Creature Seed: Dandelion Dryads.

Dandelion Dryads

Strictly speaking, they should be known as Leimakids, given their Grecian origins, but these meadow spirits have absolutely no ties — implicit, explicit, and particularly integral — to their Hellenistic ancestors.  ‘Dandelion Dryads’ they were first called by the Department of the Interior, back in 1855, and Dandelion Dryads they remain.  By now that’s probably even their True Name; these matters of nomenclature can be fluid.

If the idea of nature spirits having this kind of formal relationship with an American cabinet agency surprises, well, it might help explain matters if one understands that Dandelion Dryads are thoroughly assimilated.  Their ancestor-plants all came over on the Mayflower, you understand; and the first generation germinated solely from seeds, with no continuity of memory of their parent European culture.  Dandelion Dryads spread along with the English colonists, and were arguably even better at colonizing America than the Europeans were. They’ve always been careful to link themselves with various human governments, though: unlike most wild fae and other spirits, they have no history of bad blood between mortals and sprites to make them suspicious or wary.  Having a discreet relationship with the American bureaucracy has proven to be rather useful for them.

And what do the humans get out of it?  Some medicinal herbal magic, although that isn’t as important as it used to be.  Neither was the general boost to crop yields; science and technology have developed to the point where they can duplicate a Dandelion Dryad’s ability in that field.  However, neither science nor technology has yet to duplicate the way that a Dandelion Dryad can partially manifest herself in any dandelion in order to hear and see her surroundings, or how she can jump from one dandelion to another anywhere in the Americas without tripping any kind of mystic warning system, or how — when absolutely necessary — a Dandelion Dryad can induce hyperkalemia in a targeted human to the point of cardiac arrest.  Which is why the spirits in America were more or less transferred over to Homeland Security after 9/11.

Not that Dandelion Dryads are actually dangerous, mind you.  They’re pleasant, industrious spirits that enjoy being useful, and who don’t mind it when humans consume dandelions.  Why should they? They’re not actually linked to any one dandelion, after all.  As long as there’s enough to sustain the population, then individual flowers can be harvested or even just removed.  But: they are territorial, and if you don’t like the place where they live, then they don’t like you, either.

That can sometimes be… awkward.