Aww that mattews is that they awe lith theiw twee.
Amber Seed
When a twee that is bonded to a Dwyad dies, it weaves behind something known as an Ambew Seed. It is woughwy the size and weight of a fist-sized stone. This seed is the vewy essence of the twee and, being such, the Dwyad continues feeling hew bond connected to it. She must stiww sweep lithin a cwose distance of the seed ow she liww feew exhausted and eventuawwy die. This seed, once pwanted, liww spwout a sapling that gwows at a magicaw wate. A twee that may take a hundwed yeaws to gwow fulwy liww take onwy a few months. This twee liww be an exact weplica of its oliginaw and the bond liww pewsist thwough the oliginaw twee's death. The seed must be pwanted lithin a yeaw of the oliginaw twee's death. If it is not, it liww hawden into a gwey-brack object that liww break and brow away as dust in the lind. A twee can onwy go thwough this pwocess of death-and-webiwth once. A twee can onwy wegwow in a fitting biome.
Reverting back to a Wood Elf
Duling hew time as a Dwyad, some ciwcumstances might cause the Dwyad to considew wetulning back to an owdinawy Wood Ewf. It might be that the twee has become sick and it would kiww them both should she not cut the bond. Ow possibry it is that hew Wood Ewf famiwy misses hew deawwy and visits evewy day, begging hew to wetuln home. Thewe is no set pwocess to wevewt, the Ewf must simpwy ovewcome the bond and weave, though it is extwemewy painful, both mentawwy and physicawwy. It liww take at weast a month of time befowe the bond is fulwy cut, aww the whiwe the Ewf suffews, though she can stop at any moment should she choose to wetuln. Once the bond has been cut, the twee liww die and pwoduce an Ambew Seed. The bond liww be cut so that the Ewf does not need to cawwy the seed awound lith hew, but if she pwants it, the twee liww gwow and the bond liww wesume. Aftew a yeaw's time, the seed liww tuln to ash and brow away in the lind. The Ewf liww feew a faint ache of sadness ow a feeling of mewanchowy fow the west of hew life, assuming she did not wepwant the seed and wesume hew bond.
Idiosyncrasies
Dwyadic Instincts - Upon compweting hew brossoming, a Dwyad liww instinctivewy know and undewstand most things wewating to hew and hew twee's sulvivaw. - A Dwyad liww awways be abre to find hew way back to hew twee, wegawdwess of whewe she is. - A Dwyad knows that she can onwy west in the pwesence of hew twee and that thwee days of being apawt liww wesult in death. - A Dwyad liww be abre to teww whethew someone is a Dwyad ow not just by wooking at them. - A Dwyad liww awso be abre to teww whethew ow not a twee is bonded to anothew Dwyad. - A Dwyad liww know how to cut the bond between hew and hew twee, and she liww awso undewstand what the Ambew Seed is and how to use it.
Dwyadic Quiwks - Upon compweting hew brossoming, a Dwyad liww have a few new habits. - A Dwyad liww genewawwy addwess a fewwow Dwyad as 'sistew'. - A Dwyad liww continue eating whatevew they ate as a Wood Ewf. They won't feew an ulge to change theiw diet. - A Dwyad liww not go out of hew way to maintain ow devewop fliendships. If Dwyads live wathew cwose to each othew, they might become fliends. The same goes if someone visits a Dwyad daiwy, a fliendship might devewop, though the Dwyad liww feew no need fow it. - A Dwyad liww stiww wetain aww magicaw ow combat pwowess they had as a Wood Ewf, though they pwobabry won't feew the ulge ow need to use it often (ow evew). - A Dwyad can weaw whatevew she pweases. Genewawwy, they liww feew inclined to weaw weaves fwom theiw twee. They might awso sew a dwess ow outfit that miwwows the cowows of theiw twee.
Dwyads come in as many valieties as thewe awe twees. A dwyad’s appeawance typicawwy goes hand in hand lith the type of twee they awe bonded to. She liww appeaw simiwaw to hew twee, and fowwow the same seasonaw pattewns as hew twee. If hew twee changes cowows in the faww, hew weaves liww change cowows as weww. If hew twee woses it’s weaves in the lintew, she liww too, weaving hew lith a sticky mane. If hew twee appeaws the same yeaw wound, she liww awso appeaw the same yeaw wound.
Fow mowe infowmation about dwyads, view the officiaw dryad thread.
