Wukara

The mysterious Sidhe; adamant protectors of all the woods; enemies of industry; the voice of Gaeis. They live in the forests, whispering with the trees about those who walk along the woodland floor. They fall silent and graceful as an autumn leaf to follow those who wander into the brush with axe and torch. Born from a seed fallen from the First Tree which was tended by the dragons.

Appearance

The Sidhe are lithe, thin, humanoid creatures of the woods. Their features resemble the forest from which they come, some of them barky and gnarled, others smooth and colorful like petals, some green and prickly, others mossy and soft. The women possess hair full of flowers or harvest wheat, or red leaves. Their fingers and toes are long and willowy and it is not uncommon for them to have more than five digits. Sidhe change their appearance as they age, starting lush and green as they are born. Then their foliage begins falling out and their skin turns to a withered, grey color in the Winter of their life.

Their clothes and weaponry are all made of soft, fine silks and linens and hardened, petrified wood.

Personality

When other creatures seek the wood of trees for fire fuel, the Sidhe are callous and antagonistic, condemning to death those who do not accord the forests with respect. In the spring, when things blossom and fruit is ripe, the Sidhe are likely to share the splendors of their festivals with weary travelers and provide guests with salves, wines, and provisions. However, when times are tough, the Sidhe are tougher. Sidhe have a distrust, sometimes hatred, of humans, in their industry and shortsightedness, but get along very well with the Trowls.

The Sidhe live inside not just the forest, but sometimes inside the trees themselves. The Sidhe speak with the trees, and it is not uncommon for a Sidhe to adopt a tree or plant as a "pet." As a rule, a Sidhe forest is a stronger, more animated forest.

Society

The Sidhe are organized as a society into clans called "branches." To say that one has gained the enmity of a Sidhe “branch” means one has made a very careless mistake indeed. Sidhe are extremely hive minded as a community, feeling and acting along with the condition of their native forest. A Sidhe branch inhabits a particular forest and will not move unless forced to or unless they perceive it as nature’s inexorable course. Sidhe see death as a natural event, and are not scared of dying in the least, however, a natural death at the end of a long, vital life seems much more preferable to them.

Adventurers

Sidhe rarely engage in adventures, but some may be found accompanying a quest to save a rare tree that is the mark of a kingdom, fighting off an industrial foe, seeking an end to an evil mage’s curse of endless winter, scouting for a new home for a branch, joining in on a sage council, or solving the mystery of a farming town blight. Sometimes solitary Sidhe are the result of estrangement from a branch or the sole survivor of some catastrophe, and may be in search of a new place in the world.

Sidhe control the forests of Qaeld.