Dryad Raiders - new SJ group

Something more to upset the EIN! [grin]


Dryad Raiders - ROM, 18/Apr/05

Elberan Moongaze, an elven necromancer and spelljamming
researcher, was concerned about people using the plant nature of
elven spelljamming ships against them, via Plant Control, Plant
Growth, Warp Wood and other such spells. So, he decided the way
to deal with this was to have a dryad in each ship, so not only
would they be living, but also have a controlling mind.

Unfortunately, the way he did his researches was to 'rescue' some
dryads from woods on scro worlds. He separated them from their
native trees by making them various 'jewelry' (such as a
bracelet, and anklet, a ring or an earring) from the living heart
wood of their tree, and using necromantic enchantments. Which as
he was an elf, he of course ensured did not kill, or even in the
long term harm, the tree. However, for the dryad it was as
painful a process as giving birth can be for a human mother.

Elberan now had dryads which could go anywhere, and merge with
any large plant that was not itself intelligent. Even several per
one (large enough) plant. He also had a number of elven craft to
experiment on. As an extra boost to elven spelljamming he found
that a few of the dryads could be trained to run the spelljamming
helm, while merged with the ship, and did not get tired from the
strain of spelljamming, in large enough ships, as they could draw
on the living strength of the ship itself to sustain them.

Unfortunately for Elberan, in teaching the dryads to spelljam, he
had not realised they might acquire other magical abilities. One
became a priestess of an earth goddess, and another secretly
became a necromancer! The dryads did not like the way they had
been treated, and while initially timid and shocked, for tens of
years just doing what they were told, eventually revolted. In
exchange for the help of the earth goddess in binding Elberan
within a lifeless rock, they agreed to flee that sphere, and
never return (while the goddess had taken pity on them, and
granted them help, she considered them to be necromatic
abominations).

The Dryad Raiders, as they call themselves, have little time for
elves, except to acquire more ships from them, for their slowly
growing dryad population. Though they hide quite how they do it
(whether they are breeding, or just 'rescuing' new dryads), their
numbers are slowly growing. Their necromancers know how to sever
dryads from trees, typically oaks grown on isolated planetary
bodies, so they can join the raiders. The oaks can even be
recycled, after a century or so, for another new-born dryad.
Several Dryad Raiders have attempted to return to living on
planets, in woodlands, but while they can live in any unoccupied
tree, not just oaks, almost all have returned to space, as they
don't feel they really fit in on planets, any more.

All the normal Dryad Raider ships are elven, though their
necromancers know spells to grant a (temporary) aura of life to
any ship made of wood, so a dryad can enter and control it. Given
time their necromancers can enchant any wooden ship to become
permanently 'living', sacrificing the life of a tree large enough
that it weighs as much as the wood of the ship, in the process.
However, while normal elven ships might heal injuries, these
necromantic wooden ships can only be repaired by healing spells
which work on plants. The pseudo-living ships are also now
susceptible to Hold Plant and Charm Plant spells, though not
Plant Growth.

Dryad Raider ships appear eerily empty, the rigging and sails
working themselves, with no visible hands. Actually all the work
is being done by dryads, within the wooden body of the ship, one
dryad being capable of doing the work of ten normal crewmen. They
can even work catapults and bombards in this way. Most normal
spelljammers, even pirates, want nothing to do with these
'haunted' ships, particularly as there are some tales of sailors
apparently becoming charmed, and being pulled into the wood of
such ships, never to be seen again!

The Dryad Raiders have a few 'Q' ships, which appear to be normal,
though undercrewed, wooden ships, where the crew are all dryad
charmed, the dryads hiding within the pseudo-living wood of the
ship, and operating the Helm. They use these for commerce with
ports, for the small amount of metal parts they don't make for
themselves, and to tempt pirates, and even elven ships, into
coming close enough that they can board.

If a dryad can get into a ship, which they can only do if the
wood is (pseudo) living, then they can control all the wooden
parts of the ship. This causes the ship not to be affected by
Warp Wood, gives truely living ships a saving throw against Plant
Growth (as a warrior of the ship's tonnage, plus two for the
dryad's HD, or plus their level, if they have one; non-living
ships are immune), allows them to choose if Speak with Plants
works (or they can instead speak for the elven ship, if they want
to), gives a saving throw against Anti-Plant Shell, allows them
to control what happens if someone uses Pass Plant or Transport
Via Plants, and gives a saving throw against Turn Wood. Against
Hold Plant or Charm Plant two saving throws are gained, and if
the second fails the dryad is held/charmed as well (but if there
are multiple dryads there, the others might subdue the
held/charmed one, and take over, effectively negating the
hold/charming of the ship). Elbaran would be proud of his
success, if he wasn't in a death-like trance inside a rock!

The dryad can control the wooden objects of a ship, including
things like rope and cloth made of plant materials, as
effectively as an Animate Object spell, but the objects do not
move themselves, only moving if the dryad wills them. Purely
metal or stone/pottery objects cannot be affected. A dryad doing
this sort of work gets tired as quick as a normal sailor would,
though they count as ten sailors, so if a ship is to be run
continuously, there need to be several shifts of dryads.

Dryads inside the wood of a ship must at least partially emerge
so as to be able to attempt charm, and those charmed may be
pulled into the wood of the ship, even if it is thin planking,
less than their girth. Dryads with an appropriate spell can allow
non-charmed to enter the wood of their ship. A dryad can sense
through the wood of the ship similarly to how a spelljamming
helmsman can, and can instantly travel to and step in or out of
any wooden part of the ship.

A helmsman can feel if a dryad has entered the wood of a ship
that they are spelljamming, though they will not know exactly
what has happened, or be able to track the dryad, unless this has
happened to them before. They will also probably sense the effect
of a pseudo-life spell on their ship, though again not know what
it is. A dryad cannot actually control the Helm, while there is
an active helmsman in it, but they can fight for control of the
steering of the ship, with the sailors controlling the tiller and
rigging. While there is no active helmsman, a dryad capable of
acting as a helmsman (having magical or priestly levels), who is
within the wood of the ship, can spelljam any helm that is in
contact with the wood of the ship.

Some dryads have spells that can allow them to pull the Helm of a
ship into the wood of the ship, as long as there is no active
helmsman (for example, spelljamming shock has occurred). Only a
dryad can use a Helm which is within the wood of a ship. The
Dryad Raiders are attempting to research a Living Wood Helm,
which can be grown from the heart wood of an elven ship, and acts
as a standard Helm, powered by the regenerating lifeforce of the
ship. This would allow a normal dryad (or any other suitable
magical woodland creature) to operate it as if a wizard of level
equal to twice their Hit Dice. If they succeeded, and the elves
found out about this, it is something they would likely be very
interested in. The Dryad Raiders have not yet managed to grow
elven ships for themselves, and are likely very interested in
acquiring this elven secret.

Some dryads have a Control Plant spell, which allows them to
control a wooden ship they are within, so that strong enough
parts of it, like spars or hatch covers, attack with the
effectiveness of a treant. The ship has to be at least 5 tons,
and attacks as a treant of HD equal to its tonnage, maximum 10HD.
Ships of more than 14 tons can attack as multiple treants, for
example 15 tons would allow a 10HD and a 5HD, 37 tons three 10HD
and one 7HD, 100 tons as ten 10HD. The maximum HD possible with
the tonnage is always used, i.e. the tonnage cannot be divided up
to get more smaller, say 5HD, treants, and a dryad must be
available to control each treant equivalent, though only one of
the dryads need be able to cast the control spell. Treat each
twenty points of damage, done to a ship fighting as one or more
treants, as loss of one hull point. Dryads who have a Control
Plant spell will also have healing spells which can repair the
wooden parts of a (pseudo) living ship.

Normal spelljammers faced by a Dryad Raider ship have every
reason to be worried, and even more reason to be worried if faced
by a Dryad Raider boarding party! Even powerful adventurers may
have to fight hard not to loose control of their ship.

--
Dreamer
dreamer@??????.?????.??.uk
http://www.romsys.demon.co.uk/