Oakmen

Oakmen haunt certain forests and are not a true species: they are thought to be wicked spirits somehow caught inside bodies of living oak, and old tales say a murderer buried under an oak can end up this way. They rank among the cruellest of creatures.

Neither plant nor animal, an Oakman is a bent, knotted humanoid three or four feet tall, with dark sunken eyes and a body of coarse, stringy wood. Some have long, twisted, root-like fingers and toes; others sprout a fringe of shoots and tendrils around the head or face that looks like hair or a beard.

They are feeble and sluggish, but they command plants by nature and can do so as often as they like, making growth sprout, snare, part, wither or die. Vines choke, grass binds, and trees swing at intruders, though turning plants into weapons takes an Oakman's whole attention. Cornered, it may swing a stick, but usually flees when its life is at stake.

They brood alone over new schemes in tracts of dead or strangely knotted forest of their own making, which animals abandon and even sylvan folk and Sidhe avoid. Intruders are attacked, and captives may be caged in living wood, some for years so the Oakman can watch them age and die. They never die of age, but fire, which does them double damage, or magic weapons can destroy them.

An Oakman's power over plants reaches 100 feet and works on a block of growth 10 feet on each side. It can wither plants, warp wood, spur growth, or make vines and grass entangle a victim, who may try a save vs STR on the following round to break loose. Animated branches strike for 1-6 x d6 according to their size, and vines constrict or strangle for 1-8 each round. An Oakman can also slip through plant growth at 10 feet per minute.