Dryads, called Aen Woedbeanna in Elder Speech and eerie wives by the Rangers, are the female inhabitants and guardians of the Brokilon forest. They are known for their amazing archery skills (they can easily kill a human from the distance of 200 feet), as well as their love for the trees, forest and music. In the novel, The Time of Contempt, Dandelion learns that the Dryads mark their borders with arrows. If an arrow lands at your feet, that's as far as you were allowed to travel alive. Dryads tend to keep their borders near rivers so that the people they kill will wash away with the current and take the stench of decay with them. Dryads are also proficient in treating wounds, when Geralt of Rivia was wounded in a fight with Vilgefortz he had cracked ribs, a broken leg, and a concussion. But upon arriving in Brokilon he was treated with expert care and was well enough to move when the bard Dandelion came to see him.
They look like normal, pretty, young girls. They wear clothes that make them hard to spot in the forest and paint their bodies to make themselves even less visible. They have skills unique to their race such as shaping trees with their will and moving without making any sounds. At night they create makeshift glowsticks by stimulating certain fungi and crafting a wreath out of the plant to make a light source, Dryads abhor fire as it harms the forest. They do not eat dinner, as Dandelion learns from Geralt upon his first night in Brokilon, whether this is out of strict dieting etiquette to maintain their health or otherwise is unknown.
Dryads are exclusively female and use human or elven males only for mating, taking strong males to pass their traits onto their children. That is what happened to the baron of Hamm, Freixenet. They sometimes raise normal, human children as dryads, even though they do not possess all the skills of real dryads. They are sometimes also called nymphs.
Notable dryads
- Eithné
- Aglaïs
- Braenn, a human raised as dryad. Her name was Mona before becoming a dryad.
- Fauve
- Sirssa
- Morénn
The Witcher
Geralt meets only one dryad in the game, Morenn. He finds her in the Druids' grove in the swamp and has an opportunity to get to know her rather well.
In the uncensored (non-North American) versions of The Witcher, they do not cover the dryads' breasts with their hair, nor is there a loincloth. The models appear completely nude. The same model is also used for the naiad.
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