background chapter: dryad

i born a forest sprite in some minor grove without a name. i don't know how long ago, i stopped counting the years at around 1000. i know i had a name, but it's been so long since i used it that i can't remember it. i believe i am an old soul, but as time goes by memories from a past life blend with memories from this life to the point that they are indistinguishable.

one thing i can still somewhat remember was when i was young. i had parents that loved me and i enjoyed living in that small grove. i don't remember exactly what happened but there was an attack or some kind of disaster or something like that, the grove was distroid and i ran away. after a long time of me running i began to grow weak and realized that if i didn't find a place to settle down i would die. i found a lone mountain and i started a small grove, eventually some other sprites started to move in and i remembered the catastrophe that happened before. i started to grow the forest more, by this time i had become a nymph, i enlisted the help of the sprites, who were happy to help. we began to grow more trees, as well as many other plants. several animals and even some low ranking creatures, mostly beasts began to migrate into the budding forest. it was around this time that a sensation overtook me, i realized that my young forest had become a dungeon, and unlike natural dungeons that form their own consciousness, i became the lord of the dungeon. this both increased my freedom and limited it. i gained a huge amount of control over the forest and all it's inhabitants, but i can't leave the forest or it would be crippled for until it could develop it's own consciousness, i would permanently give up being the lord of the dungeon. i believe around that time i began to keep a detailed account of my life, although the books i kept the records in have somehow ended up in a library somewhere.

i continued to develop my forest throughout the years, eventually i became a dryad, i would have become a dryad much faster if i had concentrated on my own power instead of my forest. eventually some gods noticed the high quality mana that is found in my forest and requested to have a meeting hall built at the top of the mountain, in exchange for mana, new plants and new creatures to add to the ecosystem, and many other things. i accepted as few plants would grow at the top of the mountain anyway. i asked some of the new sprites and a couple nymphs to grow a building at the top.

with the influx of mana and new plants my forest grew exponentially for the next few decades. brave men and women of all ages and species came to try to profit inside my forest, most of them died, but the ones that didn't became wealthy beyond belief. eventually a mercenary company got news of me, they came and tried to conquer my forest. they put up a great fight, a constant struggle for several years. eventually they became a central part of the ecosystem and i couldn't easily let them leave. it ended in a standstill, both sides wary from the fight. eventually we came to an agreement, they would stay and live in this forest, setting up a sizable village at the peek of the mountain surrounding the meeting hall the gods already had. not long after that event i obtained godhood, further binding me to this forest.

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despite being only a minor god, i can defeat even major gods inside my forest at this point. my power is unparalleled by the vast majority of gods and even titans, but should i leave this forest i would be severally weakened to the point that even a mortal would be able to kill me. so naturally i continue to expand my forest, increase the area in which i have power.

a couple centuries later i begin to get to the border between minor and lesser god, the most powerful of my nymphs have begun to evolve again, most into lesser dryads, a few into ents, and one into a nagual, a type of shape shifting creature. at this time i have 100s of mile of cave systems, several sky nests, 1000s of species of creatures spanning every possible classification, all encompassed in 100s of square miles of forest, some places having very few trees to other areas with an amazing amount of plant life. i finally extend to my birthplace and find a great city where it was. i got angry, i assaulted the mile high walls. but i do not break them. i turn to the dwellers, the mercenary group that joined me in this forest centuries ago. they have gained fame throughout the world as some of the strongest, they are led by a family of halflings known for one thing, vengefulness. i personally have helped them get revenge on many people, now it is their turn to help me with my revenge.

they organized everyone they had, the rage inside me inspiring every inhabitant to join arms and crush my enemies. the people that would desecrate the place of my birth. i doubt that they were aware of it but in my blind rage i didn't care, i just wanted to demolish them.

the leaders of the city had called for reinforcements and were cutting down trees at the edge of the forest with a fever. the initial ambush killed over a hundred of their men. it had been a year since i had first strike their walls, enough time for them to form a sizable defense. our assault lasted for a year, ending with nothing but ruins in the place of the city. hundreds of thousands had died during this short war, but i was satisfied.

a couple decades latter i find a baby girl at the base of the mountain i originally started my forest at and took her to one of my many dwellings. their i raised her till she was old enough for the chief of the mercenary company to take her, but i continued to watch out for her throughout her life. and the rest, as they say, is history.

authors note: i love dryad, she is one of my favorite characters, right after ghost cause who doesn't like ghost. dryad is easily one of the oldest creatures in the whole world, competing with oracle. she was born before the age of gods while the titans were still in charge, not that she would know, she hardly cares for events outside of her forest or that doesn't directly impact the forest. she is also extremely powerful, but that power is extremely limited. leaving the bounds of her forest will cause her to lose practically all of it permanently, hence why she is still a minor god and not a higher ranked god.