Description

  FioAos are a species native to the Great Forest of Iath (EAth). The appearance of the FioAos reflects the diverse trees in their forest; specificly, whichever tree that the FioAos emerges from is the source of the major characteristics of how that FioAos will look. Their skin is made from bark, arms have the appearance of tree limbs, which taper down to a knotted hand with twig fingers, and their legs which are typically larger and thicker like the bottom of a tree trunk. In place of feet, the FioAos have gnarled stumps which are covered in small roots that, if given enough time, will start to root into the ground where the FioAos stands. Their heads can either be bare, topped with sparce branches poking out at all angles, or thick coverage. The hair can be like twigs that stand up straight off their heads or like willow branches flowing down their body. The eyes of the FioAos emit a glow of light which varies in color and vibrancy between FioAos and can change based upon their mood. Their mouths have the appearance of a humanoid mouth except for the notable absence of teeth. When they talk the sounds can range from higher pitch whistling with an airiness like rustling leaves, to a deeper groan and creaking. A few FioAos even have a musical quality to their singing almost like a string instrument being played. Male and female FioAos bodies do look different from each other because they were originally created to mimic the male and female bodies of the creatures invading the Great Forest of Iath.

Culture

  The FioAos live in a fluid but predictable manner. As they have different life experiences and grow in different strengths, they will change the work they do and the roles they fill within their villages as well as move around between the different villages within the forest to be where their skills are needed most. Instead of having a solid cast or tiering system they see each other as all parts of the same ecosystem serving their roles and maintaining balance in the forest. Because they are so aligned in goals there is little in-fighting within the groups and the only disagreements would be different ideas around how to achieve the same goal.

History

  Hundreds of years of peace was had in Iath due to its new defense and the fear of the forest. This peace ended abruptly with a sudden war. The Fuzang-Zhian came to conquer Southern Dramor. The FioAos had to rapidly adapt to fighting a war effort of conquest with soldiers instead of skirmishes with small groups of poachers and loggers. At first the Fuzang-Zhian had the advantage as their war machine pushed deep into Iath. The Fuzang-Zhian pyromancy burned huge swaths of Iath down, their mighty warriors slayed many behemoths. The turning point in the battle was when Ethelreda stepped in. After regaining her power from the drought she was able to once again greatly influence the region of Iath. While her power was limited to the forest that was still standing there were beasts that she had killed off as they did not fit well in her perfect ecosystem. These savage apex predators devastated the Fuzang-Zhian and the in habitants of Iath. Ethelreda sped up the growth of the forest on the out skirts so the forest could regrow to its previous size given the predators more forest to go after Fuzang-Zhian instead of her creations. This rapid growth and new monsters was enough to push out the Fuzang-Zhian however Ethelreda did not have enough power left to remove the monsters once again.

  After momentarily defeating the Fuzang-Zhian the FioAos decided that more info was needed about the rest of the content as the forest would not have been so greatly impacted had they known earlier about the Fuzang-Zhian threat. At that point several FioAos were designated to go out into Southern Dramor to set up an information network, gather knowledge to bring back into the forest, find items of power they need to defend the forest, and possibly forge alliances in times of need. In addition, the FioAos had to look inward as the ancient predators were still present in the forest and wreaking havoc.