Folklore

[Phos Omorhpia]

I was doing some in research about folklore and I fan into these creatures called Treefolk. Perhaps you've heard of them before?
For those who haven't heard of them:'


Although all trees are magical and many sacred to faeries, only a few trees are sentient. These are treemen and women. Treefolk can take on a humanoid shape and move a short distance from their tree, or, in extreme cases, uproot the entire tree and use the roots as a shuffling form of locomotion. In their humanoid form, treefolk are often described as resembling their tree, so that an apple treewoman might have green hair and brownish skin while an elder treeman might have eyes as purply black as berries.

Obvious expression on the tree, composed of knotholes and strange permutations of the bark, is a sign the tree may contain a spirit. Also check around prominent trees for roots above the ground. Lastly look for loose dirt and overturned moss.

Treefolk are likely to grow at the center of a faerie ring, to be a lone tree on a hillside or the oldest tree in a grove, to be beside a welling spring, or to be one of two intertwined trees. Treefolk will die if they are cut down, although some linger on as spirits to haunt those who caused their demise.

Oak, ash, single thorn, and female holly treefolk are thought to be protective. Oak trees are particularly sacred to faeries and have the greatest likelihood of sentience. Of the protective treefolk, the most powerful is the mountain ash, also known as rowan. It may be considered so protective because of its red berries, which the female holly shares. Treefolk of these types are the most likely to be friendly in nature.

The holly treeman, by contrast, is considered malevolent. Also considered dangerous are hawthorn treefolk occuring in groups of three or more. Although elder trees are thought to be protective, their treefolk behave ambivalently. Elder treefolk are quite common. If blood-like sap seeps from their wood when it is cut, it is thought to be proof of their sentience.

Hazel treefolk are thought to be very wise and can impart wisdom to those eating their nuts. Even eating the flesh of an animal who has eaten hazel nuts from a sentient tree is enough to gain wisdom. Likewise, apple treefolk are thought to give power and youth to those who eat their apples. Sleeping under an apple tree is a dangerous business, however, as one risks being carried away by faeries.
From Spiderwick Wiki


So, I'm not going to steal this or anything, but the idea is very cool.

I was thinking of a hidden world inside the human world full of magical creatures.
One of these creatures are Treeones. They are essentially the souls of the trees, when their tree dies they die.
Treeones are very mischievous and hateful of the humans for destroying their brothers and sisters for the petty uses such as paper and lumber.
These being can transform humanoid, looking almost full human, except their hair is the color of their leaves and their eyes are pure black with no detail. The ruler of the Treeones forbids them to become humanoid now because his father transformed human and never returned to them, assumed to be dead. His sister is infuriated with this because she secretly likes the humans and wants to introduce them into their world, but her brother knows the penalties to come with that.

She continues to break the rules becoming friends with humans and even falling in love with one. This particular human was the son of a successful lumber company. She had started working there to start to sabotage the company. As her and the boy worked together their feelings started to grow. One day she saw a very familiar old man in the human world, walking with an older lady and a dog. As she walked closer, she realizes its her father in humanoid form.

Thats all I got so far.

Lemme know whatcha think and any ideas you have.

Thanks



✘ Phos

[Turnilk]

Phos Omorhpia

I was thinking of a hidden world inside the human world full of magical creatures.

I've seen this done a lot. Someone stumbles on a magical stuff and a story comes about due to it. It can be done well, but it can also be done very badly. Be sure to think of reasons why the hidden world hadn't been discovered before or how it is kept hidden. You seem to be starting from the magic stuff and then adding humans to the mix, but same basic idea.

Phos Omorhpia

One of these creatures are Treeones. They are essentially the souls of the trees, when their tree dies they die.

Sounds like a Hamadryad.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dryad#Hamadryad

These were the hamadryads who were an integral part of their trees, such that if the tree died, the hamadryad associated with it died as well.

A Hamadryad is a type of Dryad, which is a tree nymph or specifically an oak tree nymph depending on which meaning you're using.

Phos Omorhpia

Treeones are very mischievous and hateful of the humans for destroying their brothers and sisters for the petty uses such as paper and lumber.

"Petty uses" I assume is according to the tree nymphs? Without wood human kind would not have come very far.

Phos Omorhpia

These being can transform humanoid, looking almost full human, except their hair is the color of their leaves and their eyes are pure black with no detail.

Do their leaves change colors during the year? If the leaves fall off does the dryad go around bald? Also, not all leaves are the same colors even if they are on the same tree at the same time of year. I've got some trees in the back yard now that are several different shades of green, some with spots, some with out, some leaves are also yellowing. And lets not forget pests such as caterpillars which eat the leaves, does a hair or several change or fall off to reflect that? And what if the tree is poisoned or gets pests attacking its roots? It would be a slow and possibly painful death. Humans may change depending on their health, do these beings do the same?

Is there no white in their eyes, or were you just talking about the irises being black? If the whole eye is black, that would stand out like an elephant standing among a herd of sheep. However, if it is just the iris, it could be mistaken for a really dark brown so long as no one got too close to inspect them.

Phos Omorhpia

The ruler of the Treeones forbids them to become humanoid now because his father transformed human and never returned to them, assumed to be dead. His sister is infuriated with this because she secretly likes the humans and wants to introduce them into their world, but her brother knows the penalties to come with that.

A ruler could change the rules if they wanted to. I hope you have a good reason why he can't or won't do so. If her brother "knows the penalties" either he's had a personal experience, or the society keeps the consequences for breaking their rules a secret. I cannot think of another reason why she wouldn't know the rules and the penalties for breaking them since it seems from your description she was raised in that group.

About the dad: how and why exactly is he "assumed" dead? If the tree dies, then the individual dies, but if the individual dies, the tree doesn't? The tree can live without its soul? How does that work? Or did they just not check the tree their father was attached to?

Phos Omorhpia

She continues to break the rules becoming friends with humans and even falling in love with one. This particular human was the son of a successful lumber company. She had started working there to start to sabotage the company. As her and the boy worked together their feelings started to grow. One day she saw a very familiar old man in the human world, walking with an older lady and a dog. As she walked closer, she realizes its her father in humanoid form.

So... she's falling for the guy who could kill her and her entire group. Could work so long as the conflict isn't completely ignored.

I would think very carefully about how the dad has kept his secret from the world. Maybe the lady-friend helped, maybe not. And why would he abandon his family for this woman? Love can be a strong thing, but for someone to abandon others he/she loves for another, there had better be a very good reason. Unless he didn't love his kids?

Phos Omorhpia

Thats all I got so far.

Lemme know whatcha think and any ideas you have.

Thanks



✘ Phos

I mostly ask questions about things, but the idea is interesting. Sounds like a teen romance and from my experience from the last decade or so, they almost always end up with a happy ending. If the rest of the story is interesting, then as a reader, I can forgive the predictable ending. If not, I put the book down long before getting to the end and look for entertainment elsewhere.

There are some things you need to work on, such as how these beings live, and what the rules are when it comes to their existence as well as their society rules. In addition to the questions I asked above, I want to ask more:

Do the tree part of these creatures move? If yes, why don't they just get up and move somewhere they are safe?
When does the "soul" part of the tree appear? Trees start small, and grow, just like people. Do the souls just appear when the tree first sprouts or does it take a while?
If the soul part look like adults, do they have the mentality of an adult or a child when they are "born"?
Do they completely avoid humans? And if they are under threat of being killed, why would they stay silent instead of trying to talk to people and possibly save their own lives? Doing so wouldn't make sense. And if talking doesn't work, why would they not fight back in an effort to save themselves?
Most trees I know of can produce hundreds of seeds per year with many other trees, are the dryads in this case different?
Some trees can be hermaphrodites (both male and female), is it correct to assume that this is not how your trees and their souls work?
Do all trees have souls or just some? If you are going for only one species of tree having souls, I highly suggest doing lots of research on that species of tree and its sub species.
Can the dryads have kids with those of a different species of tree? Because that wouldn't normally happen in real life and if you are trying to make it like a secret world in our world, that could go badly when people compare it to reality.
Do the souls of the trees reflect the age of their tree or do they age like humans? I ask because the father was described as an old man and some trees can live hundreds of years.
Can the souls go a unlimited distance from their trees or do they have to stay within a certain distance?
Is the society of the dryads spread out over the world, a continent, or just a forest?
Are there other societies of dryads in the world? Can this one and others communicate with one another?

=========================================================

Please keep in mind that my questions and opinions are not intended to insult or make you feel bad in any way. The idea is to make sure you think out your creatures, the world they live in, and their society more, which could translate into improvement.

You do not have to answer any of the questions I listed in response to me, though I think should you take them into consideration while working on your idea they could be helpful to you.

I wish you the best of luck with your writing.

[Phos Omorhpia]

Turnilk

Wow Thank you so much for giving such a thoughtful response! I definintely will take these into consideration!

The iris is black, and the rule was changed when their father disappeared. The son believes the humans killed him, but actually he became detached from his tree, this whipped his memory and cut his links to the dryads, not making him desert his children on his own judgement. Im trying to think of a way he could become detached without dying. Possibly a certain fruit could do it... or tonic or something.

I was actually going to making the trees start a war and kill her lover along with her brother. Im a fan of happy endings... but its so boring.

✘ Phos

[Phos Omorhpia]

bump

✘ Phos

[Umbre]

You'll find variations of this sort of creature throughout the world. If I recall the Keeper of the forest is often depicted as male can often be named the Wild Man, Green Man, or the Horned One, depending upon the mythology.

In Iceland, there's still a belief that larger stones and cairns are sacred areas to a race of elves. There have been incidents reported of these stones forcing a road to be built around them due to "mischief" that occurs when there was an attempt to remove it.

Why So Many Icelanders Still Believe in Invisible Elves

One of my favorite is the Huldra. They appear generally as maidens with either fox ears and tail --- or cow ears and tail. They don't like having these features pointed out, however, and will react poorly if you do so indelicately.

Also you'll find the writers' forum moves rather slowly, so there's no need to bump.

[Turnilk]

Phos Omorhpia

Turnilk

Wow Thank you so much for giving such a thoughtful response! I definintely will take these into consideration!

The iris is black, and the rule was changed when their father disappeared. The son believes the humans killed him, but actually he became detached from his tree, this whipped his memory and cut his links to the dryads, not making him desert his children on his own judgement. Im trying to think of a way he could become detached without dying. Possibly a certain fruit could do it... or tonic or something.

I was actually going to making the trees start a war and kill her lover along with her brother. Im a fan of happy endings... but its so boring.

✘ Phos

Very interesting... Definitely need to work on how the detachment works. Most of what I know of the idea of souls is that they can't be cut off while the being it is attached to is alive, and if other people think similarly to me, they could wonder what's going on too. You would probably need to explain it in the story somehow so people aren't confused.

As for what to use as an item that detaches the soul, I don't know what would be best. It really depends on how the creatures work in your story. For instance, them eating a fruit could or could not work depending on how they see fruit. Fruit carry seeds and seeds produce offspring, if they see seeds as unborn babies and it is bad to harm them, it wouldn't seem plausible that they'd eat one. And depending on the type of fruit, the type of tree they are attached to, and/or their society, it might be seen as cannibalism to eat another plant. A tonic could work, though I would wonder how the tonic was gotten to the guy as well as why and how it was consumed. Trees get everything they need from the ground and sun, so I'd wonder if dryads need to eat at all. If they do, it could be for pleasure or maybe they get things when their tree needs a particular something, for instance if the tree needs water, they could go find water and give it to the tree. If that is how it works, the tonic could have been gotten on accident, though why he wasn't being careful you might also want to consider.

Thinking of a tonic also makes me think poison. If he or his tree was poisoned accidentally or on purpose, he could just be sick and depending on what you want to do, he could get better or not. This is not to suggest that you should dump the detachment idea if you don't want to, I'm just thinking of other possible routes to take.

Sometimes happy endings are boring, sometimes not. Lately, I've been bored of them though. Since I know everything is going to be fine in the end, there is no tension in the story stare Thankfully, this is causing me to look at other things and enjoy them more when they don't follow that formula. That being said, whatever you think is the best route to go, take it.

EDIT: I just thought of a possible answer to one of my own questions from my first post here:

Quote:

About the dad: how and why exactly is he "assumed" dead? If the tree dies, then the individual dies, but if the individual dies, the tree doesn't? The tree can live without its soul? How does that work? Or did they just not check the tree their father was attached to?

If he is detached the tree could change somehow and the others take this as a sign he died. It could change visually, or it could be something the dryads sense somehow. This also brings up yet another question: if an individual becomes detached from their tree, and the tree dies, does the individual still die as well? If not, this could be a way for them to survive the humans, despite the memory loss side effect, it might be worth it to some. Or maybe there is another side effect that makes it a little more bad than I have been thinking?

As before, you don't have to answer any questions, but considering them while writing might be useful to you.