Woad
Woads are being of nature through-and-through, grown from living wood and animated by the slow, enduring will of the natural world. Where forests grow deep and old, woads may rise to defend them. They are not born in the way animals are, nor shaped by gods in the way many peoples are. Woads are grown, awakened from the land when the balance of a place demands a guardian, witness, or voice.
No simple telling truly explains the woads, but several truths are widely accepted across different cultures. Woads are known to emerge when needed, and seemingly disappear when they have finished what they came for. They are more common in places where natural magic runs deeply and untamed, especially in Faerie. Woads themselves claim that every forest, every wild place, holds a kind of memory, and that that memory is what creates them.
Woads vaguely resemble humanoids, with some types showing more humanoid features than others. Their bodies are made from dense wood and plant fibers, and they bear a thick sap that transfers nutrients and gases through their body akin to the blood of other creatures. Some have 'hair', though what it is made up of varies. Some have thick tendrils, some are fine-root like fibers, some bear leaves or even fruiting vines. Woads spend very little time inactive, preferring to complete their goals, and while active, their eyes glow faintly with green, amber, or pale golden or pink light.
The true life cycle of a woad has never been fully observed, but from scattered reports, it appears that they begin as a sapling or a large bulb of sorts that grows within the heart of ancient forests. This form rapidly grows, eventually beginning to sprout limbs and take on a more distinguishable shape. Most of their life is in their natural form, and few have seen what happens to them when they finish their goal. One currently unfounded report states having seen a woad travel back into the forest and absorb into the ground itself, rejoining with the forest. On Faerie, however, this process is different. There, the world is so much more alive, and woads don't seem to feel the call to become one with it again. Aside from the magical spriggans and tougher tree-like woads also found on the Prime Material Plane, there are two others found almost solely in Faerie— the flower-like pelaths and the drooping vaelithri.
Woads are very deliberate in their thoughts and actions, preferring not to waste time but not being so foolish as to rush into things foolhardily. They value continuity of their land over all other things, and they take the big picture into things due to their odd lifespan. One of the few times an average woad shows strong emotions is if something threatens their land. In Faerie, some woads form groves—loose communities tied to a shared region. These groves often have representatives of different types of woads, but can just as easily all be of the same type. Most consist of a handful to even dozens of woads, depending on the region.
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Game Statistics
| Ability | Minimum | Maximum |
|---|---|---|
| Strength | MIN | MAX |
| Dexterity | MIN | MAX |
| Constitution | MIN | MAX |
| Intelligence | MIN | MAX |
| Wisdom | MIN | MAX |
| Charisma | MIN | MAX |
| Class | Maximum |
|---|---|
| Fighter | — |
| Paladin | — |
| Ranger | — |
| Barbarian | — |
| Mage | — |
| Sorcerer | — |
| Specialist | — |
| Warlock | — |
| Cleric | — |
| Druid | — |
| Monk | — |
| Shaman | — |
| Thief | — |
| Assassin | — |
| Bard | — |
| Psionicist | — |
