(This came to me in a dream - I suspect I was influenced greatly by the television show "Twin Peaks")
At a certain time of year, for a span of exactly one month, it is possible to encounter what is possibly the most sinister creature - if creature it is - in Felarya, at least as far as the Dryad's are concerned... Or so say the maddened explorers who endlessly gibber in the corners of taverns, living off scraps and terrifying those around them with rambling tales of the legendary Black Dryad.
The Black Dryad exists only for a short span say these few men who claim to have seen it... it shimmers into vision only for those consumed by fear, for it is they who are most afflicted by it. It is still possible for the brave at heart to behold it, but only if in the company of one whose heart is stung by terror.
Unlike normal Dryads, and other creatures of Felarya, the Black Dryad is not truly 'alive'... nor is it dead. It almost works like clockwork, its hollow eyes sockets never really focussed on you as its black thorny roots take hold of you. It's charcoal black skin melds with ashen bark to form a towering being of evil that is almost invisible at night.
But beyond its skin, lies an even more maddening interior...
When consumed by the Black Dryad - and here many tavern goers begin to doubt the story - there is no 'digestion' as such, no stomach acid... it's as if beyond their surface they are empty, pure darkness. You fall, and fall, and fall, and finally land in black oily water...
You can flail in desperation to keep from drowning, but even the most powerful swimmer will be sucked under eventually... strangely everything is clear in this liquid, and you see in the water, your own self... your double... where you are weak and afraid, with a good heart, they are strong and confident... and as wicked as the creature that consumed you...
They know you - they know all your fears and secrets... they use them against you... drive you mad.
And if you are not already consumed by insanity, then you finally feel the oily water turning to earth around you, and you claw desperately to the surface, and find yourself surrounded by the forest, far from where you were, blessing the day you escaped from that awful place.
Many are skeptical at the existence of such a horrifying creature, but as much as these people would like to discount these rumors, there remains still one more part of the story...
Just like everything in nature, the Black Dryad has its opposite... the White Dryad.
If the sightings of the Black Dryad are rare, almost non-existent are those of the White Dryad...
Only one man claims to have seen it and walk away, but he is conveniently the only sane person to have ever brought proof back of these Dryads...
If you ask Gunther nicely enough, and he trusts you, he will share his most closely guarded secret with you...
He will tell of the day he encountered a twitching young man in the Felaryan jungles, crawling slowly forward with a look of total bliss on his face.
He knew in an instant the young boy was quite, quite insane... and he was inexplicably soaking wet, even though there was no water for miles... and yet, something happened then that no amount of insanity can account for.
Gunther saw no flesh, no bark, but he did see the glow... the light. It was bright in a way that made him remove his goggles, and actually bare his face to it, as though it actually cleansed him just to be touched by it.
It was as though a hand of pure light reached for the young man, tenderly scooping him from the ground... and through his twitching and mental instability... Gunther saw a look of peace on the young mans face.
And a voice echoed then in Gunther's head, as though he was thinking the words rather than hearing them. And it sounded almost like the voice had been spoken backwards, and then played forwards, so each word was warped...
"Boy who has seen himself... next time you see someone you know, you will not leave them, and you will not want to..."
And in one, tender motion, the hand lifted the boy to where the face would presumably be, and placed him inside, where a bright flash of light signaled his disappearance... and then the voice spoke again.
"Man who sees much..." And here the voice spoke almost warningly. "Next time you see me..." and the next words filled Gunther with fear, as it was clearly two voices that spoke, "It Will Not Be Me..."
To this day, Gunther always flees the forest to a village whenever he feels fear beginning to overtake him... and he constantly works to drive fear from his heart, lest the White Dryad's warning ring true, and his judgment await him in the depths of the Black Dryad...
Subject: The Legendary Dryads 
Tue Jan 08, 2008 5:41 am
