ECOLOGY

Environment temperate forests or swamps
Organization solitary
Treasure double

Hailed as either protectors or plagues, glaistigs are ancient fey, tied to the earth and wielding its powers. Although not evil, glaistigs are unpredictable and hot-tempered—easily stirred to anger and possessing powerful magic to deal great harm to the objects of their scorn.

A glaistig resembles a comely human woman with greenish skin and the lower legs of a goat, similar to a faun or satyr. Glaistigs usually cover their bestial lower body in flowing robes or gowns, typically woven from leaves frozen in the colors of summer or autumn, and adorn themselves with simple but elegant jewelry. Their haunting eyes show no pupils, and every step they take seems as one move in an endless dance. They can be whimsical, but often move and act with great deliberation, especially when their anger is roused.

Glaistigs are among the oldest and most powerful fey in existence. Legends say that they were once incorporeal spirits of the earth that strove to protect early humans living the simple lives of farmers in harsh worlds, and it was through that protection and proximity that these spirits coalesced into the forms they now hold. Regardless of their origins, many glaistigs still protect swaths of rural countryside, forests, and swamps, as well as the people who live therein. Their protection is often unobtrusive; they prefer to manifest their power and protection from the camouflage of foliage, making it seem like the wilderness itself is acting against interlopers. In times of great need, however, or when they become very angry, glaistigs confront dangers in the open. Inhabitants of places protected by a glaistig often leave food, drink, jewels, and crafts at a designated place of honor, or gather to sing songs or tell tales for the glaistig to hear from the shadows.

Such communities tell stories of the green maiden who lives in the forest or some other stretch of pristine wilderness, and relate a number of cautionary tales about their fickle protector.

Such tales have twofold purpose: to keep the favor of a local glaistig and to protect the young and foolish from doing something that angers the green maiden, which can often mean death. In return for such cautious reverence, those under the elder fey's protection often find furrows dug and earth mysteriously moved for them, troughs and barrels filled with fresh water during droughts, or even marauding monsters driven far away. But such harmony is often tenuous, and those that leave tribute for a glaistig do so as much to placate her as to praise her. For the same glaistig that brings water and turns earth can blight an entire countryside or cause the ground to tremble. A glaistig's mere presence can incite others to uncontrollable fits of dancing and demented antics, and those that move a glaistig to rage earn themselves a powerful foe indeed.

In combat, a glaistig moves with ease and grace, typically targeting those under the effects of her aura with debilitating hexes before withdrawing to summon earth elementals to aid her, and bombarding her opponents with leaves and dirt. The living link of her body to the earth and its plants and trees makes a glaistig vulnerable in the air, and she does what she can to stay grounded. Even at the height of anger, however, a glaistig can still sometimes be reasoned with. A glaistig will typically pause to parley, and can be swayed to cease hostilities in exchange for some valuable, preferably magical, item of sufficient value, particularly a wooden or stone item.

While glaistigs themselves have no compunction about bending the truth or flagrantly dissembling, they take extreme offense when others lie to them, and are quite adept at sniffing out falsehoods. When a glaistig deduces that someone has lied to her, even if the untruths were spoken in an attempt at flattery, her outrage is such that she is unwilling to even speak with that person again.

Among some of the most prevalent cautionary tales involving glaistigs is that they sometimes lure young children deep into their wilderness homes, kidnapping them and even replacing them with some form of fey impostor. In truth, these fey enjoy the innocence, honesty, and playfulness of children, and usually keep them only to chat and dance with for a short while before sending them home unharmed.