inb4 spirit bitches

some very recently decided-upon lore for the deerwood. it didnt used to all be trees! though you wouldnt know it, since well-kept was a forested area to begin with. i have to somehow incorporate the trope of AAAAH ITS BEEN DEAD PEOPLE ALL ALONG!!!!!!!!!! because of course they were, where else would they have gone. the fae didnt eat them

orchidee gathers wood for cooking and heating from other trees or peat, though she will collect fallen twigs and branches from spirit birches as the fae consider this acceptable. they cast a heavy shadow across the forest floor, so anywhere with a thick density of them has very low visibility. can you imagine how eerie it must have been to watch them slowly - then all at once - sprout to cover the entire area?

im playing with the idea of the trees being a sort of eggshell or chrysalis that transforms the spirits trapped inside into fae after a certain amount of time, but i dont know.... in any case, i do think the legend that felling every birch will restore the deerwood to its pre-stampede state (though all the people and buildings would still be lost) may have some truth to it

this was also an excuse to draw dru not as far along in her deerification process