Dryad

Dryads are a group of plant-based humanoid species, first sprouting in the simpler Plains and Forest biomes, but have since then proliferated out all across the world. Since spreading out across the world, there have been evolutionary divides where different species have adapted to their environments, resulting in different cultures and diverging biologies.

Creation
Dryads are historically said to first be born from the remains of a burnt forest. While burning, the trees called out to the nature gods and goddesses, and out of determination and spite, conjured enough magical energy to be reborn as more humanoid creatures. These proto-Dyrads, now known as the Dytrae, would be the ancestors of what are now the modern Dryads.

The site of the Dytrae's forest is considered a sacred site to all Dryad's, though it's true location has been lost to time. Ancient myth implies that those who journey to the heart of the burnt forest and return are imbued with the immunity to the flames that had burnt their ancestors and the strength to create life through will alone, though the veracity of this statement has yet to been confirmed.

Anatomy and Appearance
Dryads are typically a bipedal humanoid plant-based race, however it is possible for certain Dryads to take a non-humanoid form, though it is rare for this to occur. Their outer skin is usually a similar material to that of a plant-stem, though both Meyderlie and Shylie also have different components in their skin, both bark and stone respectively. Flowers will often bloom and sprout on Dryad skin (save for Sheiliee), along with other local flora.

Dryad hair can vary species to species, some species such as the Leidrie and Dyrii opting to have long, overgrown, falcate hair that sprouts directly from their head. Other species such as Tellyl grow branch-like sticks out of their hair and have many leaves grow on them, similar to a bush.

Forest Dryads - Dyrii
The first descendants from the original Dytrae the Dyrii never moved outside of their comfortable zone of the Forests and Plains, and therefore are the closest biologically speaking. Dyrii like most Dryads, are a peaceful people, and live in small tribes of close familial bonds. Their diets often consist of tree sap and different forest berries, and are incapable of ingesting meat. Their plant biology are closest to that of trees, and have lush green skin. Dyrii are around 6' in height. They have long lifespans, living for several hundred years before Returning into plants.

Mountain Dryads - Tellyl
Tellyl hail from the high mountains and have white, snow like tendrils covering their skin in order to hide from predators. They live in small communities comprised of hunters and cultivators. While they do not eat meat, they control the local population of animals in order to not be overwhelmed from predators and competition for plants. Their diets consist of berries and certain, poisonous shrubs. However, after generations of eating aforementioned poisonous shrubs, Tellyl have developed an immunity and a poisonous quality of their own. Tellyl are often similar height to Dyrii also around 6'. Tellyl have very long lifespans, with the eldest of the species living thousands of years before Returning.

Ocean Dryads - Seilhei
Most Seilhei live in large communities in coral reefs, and have a large variety of bright colours that blend perfectly with their environment. However, inside the centre of coral reefs inhabited by colonies of Seilhei is a large circle of bleached coral. This area is a farm of coral where Seilhei will eat. This process occurs by Seilhei biting into the coral and draining the coral of the algae that give the nutrients coral desire. Seilhei are smaller than most other Dyrads, around 5' in height. Seilhei have short lifespans, living up to around 200 years.

Mushroom Dryads - Shielee
Where death is, Shielee will follow. Either alone or in small groups, these bite-size (4') Dyrads will often sprout colonies of mushrooms and sleep. Like fungi, they absorb nutrients from decaying organisms. Shielee often do not make social connections and are solitary creatures. On giant mushroom islands, large colonies of up to hundreds of Shielee can be found, living off the nutrients that mushrooms provide. Shielee tend to accidentally spread around in unintentional places when their spores spread through the wind. They have the shortest lifespans out of any Dryad, living upwards of 100 years.

Desert Dryads - Leidrie
Perhaps the largest group of Drayds in terms of population, Leidrie seek to colonise deserts by creating an intricate network of converting oases into cactus farms. As the desert is very inhospitable to plantlife, Leidrie initially had a very difficult time surviving the dry and scorching wasteland. The Leidrie relied on the high water content of cacti in order to survive, and as such, has altered entire ecosystems through hybridization and irrigation, to allow cacti to grow exponentially. They also developed more polygamous relationships in order to ensure the survival of families, however this tradition has become less of a necessity and more of a custom. Liedrie typically have muted brown skin, and are taller in height (6'3) on average. They have an average lifespan for Dryads, roughly half a millenium.

Jungle Dryads - Eydrie
Living in small tribes of up to 20, Eydrie decided to adapt to the constant competition for nutrients and sunlight in the lush and enveloping jungles by burning parts of the jungle away and using the ashes as seasonings to their dishes. Unlike other Dryads, Eydrie are almost exclusively carnivorous, being split into groups of hunters and arsonists. They are much more hostile than other Dryad sub-species, as early attempts to tame and befriend creatures of the jungle were unsuccessful and lead only to death. Eydrie have a deep green skin, and are much smaller than the average Dyrii (4'5). They have average lifespans, living only a few centuries, however, instead of Returning as most Dryads do, Eydrie instead turn into flames.

Frost Dryads - Meyderlie
Meyderlie are ponderous, hulking beings, spending a large portion of their lifespan in hibernation from the everlasting winters in the Tundras and Ice Spikes. They will often stay in large groups of up to 100, and some may mistake a colony of Meyderlie to be an actual, albeit incredibly dense forest. They share the body warmth and nutrients from one another, as if they were one being. However, it is possible for a Meyderlie to survive on their own if they are determined enough. They have chartreuse skin, and are the tallest of the Dryads, the biggest of which can reach up to 10' tall. Meyderlie have short lifespans, living up to 200 years.

Undergrowth Dryads - Shylie
After a group of Dryii fell into a ravine, the survivors would become the ancestors of the strange species of Shylie. Part rock along with plant, Shylie often camoflauge into the walls of the caves they inhabit. Along with snacking on glow berries, Shylie will connect a system of roots into the ground, absorbing the nutrients of the area. They often will spread very widely apart, and there will only be a few Shylie living in one cave. They have a lush grey skin, and are the smallest of Dryads, the smallest of which can be the size of an actual rock, however can still grow to be an average Dryad height. They have very long lifespans, living up to over a thousand years.

Crystalgrowth Dryads - Chetlei
Crystalgrowth Dryads are a elusive Dryad sub-species native to the Moon. Due to the overexploitation of resources by Moonfolk civilization, the great crystalgrowth meadows that once covered the light side of the Moon became rarer and rarer, and with them went the Crystalgrowth Dryads. In present time, there are less then 5000 known Crystalgrowth Dryads, although only very few of them made it to the Main World. But with those that made the fall, there is hope for the crystalgrowth meadows, as their impact sites will turn into a small patch of crystalgrowth after their collision. For more on Chetlei and other Moon-based species, please visit Moonfolk.

Decay
Some Dryads can be afflicted with a certain disease known as 'Decay'. While most Dryads will eventually Return to being a plant, Decay interrupts this process, and kills the part of a Dryad's body systems that allows it to take in nutrients. This will give the Dryad a pale white colouring, and an apparent loss of energy. This disease is much less common in Meyderlie, as they all share and process nutrients as a collective rather than an individual.

At the final stages of Decay, an event known as "Blooming" will occur. This involves the afflicted Dryad having white flowers bloom all over their body, before finally crumpling into lifelessness. As such, white flowers are generally considered bad luck by Dryads, and Dryads that have white flowers without Decay are considered cursed.

Overgrowth
When a Dryad loses control of their growth, usually as a reaciton to a traumatic event, a physical and mental change occurs. A large area around them will be become overrun with tendrils and plantlife all connected to the central Dryad, this becomes their 'domain'. Any other living creatures caught in an Overgrown Dryads domain are caught like bugs in a spiders web, and are quickly either killed or assimilated. The Dryad themselves lose most of their previous personality and intelligence, and if the Dryad is still sentient, they will exhibit incredibly hostile and obsessive behaviour.

In the centre of a Dryad's domain is their 'Heart'. This is an area in the centre will be molded to a diorama of sorts of something that was important to the Overgrowth Dryad. For example, an overgrowth Dryad that had lost their family of whom they were close to may have a room full of statue replicas of their deceased relatives as their Heart. Destroying this room will kill the Overgrowth Dryad, and the surrounding domain will begin to Decay, blooming in flower blossoms.

Husk
If a Dyrad passes through Decay or another unnatural mean, it is possible for another Dryad to keep their body alive through connecting their root systems. However, the deceased Dryad is not revived, creating an empty puppet that is only alive on a technicality. This puppet will usually be controlled by the Dyrad, consciously or not, and will not make any actions of it's own volition.

Seeding
Seeding is the process of reproduction for all Dryads, save for the Mushroom Dryads. Two or more Dryads will graft a part of their body onto a single seed. This seed will then infuse each part into their body, growing into a genetically similar being. The seed will usually originate from a native plant of the area, traditionally a tree, though it is not unknown for seeds to be created from other Dryads.

Some Dryad cultures, such as that of the Leidrie, create specialised rooms for the purpose of incubating and raising Seeds and the subsequent Seedlings. These rooms are often very humid and warm, and contain large, empty spaces. There will often be groups of small holes in the walls to allow for ventilation.

Budding and Hyphic Grafting
Mushroom Dryads have their own special method of reproduction, which comprises two parts, Budding and Hyphic Grafting. Every few years during the Autumn season, Mushroom Dryads will begin to produce and release spores containing their genetic material, and while most do not survive, some find themselves in the nearby vicinity of their parent Dryad. While these spores can grow on their own, it is possible for two separate buds to fuse during the early stages of development. This is known as Hyphic Grafting. The root systems that infant Mushroom Dryads use can sometimes intertwine and share nutrients, eventually resulting in the two organisms becoming one.