Cypress

Dryad
Size: about 175'
535 years old
Emerald green eyes
Green leafy long hair

Cypress is a sort of exception among dryads. For instance she has never been part of their greater network. Her location, the Jungle Bowl, excludes her because there is no way for the network to reach her. The other big difference is her diet which, unlike other dryads, rarely includes a humanoid or other sentient being. This is again due to her missing link and the way Cypress was raised.

As a seedling she was carried by the winds of Felarya and landed in the heart of the bowl where she grew. The humans that dwelled there provided here with care and affection. They were ignorant to what a dryad was and thought of her as a blessing, because her presence activated the healing powers in the soil, that other places in Felarya possess. This made Cypress to see humans more as a family than anything else... and definitely not food.

Cypress is the central figure of the bowl. The bowl is a complex and interdependent ecosystem where every being has a duty and role to play. Cypress acts as a sort of mother brain through the link she has established with every one of its inhabitants. This also means her mood and that of the entire bowl are entangled together. This makes it easy for the entire community to feel the same emotion at the same time, allowing for incredible highs of joy and terrible lows of sorrow. It also means that the whole bowl is extremely coordinated and able to respond to any threat with perfect precision and timing.

But this link is also severable and either a human or Cypress can decide to break it. Also it can break if the human leaves the bowl for an extended period. Cypress has no roots outside of the bowl, and doesn’t have the power to reach out far while maintaining the rest.

Cypress is a very protective, sweet, and caring mother figure. She is easily agitated by large predators and won’t hesitate to strike at the first sign that one of her family is in danger. Likewise she is also warm and welcoming to those of smaller sizes or to those who come to the bowl with peaceful intentions.

• Credits goes to Wowandwas for all the design and the idea.