Dryads

Dryads are the one of the three races that call Antoisia their home. The Dryads were created Sagara, as weapons of war during The War of The Gods. Dryads control the western half of the continent known as Kramleang. Dryad culture is slow to evolve because of their long life spans, and thus, they were the last to forget the worship of their true gods, instead worshipping water some time at the end of the dark ages.

Biology
Dryads are between 5’ and 7’ tall. They are agile and slender creatures and have no sex or gender identity, due to the fact that they have no primary sexual characteristics or genitals. Dryads reproduce asexually through an incubation ritual which involves the creation of a clay egg to house a mixture of blood and water. This egg then hatches to create a natal Dryad. Only around 10% of the Dryad population's blood will yield a child, thus creating a harsh devide between "creators" and "non-creators"

A Dryads lifespan can extend as long as three hundred years, and their need for food and water is significantly less than that of their neighbors; the Humans and Forna.

Culture and Society
Dryad culture has fluctuated massively throughout the history of Antiosia. After The War of The Gods, the Dryads, like the other races, were a loosely affiliated group of wanderers who eventually banded together and began to form a Monarchical government, roughly 2,00 years into the ancient era. During this time the gods were still active in Antoisia, and were worshipped accordingly. However, by the time the Dryad monarchy was formed, the Dryads had already been spurned by the Ocean God, Sagara, and the seeds of their peoples mistrust of the water dieties was planted.

After the trapping of the gods the elfish king understands that having a supreme ruler can lead the people into evil. He decides that the religious leaders should be given power and sets up a series of priests to rule over each other and sections of land. There is one grand priest that is above all but a small group of three can question the decisions of the grand priest. The ranking is as follows from lowest to highest, priest, high priest, advisor priest, and grand priest. Only one grand priest was ever removed and that was after the return of the great waters. The main export for the elves is scented salts and medicinal salts and glass. It is common practice to select the priests from powerful families and to accept bribes, creating an aristocratic class. These policies were changed in the modern era.

The elves are split into two main parties the royals, and the merchant. The royal party believes that the role of ruling should be left to those who have always ruled because there is experience that is transferred from father to son. The merchant party argues that leadership can be learned and that through proving oneself as industrious shows leadership. These two parties were joined by a third in the modern era the peoples party. This party strove to represent the common people in the courts and was wildly popular for roughly 50 years before the priests in the party became corrupt and then the three party system continued until the apocalypse.

Dryads of Note
The Dryad King: Imprisoned the gods of rain, rivers, and lakes; dooming Antiosia to its desert fate.

The Young Dryad: Frees the captured gods, who then flood Antiosia and bring about the events of the apocalypse