A leshy1 is a plant or fungus inhabited by a vitae2 (sometimes erroneously called a nature spirit),3 a relationship that makes the plant a sapient creature capable of taking on an independently mobile form.45 Such creatures' life forces lack quintessence, making them unusual among mortal forms of life.6
A leshy's appearance depends entirely on the materials used to create them, and can include combinations of otherwise unrelated plants or fungi.5 This makes leshy forms as diverse as the natural order itself, with a range that includes cacti, fruits, fungi, gourds, leafy trees, lotuses, roots, seaweed, and vines.78 Their forms generally resemble a humanoid standing about three feet tall.5
The design of a leshy's body also influences the vitae that chooses to inhabit it, and a leshy's gender is a matter of self-identification, with some (especially fungal leshies) tending toward complex expressions of of gender or none at all. Leshies are mature upon creation and do not age,5 though their vitae might choose to leave their given form.[citation needed]
Leshies are nourished in the same manner as their component materials, such as through photosynthesis, root absorption, or decay. Leshies who rely on sunlight but must travel to places without it must often resort to using bottled sunlight.5
In areas where primal magic is especially concentrated and many leshies gather under severe threats or extreme stress, many types of leshies might band together in a violent mob that forms a collective consciousness of its own.
While such leshy mobs often form to battle a threat and channel magic beyond any individual in the mob's means, they can also lose track of why they formed and continue spreading chaos that they later regret when the mob breaks.9
Leshies often become druids (especially of the leaf order) and rangers due to their exceptional connection to nature. The life of a bard is also a good fit for leshies with a love of storytelling; such leshies often inhabit vine leshy bodies.10
Druids created the first leshies by using primal rituals to summon vitae into physical bodies they crafted from natural materials. Leshies originally served as guardians of natural places who rarely strayed away from their place of creation. As time went by, leshies began leaving their birthplaces in growing numbers to explore the world.11
Leshy society is one of found families composed of faithful companions and trusted friends. They hold such family members responsible for protecting them and the natural world from which the leshy was created.5
Leshies gravitate to powers who influence nature, particularly the Green Faith and Gozreh. For some leshies, the nature spirits known as green men attract their veneration.5
For additional as-yet unincorporated sources about this subject, see the Meta page.
Cambion
(tiefling)
Other heritages
1E uncommon
2E legacy planar scions
