GC App :: Emmy The Dryad

I think I overdid it on the background info... and this is actually the shortened version
But I like to be thorough!

WARNING LONG TEXT AHEAD! Tl;dr skip to Emmy

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Dryads, as the humans started calling them, are shy creatures. A Dryad can live it's entire life without ever leaving the home tree (which is hidden away for reasons explained in the history).
An interesting point up front, Dryads have no concept of time. This is because of their exceptionally long life (can reach up to a few million years). So asking a Dryad for her age is a useless endeavor.

Way of life
Dryads have a simple... belief if you want to call it that.
Life represents itself as a tree, where every living creature is represented as a leaf. When our time has finally come, the leaf withers away and will fall from the branch where upon touching the ground, it will serve as nourishment for the tree. Thus the circle starts all over again.
Now dont let this way of life fool you into thinking Dryads are peace loving hippies. They have no problem with killing, as this only speeds up the process of the circle.
Obviously, Dryads dont get along well with the undead. They see them as rotting leafs refusing to fall of the branch.

Hierarchy
Dryads dont have personal names, instead they are addressed upon their place within the hierarchy. The highest rank to achieve is that of Matriarch. But this takes around a million years to achieve. Matriarchs serve as leaders of the Dryad society, as well as their guardians.
Once a Dryad has reached the time where she is able to take on the role of Matriarch, a ascending ceremony will be prepared. Little is known about this ceremony, even by the Dryads themselves. Because of the long time it takes for a Dryad to achieve the rank of Matriarch, there are only so few, this used to be different but more can be read about that in the history.

History
Dryads have been around since time started. They acted as guardians in the old times, making sure nature is always in balance.
However, as time passed splinter groups started to appear. These splinter groups, calling themselves Meliai, believed that the Dryads shouldnt be guardians of nature, but the rulers of nature. This obviously went against everything the Dryads stood for, and soon a civil war erupted.
The Meliai had higher numbers, as many still young Dryads were fooled by the sugar coated promises of quick fame and power. This all escalated into a fierce the final battle, where the Dryads were heavily outnumbered. In a last effort attack all the Matriarchs got together and prepared a spell that would banish the Meliai from this earth. However, the curse didnt go as planned, and instead of actually being banished they simply turned into simpler creatures, stripped of all their power and memory.
But the ultimate cost was on the Dryads side, because the cost of the spell was the life of all the Matriarchs. And the sudden release of so much lifeforce was too much for the world to handle, and it's climate changed. An ice age started, killing all that the Dryads tried to protect for so long.
The creatures formerly known as the Meliai survived as well, and this day and age are knows as Humans.

Physiology
A Dryad's body isnt that much different from a human's body. However a few things should be noted.
Firstly is the skin of a Dryad. Thanks to their more plantlike nature, they are able to absorb energy from the sun just like a plant is able to. This is why a Dryad normally tries to show as much 'skin' as possible. This doesnt mean a Dryad doesnt eat though, eating for a Dryad means an even faster way to replenish energy.
Another thing that is different from humans, are their bones. A Dryad has hollow bones, making them lighter and thus faster, but also more fragile. During a fight a Dryad will use it's superior speed and agility to kite down a opponent from afar (All Dryads are exceptionally skilled with bow and arrow). Most times a single blow is able to fell a Dryad.
Dryads dont usually have more strength than your average human.
Another very interesting note to make, should be reproduction. A Dryad cant get 'pregnant' on herself, she will need the blessing of a Matriarch. This blessing will place seed inside her, after which the Dryad is expected to seek out a mate and infuse the seed with lifeforce. Afterwards the Dryad will plant the seed on the Great Tree and after a few weeks a full grown Dryad be 'born'. This also signifies the grave importance of the Matriarch, because without Matriarchs the Dryads are doomed to whither away.

Emmy
Emmy is an emissary of the Great Tree. A special role, which involves leaving the Great Tree every 500 years or so (again, Dryads have no concept of time) to see how the world is doing. And of course to learn more about other societies, since Dryads are very eager to learn. But mostly it's to check upon the humans, to make sure they dont show signs of the Meliai ever again. And if they do, to smother it before it grows.
The mark on her lower lip is a sign given to the scholars. The more stripes a Dryad has, the higher her rank is. Her's indicates she's still just a 'freshmen' (she is still considered young by Dryad standards).
This is brings Emmy (a name she chose to keep after encountering her first humans, who didnt like calling her Emissary, and instead called her Emmy) to Greenwell City, where she managed to get a job as a singer in an café (all Dryads have a very pleasant voice, and even just talking sounds a bit like they're singing it).

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Edit: Changed her a tad to make her more city friendly xD