Cypress

Cypress the dryad, all sleepy and stretching in the morning.

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

Cypress is a sort of an exception among dryads. For one she has never been part of their greater network, as her location in the Jungle Bowl prevents her from connecting with other dryads. The other big difference is her diet which, unlike the rest of her kin, rarely includes humanoids or other sentient beings. This is mostly because of the way she was raised, and without being linked to the greater network there is no one to argue that she should be different.

As a seedling Cypress was carried by the winds of Felarya to the heart of the bowl, where she grew. The humans that dwelled there provided her with care and affection. They were ignorant of what a dryad was and thought of her as a blessing, because her presence activated the healing powers in the soil, the same power other places in Felarya possess. This care and affection made Cypress see humans more as 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 a role to play. Cypress acts as a sort of "mother brain" through the link she has established with every one of the bowls inhabitants. This also means her mood and that of the entire bowl are connected. 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. It can also break if the human leaves the bowl for an extended period of time. Cypress has no roots outside of the bowl, and doesn’t have the power to reach out far while maintaining the other links.

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.