Dungeons & Dragons - A Guide to Verenestra, Goddess of Dryads, Nymphs, and Sylkies

Dryad by Achibner

 I am running a campaign called Hell's Rebels. It is a Pathfinder adventure path that I am converting to 5th edition. We are right now in book 5 out of 6.

One character, Fio, is linked to a fey entity called Verenestra, so I decided to use her in the game. I know nothing about the fey in D&D. I do not understand even the basic set-up. In older editions there was a "Seelie Court", but in newer editions there is a "Court of the Stars".

This article is my initial foray into trying to get a handle on the fey in D&D. Verenestra seems to only be detailed in one or two products. I'll go over her info, and then I'm going to start to dig outward. I'll look into the dryads, nymphs and sylphs that she is a god of, and then maybe read up on wherever that takes me next.

Monster Mythology

I love this book! It's got so much stuff in it.

Verenestra

She is the patron goddess of dryads, nymphs, and sylkies. She's fickle and vain, yet lotal tot he Seelie Court.

She has a "bower" in the Seelie Court, resplendent with silver birches and a fringe of willows. The trees are decorated with "living silver filigree", and there are many mirrors with silver frames.

Verenestra appears as a "demure, slim female" who is always barefoot. She generally wears "one or two handkerchief-sized garments of gossamer which are carefully designed to not quite disguise her female charms."

She has many abilities, including the following:

• With a wave of her hand, she can cast sanctuary on all creatures she can see.
• Charm person at will.
• Calm emotions at will.
• Mass polymorph at will.

She also has a +3 dagger of frosted silver, studded with moonstones.

That's it! That's Verenestra.

5e Dungeon Master's Guide

Let's make a quick pit stop to page 49 of the DMG. There is a sidebar that explains the Seelies and Unseelie Fey.

• Queen Titania: Rules the seelie fey and her Summer Court.
• The Queen of Air and Darkness: Rules the unseelie fey and her Gloaming Court.

The courts aren't necessarily split among the lines of good and evil. Ugly creatures (fomorians and hags) aren't members of either court.

Dragon Magazine 87 - Ecology of the Dryad

These ecology articles are so wacky. They're written in short story form, with game notes in citation form. This one features a number of NPCs who dole out the factoids:

• Belzime: The druidess of the Eastern Wood.
• Old Malec: A sage who teaches young students.
• Hibiscus: An aged elven woman.
• Robinia: A "flame-haired beauty".

We learn that oak trees can form their tree-souls into animate shapes. The dryad is a permanent physical form of an oak tree's soul. The dryad lives around and in the oak tree, and if the tree dies, the dryad dies.

Dryads can communicate with all plant life, and are good friends with treants. Dryads often sleep/hibernate all through the winter months.

The Terel: Dryads are unable to travel more than 1,000 feet from their oak tree. This area they live in is called a terel. If a dryad is taken outside of the terel, they die in 6-36 hours after suffering from "gligimer" (starvation/exhaustion/depression).

Making Babies: How do they make babies, you ask? Well! Let me tell you. First off, dryads like to charm "young men with low intelligence." Their ability to magically charm creatures is very potent! Roll a d6. on a 1-3, the charm is permanent! On a 4-6, the charm last weeks, months, or years. In general, the less intelligent the victim, the longer they are charmed.

When a dryad has a kid with a mortal, the offspring is always a female dryad. When a dryad has a kid with a satyr, the child is always a male satyr.

Dragon Magazine 109 - Hooves and Green Hair

This article discusses half-satyrs and half-dryads. A half-dryad is the offspring of a dryad and a human.

Half-dryads are female. When they reach the age of 12, their hair turns brilliant green.

They are mostly resistant to charm spells. They are serious and "not given to excess drinking of alcoholic beverages" and they love to sing and dance. Half-dryads live up to 225 years.

5e Monster Manual - Dryad

OK, let's see what current dryads are like.

Punishment: In the old article, dryads were basically grown from the souls of older oak trees. Here, it says that powerful fey will sometimes bind lesser fey spirits to trees, transforming them into dryads.

There is no terel, but if the tree is harmed, the dryad suffers. If the tree is destroyed, the dryd descends into madness.

So. What is a "hamadryad"? I have no idea! Let's find out.

Dragon Magazine 101 - Creature Collection III

A dryad has a terel. A hamadryad does not. Hamadryads are free to wander. They are still linked to their oak tree, but they can leave the tree and travel any distance.

Civilization is Deadly: The thing is, they start to get sick if they leave the forest and enter civilization. Hamadryads need to be close to nature and must get sunlight, otherwise they will die within 10-20 days. need sunlight

Other Traits:

• Hamadryads have green eyes and green hair.
• They can use a dimension door-type ability to travel from tree to tree.
• Hamadryads can magically compel people to perform a service - usually protecting a forest from woodcutters, that sort of thing.
• Speak with plants.
• Can magically quench fires.
• Their touch cures nilbogism.

Nilbogism: Check out Volo's Guide to Monsters pg 183. A nilbog is a possessing spirit that can inhabit a goblin and cause chaos. It actually has the ability to reduce damage it has taken to 0 and regain 1d6 hit points and can charm those who try to do it harm.

Goblin tribes fear nilbogs, which are apparently the remains of a trickster deity that Maglubiyet splintered into a spirit form.

Heroes of The Feywild

The Hamadryad is a player race in this book. Hamadryads are the incarnate spirits of living oak trees - part flesh, part wood, and part fey spirit.

They have the ability to harden their flesh to match that of the oldest tree.

Fathagn: The Dryad Queen is named Fathaghn. She lives in a briar maze known as the Maze of Fathagn.

Dragon Magazine 240 - Ecology of the Nymph

This story involves what I believe are recurring NPCs in these articles. They are the Monster Hunters Association. I dare you to use them in your game:

• Dreelix
• Zantoullios
• Grindle the Coin-Counter
• Willowquisp
• Buntleby
• Ablasta: A conjurer. The only female member.

In this yarn, the guys drool and bang pots over their head when a nymph tries to join their group. Ablasta, the only female monster hunter, scoffs jealously. I could have sworn Willowquisp was female!

Blinding Beauty: Mortals go permanently blind if they look at a nymph. This happens even if the victim glimpses their reflection in a mirror or on the surface of water. Satyrs are immune to this effect.

Those blinded by a nymph are caught up in a rapturous magical condition in which the brain becomes overloaded by beauty. This euphoria lasts 2-20 minutes, and during this time the victim is unaware of surroundings.

Did you know that nymph hair is a precious commodity? Check it out.

• Potions: You can use a lock of a nymph's hair to make a sleeping potion. The victim falls asleep for 2d4 hours.
• Charisma Clothing: If you weave at least 20 strands of nymph hair into a garment, that garment confers a +1 to Charisma while being worn!

Bond with the Land: Each nymph is bonded with patch of land. When she gains a physical wound, that land is damaged as well. If the nymph dies, that land becomes despoiled and cursed.

Other Nymph Traits:

• Treasure: Nymphs collect treasure, usually from lovesick admirers. They usually have about 10-40 gemstones.
• Potion-Making: Nymphs can make potions: Potions of healing, vitality, antitoxins, and elixirs of health. They primarily use these potions on their animal friends.
• Unicorns: Nymphs have a special relationship with unicorns. Unicorns have been known to protect nymphs with their lives.

Dragon Magazine 313 - Half-Nymph

This is a player race! Not much to it. Here's their special traits:

• They can use their awesome beauty to force all within 30 feet to make a saving throw or be "shaken".
• Half-nymphs are immune to charm person.
• They get +2 to DEX, INT, WIS, +4 CHA. Not too shabby! 

Dragon Magazine 155 - The Folk of the Faerie Kingdom

Seriously. What is a sylph? I have no idea.

According to this article, sylphs are perhaps the rarest of faeries. They have gossamer wings and serve as messengers for Rhiannon, the Faerie Queen (who "dwells within an alternate Prime Material plane consisting of endless magical forests, glens, and rivers).

Their duties include:

• Delivering messages to Rhiannon's servants
• Delivering pronouncements/summonings/advice to druids.
• On rare occasions, they bring mortals to the Faerie Queen to receive counsel.

Sylphs can enter and leave the "Realm of Faerie" at will. They apparently can cast fireball.

3e Monster Manual II

Natives of the Elemental Plane of Air, sylphs have a liking for the Material Plane. They look like small, beautiful women with translucent, colorful wings. They become invisible at the approach of strangers, but their natural curiosity prevents them from fleeing.

Sylphs have some abilities:

• They can cast spells of up to 3rd level
• They can turn invisible at will
• Once per day they can summon an elemental.

Dragon 420 - Fey of Wood and Wind

Sylphs are cousins to nymphs. They have strong ties to elemental air, to the point that some live in the Elemental Chaos. They are partly made of air and shifting clouds. Some can actually become clouds.

They sometimes shrink to the size of pixies and attend merry balls in toadstool rings.

The Game of Omens: A sylph disguises herself as a cloud formation until she spots an interesting creature below. They try to trick the person into thinking they've seen an omen of great importance.

Sylph Windshaper: This is a special variant of a sylph. They have special powers:

• It can create blasts of wind that move enemies around.
• It can create thunderstorms.
• It can assume mist form or change shape into a medium or small creature. 

So... yeah. I only scratched the surface. The amount of 4e lore on fey is INSANE. I sort of want to sort through it all.

Fey vs Demons

In my Dungeon Academy campaign, the group is battling the Queen of Chaos. At the end of the War Between Law and Chaos, an "eladrin host" led by Gwynharwyf (a fey entity detailed in the Savage Tide adventure path) swept in to the Abyss and slaughtered many demons and obyriths. The obyriths were all but done in, though the Queen of Chaos and Obox-ob survived.

Maybe, once we resolve the Rod of Seven Parts quest, the Fey will recruit the heroes to go ahead and try to finish the job - assassinate the Queen of Chaos and other obyrith stragglers.

This would give the group the opportunity to meet the Court of Stars and use all this material. Fey vs demons is an interesting mix to me.