Volodni

Supposed to be a plant-man... looks more like a Native American with jaundice.

The volodni are a race of fae plant-like beings from the Forgotten Realms region of Rasheman. Their origins stretch back to over a thousand years ago, at the time when Dungeons & Dragons 3e was published, when a proud lord of the Nar led his people into the great forests to seek shelter from the terrible wars that racked and ultimately ruined Narfell and Raumathar alike.

In the depths of the forest, they were confronted by some powerful woodland entity - a mighty treeman, maybe the deity known as the Oakfather, who knows. This entity forbade them from benefiting from the forest's shelter unless the Nar agreed to forsake their demon-summoning ways and "take the forest's blood for their own".

Perhaps to their regret, the Nar lord agreed to this, certain it was better than returning to the destruction they had fled. And thus they were transformed into a faerie race of plant-like humanoids: the first volodni.

The volodni resemble humans with deep olive-green skin, the color of pine-needles, whose flesh is tough and woody in consistency. Clear sap runs through their veins where a human would bear blood, their hair grows in long, thick locks that resemble the scaly bark of a tree, and their eyes are gleaming black. Volodni of both sexes tend to be tall and lean, with wide shoulders and long arms. As you'd expect of a race of militant druids, they favor leather and wood for their arms and armor, dyed in green and brown to blend in with the terrain of their forest home. They mostly inhabit the Great Dale, but also have a presence in Rashemen and Thesk.

Alien as they look, it is their minds that are truly inhuman. Like most sylvan creatures, they cherish the forests and seek to defend them. However, unlike most sylvan creatures, perhaps because of their human nature, they are aggressive, expansionistic and cruel. The volodni seek to spread their numbers to other forests, and to encourage the forests to grow without check. Many feel that only the fall of "warm folk" civilization can preserve Faerûn's forests, but others hope to peacefully persuade humans to allow the return of the ancient forests. Cold-blooded, dispassionate and vengeful, every Rashemani knows not to provoke them, but also subtly knows that one day, it may be the volodni who brings war to them.

Volodnis are cold and dispassionate, remorseless in pursuit of any tactic that serves their ends. They remember every injury but have the patience of the forest itself when exacting vengeance. They are not acquisitive, as they have little need for material possessions. Some volodnis feel the blood of their human ancestors more deeply than others and are capable of benevolence - or spitefulness and crime. They are generally on the Chaotic Neutral box of the alignment grid; neither actively malicious nor benevolent, and believing in the individual's call to act as he or she sees fit rather than laws and rules to guide behavior.

For obvious reasons, volodnis get along reasonably well with other sylvan creatures such as centaurs and satyrs, and usually work toward the same ends as elves. They revere treants and are warm to druids of any race, but they do not care for people who see a forest only as uncut firewood and unbuilt homes. Those who despoil natural settings out of spite rather than necessity wake a volodni's latent hostility into pure, cold rage. Consequently, volodnis generally harbor a stronger dislike for goblinoids, orcs, and such creatures than they do for dwarves or humans - the most militant volodnis see no possible justification for cutting into a forest, and thus they hate every non-sylvan race equally.

As one might expect, the pine folk have a strong druidic tradition. Druid circles govern their society, and all volodnis venerate nature gods. Among the forest deities they hold a deep reverence for Silvanus the Oak Father. Volodnis who leave their home forest to wander the world are unusual, but not as rare as one might think. The pine folk have a great desire to explore and see the wonders of Faerûn's surviving forests. Volodni druids and rangers go out into the world to protect woodlands and to spy out the civilized lands near their homes.

Volodnis speak Common and Sylvan as well as the human language of the surrounding region - usually Damaran or Rashemi in the East. They often learn Draconic, Elven, Giant, Gnoll, Gnome, Goblin, or Treant to communicate with creatures of the woodlands. The pine folk go by simple human names, usually followed by a description of a favorite forest locale, such as Andror of the Deepspring, Harl of the Old Grove, or Mara of the Windridge.

• Male Names: Andror, Huvast, Isilvor, Leped, Normol, Strevast, Yevgen.
• Female Names: Atryanna, Hela, Kari, Lara, Naskyara, Slaela, Zashi.

+2 Constitution, +2 Wisdom, -2 Intelligence, -2 Charisma

Medium

Plant

Base speed 30 feet

Cold Resistance 5

Low-Light Vision

Halve damage from Piercing weapon, to a minimum of 1 point

Sustenance: Require only 2 hours of sleep per day and 1/4 the food and water of a human

Favored Class: Druid

Level Adjustment: +2

See Also

• Dungeons & Dragons 3rd Edition races