Virdis

Evade 6, +1 Senses, +1 Magic,

Virdis gain +1 to Magic, and they almost always can cast spells from a young age as they naturally possess a great understanding of it. They also gain +1 to Senses. They don’t see in the general sense but rather feel the ever-present magic in the environment. The value of the Senses Attribute multiplied by 10 is their range of sight in yards (meters). If their Magic Attribute ever goes to 0, they effectively become blind, and their Senses Attribute is also considered 0 for that time.

Virdis in the world

Virdis are a race of plant folk. They resamble a mix between humans and plants, but interestingly, they are in no part animals. Their bodies are made entirely from the vegetation (rarely mushrooms or lichen as they require a unique environment). They live and feed mostly like plants, meaning that they gain nutrients from the ground. Some folk believe that Virdis are born from the mist, others that they are made by magic. The exact conditions in which they are born are difficult to define.

At the beginning of their life, they are nothing more than a small plant sapling, but at some point, their growth starts to change. They grow into a much bigger form of their plant type that resembles a person in a fetal position. When the time comes, they detach themselves from the ground and start to walk. Similarly to young quadrupeds, they can do so right from the start albeit with some problems. Intuitively, they feed from the ground and from birth can feel connection to other Virdis. They seek their kind and from them they learn the basic life skills, they are integrated into society and then they learn to talk. There are tribes of Virdis that inhabit the forests, often considered more “wild” due to their isolation, but they are not inherently dangerous.

As they grow older, their movements get slower and slower until one day, they stop and grow roots, making them unable to walk. That marks the end of the first part of the Virdis live. When their time comes, they look for a good place to grow roots. At that time, many spend their last moments to form their bodies into something special and simply stay in that form for the rest of their time. For some time, they can still communicate and see, but those functions parish with time too. Some Virdis claim that they can talk to the old ones.

Almost all Virdis have power over their physical form and can use it to change their appearance. That also allows them to develop their Virdis eyes and bellow-like organ that enables them to speak. Those transformations are slow and tiering but they allow Virdis to make changes to their bodies. They also have some control over simpler forms of plant life, with many using that power to make beautiful objects of twisted wood and form structures in which they live. Some speculate that they are the reincarnation of other creatures spirits, as there are some that are born on the old battlefield. There were Virdis in the past that supposedly held memories of dead Humans, but most consider that to be just a fairy tale.

As they are not born and don’t have families, their approach to life can be quite interesting. They do form bigger groups and even cities, but those structures are quite difficult to grasp for People and Beastly. They are always modestly decorated with twisted wood, and ornamentation is condensed in the small decorative elements. Most decorations are sculpted and when they do colour things it is for other races considered unesthetic. As they can live quite long lives, they have a different view of the passage of time. Especioaly for the older Virdis lives of other creatures seem too short to have meaningful relationships. They value the company of Artifex as those might outlive even them. 

Wild Verdalings share visual similarities with Virdis, they are usualy more twisted and beast like. Additionally they hunt other living creatures and feed on their decaying bodies and blood. The origins of Wild Verdalings remains unknown, with some speculating that they might be a corrupted offshoot of Virdis.

Virdis names

Virdis are often given names by those who teach them to speak, and because of that, their names are almost universally related to their looks and elements. They could be called Shrub, Spike, Rose, Thorn, Cap, Shroom, or sometimes longer names after the plants they resemble, like Dragonbush, Hazelilly, Willow, or Tulip. Many Virdis carry that name through their entire life while some take other names for religious or convenience reasons.

Additional traits

While creating a new character player’s can choose to roll for one or more additional traits:

1. Dry – The player is brittle and highly flammable. While calculating damage recived, they use half of their Body Attribute (rounded down).
2. Folthy bellow – The player has trouble with talking. All tests that require talking have a -2 modifier.
3. Thorny – The player is composed of thorns that cannot be hidden. Everything they touch and anyone that tries to touch them receives D10\3 damage. They can wear clothes to solve this problem.
4. Short roots – Players have to spend twice the amount of time (8 hours) gaining sustenance from the ground, or they receive one fatigue point.
5. Weak power – The player lacks the power necessary to command plants. Any attempts to change their apperance take 5 times as much time.
6. Camouflage – The player’s body is especially difficult to spot among the plants and other growths. They gain +3 to Stealth Skill.
7. Knowledge of the old ones – The player was taught useful knowledge at a young age. They gain +2 to a chosen non Body Skill.
8. Natural weapon – The player is built in such a way that when they attack bare-handed, they deal D10\2 damage.
9. Magic proficiency – The player controls one Aspect of one Domain intuitively. They can cast spells in that aspect and manipulate that element.
10. Shapeshifting – The player starts with the ability Shapeshifting from the Virdis development tree.