Weirdwood Stalker
Added 2021-12-16 14:01:02 +0000 UTCWeirdwood stalkers are treant-like creatures of wood with humanoid forms. Their grotesque bodies are dotted with innumerable eyes, which peer in all directions at once with mysterious intent. Each weirdwood stalker was once a humanoid that succumbed to “the weirdness”, a curse that afflicts those who linger within the Weirdwood for too long.
Keepers of the Grove. A vast swath of the Grasping Wilds is inhabited solely by weirdwood trees and the stalkers that keep them. These trees have a strange effect on the surrounding world, warping and twisting it with their eerie stares. The stalkers defend and renew the grove that created them. Most of their time is spent standing completely still, but when called to action they move with surprising speed and ferocity.
Once an intruder is detected, the stalkers lurk from a distance, following it quietly throughout the Weirdwood to observe its behavior. If the interloper is hostile, or if it tries to leave the grove once “the weirdness” begins, the stalkers converge to subdue it with their brutal strength and paralyzing gaze. They will fight to the death without hesitation if it will safeguard the grove. Once the intruder is incapacitated, or otherwise subdued, the stalkers will keep it within the grove until “the weirdness” runs it course and a new stalker is created.
Aberrant Origin. Weirdwoods were once ordinary trees that have been warped by contact with the far realm, or some other eldritch energy. Whether the fusion of botany and aberration was intentional or not is unclear, but the Weirdwood’s influence is spreading, and its roots grow deeper with each passing year.
