Leshy

Ruler of All Forests, Father of Animals, Elemental of the Green
Greater Elemental (Inmortal) Druid (Faithful)
Unknown age, Genderfluid Masc

Leshy is an elemental who embodies all of the forests of Ranu (and possibly further). He is a shapechanger and wielder of raw elemental power. While technically considered and functionally a druid, the elemental he is bonded to is himself.

Leshy can take almost any form he wishes within the bounds of his forest, though if he leaves, he will be stuck in the form he left in. His default form is a phytoanthropomorphic figure, mixing hominid features, green hair, lichenous beard, barkskin, and a mix of local plant, fungus, and animal features. His eyes are often green. He may or may not wear clothing, but if he does, it will be made of parts of the forest.

He may also take a form as a whirlwind, a non-physical presence (emotional or metaphysical), animal, plant, or fungus. If he is part animal, his preferred animal features are black fur, goat legs, hooves, tails, wings, or curved horns. If he is fully animal, he might be a bear, white wolf, owl, hare, frog, crow, magpie, dog, black cat, black goat, or horse, and if he is fully plant, he may be apine, suce, birch, oak, or aspen. Sometimes he will be a bush, stump, or leaf. Some rare times, he takes a mushroom form.

In his insubstantial form, he will either be a magical or emotional presence, possibly accompanied by sounds or winds. He will cause forest noises to occur to make his presence known.

If he takes a fully "human" form, he will be very tall. In his younger form, his hair will be disheveled and thinning, with a matching beard, and it will be grey, green, or red. His eyes will be pale, dark blue, and one will be shining and one will be dull. His left eye will be smaller than his right, and both will be larger than proportional to his face (as compared to other humans of the same size). He will be missing a nostril, right ear, or eye, and he may have a limp. His head may have a point on top. His skin may be bluish due to having blue blood. He will avoid eye contact and hide his face, and when he sits, he will cross his left leg over his right.

In is older human form, he will have a flat, long face, a wedge-shaped beard, one eye, and a backward leg. His beard will long and grey. He will look familiar for some reason. He may be much smaller in this form.

In the forest, he can be as large as a trer or small as moss.

In every form, his is heavier than he appears.

His clothing will be leather or fur. He wears armyaks, woolen caftans, siberkas, balaklavas, cassocks with wide sleeves, wide-brimmed hats, pointed caps, or patched-up scrap hats. He may or may not have a belt or no hat at all. He wears huge bast shoes, boots, or even go barefoot. He buckles his clothing on the right with the right side tucked in. Sometimes his shoes will be on the wrong feet. His buttons will be shiny. If he wants to be off-putting, he will wear a suit of all black.

He has homes in old dry trees, such as fir or willow, in hollows, stumps, upturned roots, fallen logs, huts, or secret caves. His home will be an illusory maze surrounded by thickets and fallen trees. Animals will be drawn to it.

He enjoys whittling, swinging through the trees, digging with his feet, singing, tending the animals of the woods, and card games. He is a drinker.

In coldest years, he will hibernate.

On his wedding anniversary each summer, he has a massive forest party that no outsiders are welcome to. He likes to play cards with the animals on this night before joining his wife in a cold stream.

Those who wish to use his territory or who worship him bring him decorated eggs, pancakes, porridge, lard, bread, salt, blood, hair, nails, their first catch, or simply ask permission. Shepherds will perform rituals such as circling their herd three times while carrying special objects and incanting, sitting on birch or aspen stump and incanting, offering decorated eggs, offering cows, abstention from touch or swearing or grooming, and so on. Some try to keep Leshy away by wearing clothes improperly or hitching up horses improperly to a cart or wagon. Some elemental methods include a linden stick, a circle of magic, a coppice, mountain ash, or a tricolored cat, which will warn Leshy the traveler is learned of his ways.

Those who enter his territory with no offering, with malice, or if they just pique his mischief may find mild trouble or great danger. He may trick them into sleeping on anthills, drive them up trees, make them think a pinecone is food or drink, tickle them, startle them with sounds, hide their hats or baskets, whisper invisibly at them, remove their wagon wheels, stray their herds, or make them get lost. He dislikes certain kinds of swearing, noises, songs, and whistles, and he will bring mischief to those who do this.

People who live with a brunaidh may ask the brunaidh for help with Leshy, and Leshy will respect that spirit.

Sometimes Leshy will go into a nearby community, visit a pub to drink some vodka, and hear tales from those around him. He sometimes hires people to work for him, visits friends in their homes, or plays matchmakers for young women he respects.

Some who worship Leshy will perform winter rituals to call him for clues about what the next year will bring. Leshy will answer three questions.

If someone who is cursed enters his domain, he may take offense, depending on the curse.

But Leshy is not evil. He is a protector of the forest and will not abide harm to it. Those who seek to cut down his trees without permission will find their axes turned aside. Those who are unsafe with fires will find them put out. Those who hunt without an offering or permission will be led astray or have their shots diverted. If someone blocks a forest path with their camp, they will be driven away with noise and imagery. And true enemies of the forest will be poisoned or attacked.

He will sit at a friendly fire and bring stories, though. He will heal those who fall sick in his domain.

He also hates harm to children, and if an abused child enters his domain, he will rescue them. Children taken by Leshy are cared for and taught secrets of the forest, replaced with animate but not living logs or bundles of straw. If the child's family proves themselves repentant and grown out of their violence, Leshy may return the child, though the child will be much changed, even after only a few hours.

If someone becomes lost in his forest and needs aid, he will sometimes carry them out or help them, if they are friends to nature.

When Leshy and his wife, Leshachikha, have children, the child may be an animal, plant, fungus, dendral, viridianiate, or even greater elemental. They will be called a leszonky, and they will be attuned to a forest. If the birth is different enough from Leshachikha's form, Leshy will find the best midwife nearby to help her, rewarding the midwife greatly.

Stats
+6 in forest
PRO 25
ATH 27
STR 29
AWA 29
WIL 29
PRS 27
STH 27
ESS 33

Elemental Powers
Shapechange
Following wind (wind blows in direction he walks)
Forest's intimidation
Clamor of the wood
Woodland ventriloquism (laughter, whistling, clapping, bellowing cries, singing, voices of various animals, howling wind, humming, crackling, rustling)
Misdirection
Invisible procession (beats of hooves, tinkling bells, harmonicas, singing)
Forest maze
Control flame
Herd forest beast
Treestep
Mossstep
Confusing landscape
Herd lock and key
Vanish beast
Transform mortal (into horse)
Weak to industrial
Weak to copper bullets
Grant elemental wealth
Enchant natural object
Create mortal replica (to take place in army)

Druid Abilities
Attunement
Naturespeech
Nature sense
Enhancing touch
Elemental shield
Viridian blast
Healing breath
Cleansing aura
Song of the woods
Forest's essence (infuse)
Summoning greater elemental
Channel forest magic
Living forest (greater ability)
Elemental form

Inventory
Green lash
Whip of ivy
True oaken club
Verdant basket
Wand of birch
Cosmic cudgel
Axis mundi staff
Shadow suit
Elemental leather armor
Indrik furs
Old armyak
Woolen caftan
Old siberka
Thick balaklava
Wide-sleeved cassock
Wide-brimmed hat
Pointed cap (invisibility - can only be seen if one peers through right ear of horse or bridle while sitting between three harrows)
Patched-up scrap hat
Elemental rope belt
Bast shoes
Elemental leather boots
Heusos (dawn gold) buckles
Bjarthurnam metal buttons
Busted harmonica
Talisman against infernal

Companions (shared with wife)
8 dogs (6 black)
2 bears
3 ravens
3 magpies
3 owls
10 deer
6 hares
12 frogs
1 black cat
4 black goats
8 horses
8 cattle
12 sheep