Creation is vast. Even a single direction is a world unto itself, and the chronicling of its multifarious peoples has long been confounded by that simple fact. This is perhaps nowhere better exemplified than in the many races tied to natural phenomena. Between the influences of the Elemental Poles, Wyld mutations, God-Blooded heritage, Dragon-Blooded Exaltations, and plain old differences of species, the identification of strange beings of nature has never exactly been precise for the common folk of the world. That does not change the fact that such apparently monolithic groups are in fact composed of distinct and independent peoples. One such example are the “green men,” the two-legged plants who walk upright and speak as humanity does.
Known to scholars as woodfolk, they are a non-human race of bipedal plants, whose forms and colors are as multifarious and varied as those of nature itself. Sages distinguish them from the aptly-named treefolk, who are indeed descended from humanity itself, from a past age of marvels where the very nature of the body could be sculpted with the same ease as clay on the potter's wheel. Included with their description are Supernatural Merits with which one can mechanically represent some of the more useful manifestations of the woodfolk's heritage, or even those of the similarly-named and human-descended crafted race.
The titans and their gods crafted many beings to populate the former's Creation, and among the dizzying array of such experiments were the woodfolk. Born at around the same time as humanity, these beings shared the same rough template as Autocthon originally utilized for those who would one day become the world's rulers, but adapted for life in the East and with the influences of those titans whose tastes inclined toward the botanical rather than the mammalian. Without either the prodigious faculties of the prehuman races or the potent spiritual prowess of the elementals who shared in nature's glory more keenly, the lot of the woodfolk was much the same as it was for humans, defined by hard labor to sustain a living in the terribly glorious lands that were Creation before the revolution of the gods.
Unlike their siblings, however, the woodfolk never benefitted from the happenstance that catapulted humanity from the lowest to the highest. If the woodfolk were capable of utilizing the Exaltations crafted by the gods, then no tales from the Divine Revolution survive to tell of such champions having arisen among them. It is, however, rumored that backdoors present in the circumstances of their creation – ones occasionally attributed as a final gift of Gaia to her beloved grandchildren – give them the faculty to wield sorcery as humans do, although again, if such a thing is true, then no well-known tales have survived to populate the libraries of the world, even in this Age of Sorrows.
Regardless of how much status they themselves held throughout the Divine Revolution itself, the woodfolk benefitted from the titans' fall as many of the younger races did. No longer inextricably bound to privation as their ancestors were, the woodfolk finally spread from the East to lands across the entirety of Creation, and it is due to this original diaspora that plantmen are not known as a mere curiosity of the East, but as much of a cosmopolitan species as humanity.
In the height of the First Age, the woodfolk enjoyed substantial personal freedoms and protections under the Exalted Host, and it was during this period when they were most often identified as members of their species itself amongst outsiders, rather than as the descendants of gods and elementals. This halcyon age, of course, gave way to the Shogunate, during which they fell to the class of second-class citizens, both from the general population for their inhumanity, and from the Dragon-Blooded for the way in which their assumed elemental authority could be taken as an attack on the spiritual supremacy of the Terrestrial Exalted. Such attitudes of course fell apart as most social conventions did during the Great Contagion, and most attitudes towards woodfolk nowadays are formed on case-by-case bases and based upon local history.
Physically, woodfolk appear as bipedal plants, with the broader strokes of the human form evident, but with no way in which they could be confused as humans. They possess skin in varying shades of green, from near-black deep sage to the lightest of mint. As they age, this tone invariably deepens, becomes more monochromatic, and loses luster; some find their skin becoming brown as they reach old age, providing that they are not one of the kinds who inherently grows bark in the place of leafy skin. They possess maws of gleaming, fine incisors, with the exact spacing between them based upon heritage. Leaves grow on their head, and the most physical variety in their species is seen here, for the leaves themselves can vary from those of deciduous trees to evergreen needles to even stranger formations, like flowers or miniature pitcher plants. Woodfolk do not have keratin-based features such as nails, and their bodies are completely devoid of hair. Despite their outward differences, woodfolk are warm-blooded, and not all of them are capable of photosynthesis, with those breeds who are incapable of it eating food as humans do.
Perhaps the most striking difference among members of the species is the manner in which they reproduce. Woodfolk are cosexual, with features of both sexes being present amongst all members, although interaction with more sexually dimorphic peoples has led to gender roles still being present in many of their societies. They are capable of both live birth and of planting seeds in soil to incubate offspring; each of these forms of reproduction come with their own attendant drawbacks and weaknesses, so the exact form of reproduction commonly used often varies depending on the local environment and culture.
Religiously, woodfolk are as varied as humans. The oldest ur-cultures of the race primarily centered worship towards the titan Gaia as an inspiration to Autocthon for their creation, and towards the Unconquered Sun, as a physical provider and as a higher spiritual ideal to strive towards. Reverence of the Five Elemental Dragons as intercessory figures was also common, and still continues to be so to this day in Immaculate-influenced areas. Most contemporary woodfolk worship is predicated upon local gods, however, or is based upon the personal religious values of individual woodfolk; they are as iconoclastic as humans are.
It is up to the Storyteller whether the woodfolk, as non-humans, are eligible candidates for Exaltation. Similarly, the Storyteller can determine whether or not woodfolk can initiate into Sorcery or Necromancy. Woodfolk are, however, capable of using thaumaturgy, and indeed there are many long traditions of it among their kind, particularly ones based upon their verdant Essence and the manipulation of plantlife.
Supernatural Merits
Charming Scent ( * ) - Innate
The woodfolk can selectively release a sweet, floral smell from their body that sets nerves at ease. Once per session, the character can release a botanical scent from an appropriate feature of their body, such as a flower, and gain double 9s on Socialize rolls for a scene. If the woodfolk can channel Essence, then they can additionally spend one mote to gain this effect for a scene, on top of their usual allotment, and they can apply the effect of double 9s to Social Influence rolls utilizing Socialize.
Photosynthesis ( * or * * ) - Innate
Chlorophyll-lined green skin allows the woodfolk to derive sustenance from sunlight. At one dot, the character can partially subsist on sunlight, and doubles all intervals for determining states of hunger. At two dots, the character subsists entirely on sunlight; they are not subject to the effects of hunger unless they are completely deprived of sunlight for more than eight hours in a day. If the character is ever in a situation in which they are regularly deprived of sunlight to the point of experiencing starvation, then they gain experience points for it as though this Supernatural Merit was a Flaw.
Prehensile Vines ( * or * * * * ) - Innate
The woodfolk can extend vines from their bodies that can be used for fine manipulation or combat. At one dot, the character can extend a vine from their body to a length of up to ten feet, at will. The vine has all the manipulative ability of a single hand. They can also use the vine as a weapon, which is treated as a whip that they always have available to them. At four dots, the character can extend multiple vines at a single time that are strong enough to function as limbs, providing them with the benefits of the Extra Limbs Supernatural Merit.