Wood Woad

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The first wood woad was created by Huemutril. In a complex ritual, she transferred a will subject's energy into a tree. It was then offered as a rebirth to those of broken body, those near death, or those fanatical to the cause of the Covenant's nature commanders, Huemutril, Silvanus and for a time Melrith.

The ritual that created a wood woad consisted of removing the heart of a living person, planting a seed into it and placing it inside a cavity in a tree. The sacrificed creature's body was buried in the vicinity, and the tree was then bathed with the sacrifice's blood. After three days, a wood woad would sprout from the ground nearby, ready to receive its orders, which it would then follow forever or until otherwise relieved.[1]

The result of this ritual called Huemutril's Digits, was the replacing of the original's energy composition with enough Nature Energy to make the reborn a fey.

After the Demon Spawn War, mortal allies like wood woads were relieved of their duties. They were left to make it on their own. Wood woads had no way of increasing their population like other species, so their numbers dwindled from age, accidents and attacks. This time of hardship, what they called the Long Winter, lasted a millennia.

Suprisingly enough, even though their numbers decreased greatly, 100,000 post-war, to a mere tenth of that a millennia later, they adapted to the hardship, becoming better, more lithe and shaped to near-perfection. The 12th Generation Wood Woads are what we have today.

- Springflower, regional report at a Glade Summit - "12th Evolution"

Wood woads saw a resurgence in numbers late in the Lith-Crillion Era. Researchers at the Pyramid of Life came into possession of Huemutril's spell book containing the ritual Huemutril's Digits. Looking for allies in their battles with Gulfrek Hjard's eldritch giants, the Lith-Crillion made sure the spell found its way to the more neutrally minded druids of the land. When the giants sacked the Pyramid of Life in 1115 LE, they found a stack of magical leaves bound together like a great tome. This book of druidic magic, Huemutril spell book Falling Leaves, was left behind by the Lith-Crillion. Surrounded by enemies, using the Pyramid's teleportation circles to escape, the book was left to the plunders. It was not what they wanted; it has a magical property that it must be carried naturally without aid of any energy but physical made it. The giant's put the book to use making their own Wood Woads. Because of the giant's evil nature and Melrith's help in supplying dark nature energy, the result was the first Dark Woads.

In areas threatened by Dark Nature, wood woads are found in numbers, otherwise they are scattered in small populations. In Karnegmoth, a region threatened by another world, the battles with Rilirthad have led to a rapidly growing Wood Woad population.