Alraune
You came into my forest, prepared with an axe. And you really thought you would get out of it with such intentions? I am the queen of this forest and my will is, that you will become a part of it for the crime of chopping these trees!
by Drackzahn
Abilities
Root Network
An Alraune grows her own root network with time. This root network is her power source and her dominance over her part of the nature hotspot. The alraune can’t move away from her root network without help, but she doesn't need to. She is able to grow new bodies at other places outside of her root network. A berry Alraune can easily be a whole field of berries, or even many fields of berries in a big forest. All bushes are her own body while some bigger bushes allow her to grow out her own human form on that location to interact with humans and other intelligent life forms. With the growing root network comes power. We call an Alraune an older one or elder Alraune if her root network is the dominating force in her area. Such an Alraune is powerful enough to control the whole plantlife and form the nature around her after her will. Defeating such a creature in her domain is nearly impossible without destroying the nature itself.Plantlife
An Alraune is the closest being to a plant that a human can become without giving up the human life fully. Depending on which plant an Alraune resembles, her powers and appearance differs. A tree Alraune is hard to see and takes years to grow out fully. She still grows way faster than any normal plant, but it still takes time. Such a tree alraune can produce her own fruits which special effects. An Alraune is not bound to her chosen plant. She can develop, form new plant forms and create her own new forms of fruits, berries, nectar and so on. Some Alraunes uses this to produce huge amounts of fruits and berries and vegetables for others to harvest. There is no farm that can match their production and quality. Other Alraunes will produce special fruits to set invaders sleeping or poisoning them if they are a threat to them. It is rare that an Alraune kills someone, as they want to protect life, not destroy it. They know well that killing an invader would mean luring more invaders to her position.Encasing hug
Many Alraunes seek out humans and lure them to themself via spores, wonderful scents or giant plant structures. The Alraune will offer the human hugs, cuddles, fruits, berries or direct nectar access. If the human accepts the Alraune will close her plant around the human, encasing them in her body. Such a human can now be held with her for a long duration for company, or be transformed to a dryad or another Alraune through insertion of seeds, nectar, etc.Basic Information
Anatomy
Alraunes are hard to describe as they differ heavily in their appearance. What they have in common is the body of a young adult female, at least the upper half of it. The rest of her body is that of a plant. Depending on the plant, her whole appearance can heavily differ to each other. A flower Alraune often has her human part in the middle of a giant flower with nectar filling the bottom of it. Tree Alraunes often resembles normal trees except there is somewhere at the top or in the tree itself the body of the alraune. Often tree Alraunes are the biggest of their kind, forming giant trees with own caves inside of her wood for guests and other life forms. The Alraune human half will hide deep in that network of caves and tunnels, protecting herself with her wood.
Genetics and Reproduction
Besides being transformed into an alraune by Aliry, a Woodscale Lamia or other sources, Alraunes themselves are also able to transform others into new sisters of their kind. This process is described under their abilities.
Alraunes, similar to normal plants, have the means to reproduce naturally as well. Depending on the plant, this may be through spores or by certain fruits they offer to travelers. Due to their pure female anatomy and their nature as plants, alraunes are able to combine their genetic material with other alraunes or even other humanoid beings, or simply create genetic clones of themselves for reproduction. An Alraune will rarely reproduce, as each alraune requires its own root network and enough space to develop one for herself in the end.
Ecology and Habitats
Alraunes prefer to live deep in nature hotspots. Most often you can find them in the center of thickly grown plant life in the middle of forests, swamps, or jungles. As they are bound to one place, they are ruling their part of nature. Their root network grows with each year and allows them to take control over a bigger area. An alraune that has lived for many years, has a root network big enough to control many square kilometers. It is easy to see why locals often refer to such ancient alraunes as queens of nature.
Sometimes Alraunes don’t want to isolate themselves from society that much thought. There are alraunes that live in parks and garden areas or help on fields and plantages.
Behaviour
Alraunes are the rulers of nature. They are a part of nature and they have a deep affection for it, specially plantlife and all lifeforms of their nature hotspot like forest or swamp. Alraunes are often isolating themselves, some may even attack humans if they get too close. But there are no general guidelines how an Alraune acts. Many like to have humans or general life around themselves. Depending on the plant they resemble, some Alraunes even produce fruits for humans to eat.
Additional Information
Social Structure
Alraunes often live in isolation or in small communities of other Alraunes in their nature hotspot. Humans are often accepted, but not fully welcome. As an Alraune is rooted in one place, they know their area and mostly only the beings that live close by. Their world is their nature hotspot. Anything that exists outside of that is only stories, legends and mostly not important for them.
The Alraunes that lives as farmers are different. They like the presence of humans and help them if they help the Alraune. In the end, an Alraune resembles her former Human self and the plant she resembles.
On Earth, many Alraunes see Izimir, the Naga, as their goddess and leader figure. While it is not a religion in the traditional sense, but more like seeing a protector and creator in that reptile. There are no temples, no prayers, or typical phrases. Izimir is only respected among the Alraunes and welcome if she slithers by. On Bardor, the true goddess of nature Aliry is seen as the leader figure by most alraunes.
An Alraune gets stronger with her root network. Younger Alraunes that grow in the area of an older Alraune often connect themselves with the root network of the elder Alraune. They accept the older one as their ruler and help her out in exchange for access to the roots and the protection the older one can offer. Often the younger alraunes will form little communities while older Alraunes form the center of such communities. The biggest and most mightiest plant in a forest or generally nature hotspot is most likely an elder Alraune.
Beegirls have a special connection to Alraunes. The flying yellow girls are loved by Alraunes and often welcome with open arms. Especially flower Alraunes will lure beegirls to their place to offer them nectar in exchange for information, pleasure, company, and the potential to spread seeds to other places. Sometimes it looks like beegirls works as postwomans for the Alraunes. The bees bring packages, information, and gossip and get nectar and fruits in return.
Uses, Products & Exploitation
Alraunes have normally no job in traditional sense. They just live in their rooted place and help life around themselves, mostly to benefit themselves as well with it. You could say they are forester, gardeners and farmers often, as that is what they do for society in the end.
The Alraunes that lives deep in nature hotspots, away from humans, help nature flourish around them. If they live in parks, they often help as gardeners with the park and try to maintain it, so that many others enjoy the bit of nature in the town.
The farmers under the Alraunes are often tree Alraunes or bush alraunes that can produce berries, fruits or vegetables for others to harvest. With their vines and root network, a single Alraune can maintain and harvest a giant field of her own plants. They prefer to have help, especially if the humans bring tasty fertilizer.
Civilization and Culture
History
Similar to Dryads, the first alraunes were created by Aliry during the War of the Gods on Bardor. Invading Human forces of the goddess Lia were captured and forcefully transformed into the first dryads during the war.
After the war ended, alraunes became a dominant force in many natural places on the planet, forming their own small communities outside of civilization. Most of these small communities have their own culture and values, many even don't know anything about their origin or their goddess.
On Earth, the first alraunes were created by the Woodscale Lamia Izimir Pflanzenlieb in 2020 as retaliation against humans who dared to enter her holy groove. After the first hostile encounters, many humans of the earth seek to become alraunes and they are spread in the Federation of Slimea mainly nowadays.
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