Half-Dryad

"An unusual birth of Fey & Mortal flesh, Half-dryads are an outsiders in both planes and often find themselves endlessly travelling for somewhere to belong"

- Ronnan Crest "The Feywild & Its Inhabitants"

Conceived from a dryad and a mortal, Half-Dryads are a rare, but not unheard of, occurance. A common tale heard around bartables is of lost adventurers charmed by the mystical Fey.

Society

Half-dryad are often resented in society in a similar vein to bastard children. Most don't know their mortal parents, and their fey parents are usually too entwined in longer lived matters to care about them. Many release their frustration with trickery on trespassers of their forest.

Uncomfortable in both urban landscapes and the depths of Fey enviroments, half-dryad are often found on the fringes of society, in large forests near human settlements. Often they position themselves there to defend the forest, rarely a curious individual will brave venturing into the city posing as a elf.

Being excluded from civilization for so long, these exploratory folk often fall to the lures of the city, and retreat in shock to the forests after waking up in a gutter.

Religion

Despite their disconnect to their fey heritage, half-dryads feel an undeniable bond to the natural world. A dryad's home is usually, intentionally or not, littered with foliage and small creatures, making them a nightmare for unaware innkeeps.

Generally an area is set aside for the Goddess Mielikki, though it may be as subtle as a gathering of more colourful leaves and mosses.

For half-dryad, religion is a personal connection to the world and as such, they usually don't try to coerce others into following the same gods.

Between Two Worlds Half-Dryads can speak, read and write Common and Sylvan, but due to their interest in their heritage many go on to learn Elvish.

Physical Description

Half-Dryads more closely resemble their paternal race than their mother's. By most standards they appear to be a child of normal birth and are often mistaken for elves. But the half-dryad's fey heritage always shows in one obvious detail, their hair.

A half-dryad's hair changes with the seasons, in the spring and summer their hair comes in mixed shades of green, in the fall and winter their hair changes a varied blend of blonde, brown, and red. Leaves and flowers from their mother's root tree occasionally grow within a half-dryad's hair, for some it is mixed in among the strands of hair, for others it spreads to become foliage, their hair closely resembling a mass of verdant vines.

Half-Dryad Names

Half-Dryads typically take names from their father's race, if they do not, their mother's tend to come up with something outrageous they may have heard once before, or that was popular in their youth, so many centuries ago. A common alternative is to hand down their own names to the child.

History

Dryads are famous for their tremendous ability to love and their relaxed approach to spontaneous intimate encounters. Occasionally a child will result from these unions. The child grows within the Dryad's root tree and emerges after nine months.

Most of these children do not survive. The Fey do not possess strong paternal instincts and most dryad are too whimsical to raise a child responsibly, but occasionally these children, called "saplings" by their mothers, somehow survive to adulthood, one way or another.

Half-Dryad Traits