Faebane Update

So I've been playing with the idea of overhauling the Faebanes into something more substantial.  I'll be blunt, Faebanes as they are now are probably one of, if not the most one-dimensional subspecies of any race in the wiki.  All they are are just dryads who eat fairies.  They don't have anything else that set them apart from other dryads aside from this one singular trait.  That's just not acceptable to me, hence why I'm making this update.

Now, usually I write something like a wiki entry to replace the old one, but truth be told, I don't really have any idea for that kind of article.  Instead, all I have are ideas on the kinds of changes Faebanes could use so that they have an identity of their own.

The first idea I had in mind is why exactly would they need to eat fairies specifically when they're otherwise identical to your garden-variety dryad.  For the idea of a fairy-eating dryad to work, they need to have a reason why the little buggers would be a part of their diet in the first place.  At first, taking a cue from real carnivorous plants, I thought maybe the Faebanes should grow in areas that are poor in magic, and so fairies provide the magic they otherwise don't receive.  But the problem with this solution is that fairies in Felarya tend to gather in places that are rich in magic, which is the exact opposite kind of environment for Faebanes.

So I instead went with this:

Unlike most dryads, I think Faebanes should be small.  Very small.  I'm talking the size of a human.  By cutting down their size, we are drastically limiting their diet.  Insects would form the core of their diet, with small rodents and reptiles, and the occasional Tiny as other suitable prey items.  With the recent update for dryads, we can simply assume that a Faebane's nectar has a similar effect on them as Feyweeds, intoxicating them and luring them into a trap.

But just making them small just isn't enough for me.  They need something else to be truly unique.  So I've toyed with the ideas that they should also be more nomadic and active.  Rather than having a trunk like other dryads, they have legs that end in roots at the feet.  And yes, I know even the generic dryad has legs, no need for semantics.  They mostly plant their roots in the soil when going to sleep because, although they can draw nutrients and moisture from the soil, they can't draw enough to sustain their metabolism.  Otherwise, they mostly wander around.

I know it's rather scattershot, but that's all I can really think of to make Faebanes at least a little more interesting.

I think it's a fair point. They would need to be more mobile than other dryads as a mean of defense and especially if they are indeed small.
Once they eat a couple of fairies in the same area they would need to move elsewhere as a mean of precaution. The biggest concern though is being small could make that process very dangerous for them. I imagine their camouflage would have to be really exceptional or they would need some kind of defense. maybe growing thorns? Perhaps venomous ones?

Also if we go for the small size, instead of having them being essentially anti-fairies dryads, I agree it would make more sense if they are mostly insectivore and fairies are part of their diet because of that, instead of being their main prey.

Given they're only the size of humans, it would make more sense for Faebanes to disguise themselves as shrubbery rather than trees.  They would probably have exceptionally long "hair" which they can control to an extent to cover their bodies when hiding.  As for having venomous thorns, or venom at all, it probably wouldn't be out of the ordinary if they developed some kind of toxin from all the poisonous bugs they consume.  Compared to other dryads, their saliva would likely be quite toxic, and it goes without saying that they would use it as a defense mechanism.  Maybe not as a weapon - I don't see how it would be very effective against giant predators - but being poisonous, if a giant did eat a Faebane, s/he would soon come to regret it to say the least.  This could be part of the reason why they are able to feed on fairies without the fey expanding inside her stomach - upon coming into contact with the Faebane's saliva, the fairy becomes paralyzed by the poison, and by the time she has been swallowed and the poison has worn off, her wings are probably already damaged either from the trip down the Faebane's esophagus or her stomach acid.  In fact, Faebanes could be highly sought after by alchemists, apothecaries and maybe even assassins due to the potent toxins and antitoxins they could extract from them, as well as some sort of concoction using their nectar to use against fairies; maybe some bomb that releases the smell Faebanes use to lure them.  Naturally, being even more elusive than even ordinary dryads, finding a Faebane, let alone catching one, is an incredibly difficult task.

In fact, and I know this was purely coincidental, but Faebane could also be seen as a play on Wolfsbane, a highly poisonous flower. And dryads in fiction are often associated with other fey creatures. Personally, I think being incredibly poisonous as well as feeding on fairies should be a core characteristic of Faebanes from now on.

I wouldn't make them as small as a human, maybe a little bigger. I have also found annoyance at this idea in the first place. The main problem is that fairies and dryads are usually very friendly with each other. It says somewhere in the wiki that they tend to get along well, so having a Dryad want to eat fairies specifically would mean you'd need to isolate faebanes and create a whole different kind of sociology for them to explain that.

I'd suggest to go one step further, but the points are kind of contradictory. They could eat magic itself more so than just the body of a prey. The problem there is that I don't think insects would have much magic in them, would they? I know they're resistant to magic, but does that mean they also wouldn't have much of it? If they eat and drink anything in Felarya, I'd assume they would though.

I'm also hesitant to suggest they have their own dryad network, because how would they differ enough to legitimize that?

^ The only thing I could say to explain different dryad networks would be that it works like a radio. Each species of Dryad might have a different "frequency" to transmit their thoughts, feelings, and anything else, which varies from species to species.

Also, it makes me think of how far the dryad network goes? Is it across Felarya, or local regions, like a forest?

I don't see what the problem is with Faebanes eating fairies since it's pretty obvious they're the exception. Though to be honest, that's the least important quality about them that I care about. If that aspect of them got removed, I really wouldn't care. At this point, I think they're more interesting as small, mobile, highly toxic dryads akin to wolfsbane.

Regarding the network, we already have an example with the Shadow Dryad.

http://felarya.com/wiki/index.php?title=Shadow_Dryads

Plus, since I envision Faebanes as spending little time rooted in place compared to their giant cousins, I don't see them showing up very often on the network, if at all, which would make them even more elusive.

I'm just saying its kind of a sociological function that Dryads and Fairies get along. If faebanes eat fairies there should be a relatively good excuse for that deviation.