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The basics: What are Ambrosial Dryad Fruits, and why do they produce them

While dryads are humanoids, it is important to keep in mind that they are, before anything, sentient plants. Plants produce fruits with an intent to spread their seeds, and fortunately generally in a pacific way (we'll pass on the infamous seedshooters and other horrors.) Creatures are meant to eat the fruits, and release the seeds further along with fertilizer (hopefully not their own body, for said hostile variants.) You'll have probably guessed it: the Ambrosial Dryad's fruit is a gift offered to travellers, in hope they will help them spread their progeny - as they tend to not leave their comfortable forest. Being mainly catered to humans as fellow bipeds, it is only normal that they would imitate body elements that can charm most people, and grow those on their chest, highly reminiscent of breasts. Indeed, it may be destabilising to devour someone's body part, but keep in mind that they do exist for this purpose, and that the dryad will not be harmed - even likely thankful for the release of this weight and the shared moment of intimacy.

When can I visit them ?

You cannot barge in uninvited into an Ambrosial Dryad's forest at any time of the year. Most of the time, they are actually quite displeased by the presence of humans, and merely tolerate them. Worse, at mating season (recognisable by their blooms) they may become very aggressive. Do not get wrong ideas, they mate exclusively with each others, and while the fruit offering may be very intimate and vulnerable, you will keep your personal parts for yourself at all times. Overall: do not intrude the personal space of a flat chested Ambrosial Dryad, and immediately leave at the sight of any bipedal silhouette saturated in flowers. When blooming, their sight is poor (eyes easily covered) their senses saturated, and if they get misled by your presence then suddenly realise that you are an unrelated intruder, you are in immediate danger.

The Consumption

When an Ambrosial Dryad has grown mature fruits, she (see the rest of my work if curious about actual gender and sex characteristics of this species) may become mellow and welcoming to adventurers, perhaps even flirty ; and possibly exceptionally leave their beloved woods for a short time. She may also grow a little desperate if nobody has relieved her of her fruits in a while and has adventured out in plain sun, in which case, you should remain empathetic and offer her water, and/or, if not personally eager to partake of her flesh, indicate calmly where someone else could be interested.

A warning ! Make sure there's a healthy dryad forest somewhere nearby, and be very careful if you find one around dark swamps, dungeons and all sorts of evil lairs, or a city with a sewer system. See Corrupted dryads: a great threat to not underestimate further in this guide.

Now comes the most anticipated moment for everyone (who is not as much into ethno-faunabotany as me)! A dryad offers you her delicious fruits. How should you proceed ?

The proper etiquette is of course, immediate on-site consumption. Yes, it may be possible to simply cut them off and leave, but not without the dryad eyeing you judgementally ; and if you do this every season, she may develop a grudge, despite your help at spreading seeds. She doesn't get any proof that the fruits will be eaten, and may grow suspicious of you. And you also should be suspicious out there of anyone selling lots of Ambrosial fruits without a dryad in sight, see Dryads living in captivity: is it possible, safe, or even legal ? further in this guide.

Don't overthink the way to consume the fruit, as your teeth should be perfect for the job (for the common Ambrosial Dryad at least, see below a note about subspecies). Some even say that this is the only true way of partaking of it, still attached to its ecstatic source. Feel free to stop a moment to savour its flavour and texture, and don't hesitate to thank or compliment the donor, it should be welcome. But do NOT avoid to eat/spit the seeds, as it will be considered an offense. Remember, this is a situation of mutual benefit, and if she lets you enjoy her body, you should respect what is expected of you. Stray away from your part of the unspoken deal, and we'll leave the realm of consent, which has consequences ; it may be the dryad no longer respecting your own comfort and forcing you to swallow the seeds with force if needed, or worse. And when in doubt: ask for clarifications. The deal doesn't have to be unspoken ! And while not every dryads will be communicative, an attempt at it, is best than committing an avoidable mistake.

One fruit is generally filling enough for one person, which is by design ; so someone else may get their own, and take the seeds to another part of the world. It is still possible for the most voracious to eat the whole pair, and even a bit more. Yes, you've heard it: at this time of the year, the rest of the flesh of the healthy Ambrosial Dryad is entirely edible. You may realise that it's not as tasty and inebriating as the fruits themselves, as it's not specifically meant for consumption, but it's still safe, and will regrow. If she is ancient, the flesh may however be bitter, which discourages consumption - that's because regrowing lost flesh takes more time and is more disabling at this age. However, several precautions should be taken in this situation: first, do not touch internal organs. Both for potential toxicity reasons, and also preserving her life. It's very kind and brave of her to offer herself in all vulnerability, and it would be terrible of you to break her trust and put her life at risk. If you consume a non negligible amount of limbs flesh, you should also either make sure she can still walk back home, or offer her a place to rest and drink. Do not displease an Ambrosial Dryad who offered herself to you if you are not fond of regrets. Be warned though: after the initial feast and the mutual inebriation of this intimate moment rich in a complex cocktail of feelings, her kind and welcoming nature will certainly slowly revert back to the usual "rest-of-the-year" cranky dryad self, so be careful and ready about that if you choose to host her in your abode - and do not, under any circumstance, try to eat more again. This is both part because she will likely be angered, and part because the flesh toxicity comes back quickly after being rid of her fruits. Other than respecting the Ambrosial Dryads (for the readers who may have questionnable moral alignements), a reason to not shorten one's life, may be to preserve your own. It is not uncommon to have fruitless dryads keep an eye on the fruiting ones, discretely stalking you. If you are witnessed committing acts threatening their integrity, you will likely end up burried full of seeds, your body serving as fertilizer. You are warned.

To note, there are subspecies in the southern continent whose biology differs, as an adaptation to harsher environments and a lesser ability to regrow parts - notably bearing the fruits all year round in a deflated form, eventually growing filled with juice in which seeds float. Do not bite in this case, and simply drink. Consider the seeds like the pearls in a bubble tea.

Aftermath: there are seeds in me ?

First things first, do not panic. (unless you are in the previously mentioned situation of risky dryads, near evil environments and such) The seeds are nondigestible, and should pass in your intestinal tracks without any problem. If you have any guts issues however, you should potentially consult the opinion of a doctor first. Don't be shy about this kind of honesty, some doctors even advise patients of specific conditions to visit dryads for therapeutic purposes. Well, in simple words: they'll be expulsed.

You may think they are no longer your concern. However, there's again some proper etiquette to follow: Ambrosial Dryads live best in forests, and it would be advisable to release the seeds near, or inside of one. If there are already dryads in said woods, don't worry: it'll be beneficial for the genetic mixing. If there are no suitable place, it is still possible to wash and dry the seeds, to release them later. A dry dyad seed may survive for a year or two, sometimes more, but it may be a challenge to revive one artificially.

Otherwise, you may end up with new problems, generally known as spriggan dwarves. Yes, it is a misnomer, as spriggans are an entirely different species - but a surprising amount of people don't believe that young dryads denied a proper habitat will grow into those stunted, mischievous little pests. It's not necessarily too late for them to be relocated ! But the more time passes in this stunted state, the more bitter and untrusting they will be, and i can only wish you a good luck. They may also keep a grudge against humans if finally growing mature in proper woods, and it may cause further issues. Considering them as human children will not help your case, as dryadlets can react widly differently from what you could expect. Remember that they most resemble humans at fructification !

So overall, be careful about where the seeds are released, and especially in the case of travelling to dangerous places. See Corrupted dryads: a great threat to not underestimate.

Dryads living in captivity: is it possible, safe, or even legal?

Let's start with this statement: Ambrosial Dryads are class 1 sentient lifeforms. You can guess all of what it entails about the ethics of keeping them captive. They also need their privacy and have many needs that are hard to cover. A stressed out captive Ambrosial Dryad may not bear fruit, or proove to grow ones of poor quality ; sometimes even not totally loose their toxicity at fruition. This may even be on purpose, if spiteful towards the jailers. So, overall, i will simply say: just don't. Report people who may do these practices. And most of all, do not bring Ambrosial Dryads within the inner gardens of big cities, and especially ones with complex sewer systems such as Felanath. Leave them in the wilds, and everything should go smoother for everyone involved, and hopefully not tarnish further their reputation. The last thing we need is more deaths, and innocent dryad hunting.

Corrupted dryads: a great threat to not underestimate

There are various ways a dryad can be corrupted, including of course magical ones. We will not cover those, as you will be better informed reading for exemple A treaty on magical mutations: Just Expect Everything Possible. We will not cover either evil influences, and will also redirect you to other papers, such as The influences of Evil on Fauna and Flora, and On the pervasive influence of Dungeons over the mind of their inhabitants - from friend to foe.

Let's get to the case of dark swamps: Ambrosial Dryads living there might be perfectly amiable, but potentially carry illnesses. Look for signs such as visibly wilting (but this could happen to a healthy dryad leaving her forest in search for hungry people under a harsh sun too !) asymetric discolorations toward yellow or purple, abnormal pupil or overall eye size, numerous missing chunks of bark on the head or back, difficulties in speech, poor balance, and parasite fungus such as a thin mold-looking fur, or worse, whole stalks protruding in various places. Not all diseases are transmissible, but some are pretty severe, and should not be taken lightly. Half of them may be avoided by boiling the fruit (which of course should be done only after removing them from the dryad) but as you know, it's not exactly good etiquette. However, if she is conscious of carrying diseases, she might actually approve the decision, but still have a potion or spell to cure common diseases ready, just in case.

What happened during the catastrophe of Felanath's toxic debauchery, you may still wonder. You see, while complex sewer systems are a precious gift of comfort in the modern life, they are profoundly incompatible with the Ambrosial Dryad lifestyle. People notably had imported dryads to gardens within the city, consumed their fruits, and released them directly into the sewer system. Now picture this: they were released in sunless environments (as plants who require a minimum of photosynthesis) tainted with wastes from any dyers, alchemists, mages, what else ! potentially carrying even more diseases than swamp dryads, getting hungry on light available only where humans dwell (who understandably generally dislike being disturbed by stinky beings from underground intruding on their property, and not prove friendly), have to defend their life regularly from giant rats and other sewer creatures, and hopefully not get to grow mature in some of the rare sewer ecosystems such as the fungalands. The result in this case, was extremely aggressive, toxic, determined and humanophobe dryads who left the sewers for the shortest time possible out of a necessity to give their offspring a better life elsewhere, with no sublety in their practice. In addition, some cross pollinating with the garden ones transmitted diseases to the ones deemed healthy, and many deaths have been recorded. Contrarily to rumours, the entire city hasn't been decimated by a plague. Quarantines had been made, fire has been used, magic barriers raised, and eventually, the sewers have been purified, then painfully reworked. Which certainly doesn't mean they are safe from another catastrophe ! So please, never release seeds in big cities sewers. It's also now illegal of course, and some cities bordering forests have temporarily required a "defecation quarantine" before entry ; but most have opted for a more "comfortable human-friendly" solution: the eradication of surrounding communities of Ambrosial Dryads.

This saddens me to an extent that i cannot lay into words.

Is an interspecies friendship possible ?

It is uncommon, but not unhearded of. I have, myself, been accepted in two colonies of Ambrosial Dryads outside of fruition season, and grew a close relationships with three individuals. It may be considerably easier for druids to get the proper understanding of their ways, and live as harmoniously as possible in their company. If someone holding captive dryads affirm they are friend or even lovers, be wary. They may be misinterpreting signals, or even flat out lie.

Overall, trying to befriend the Ambrosial Dryads should not be taken lightly or idealised, as it will likely be a very different experience from what you may expect if you only have met fruiting ones - and ironically, potentially turn out to be a fruitless endeavour.

Final words

Ambrosial Dryads are complex beings, featuring a lovely and wonderfully symbiotic side with us, but are never to be trifled with. If everyone remains careful and respectful, there should be no reasons to worry ; but missteps, yes, can prove to be lethal. And you know well that not every adventurer can be expected to be careful and respectful, so be wary about how any dryad's past may influence her views of you. Just as with any other creature on this earth, including of your own species...

See also my other works:

Ambrosial Dryads: culture and traditions

Biology of Sentient Plants

Misplaced invasive dryadlets: Help !

Baby plant needs mommy plant: a children's book on differences in species and needs

Ambrosial cocktail recipes