Some call them mind-eaters, soultakers, abominations, progeny of Vek sorcery. Others call them sacred, the Chosen of Melchior. All agree that they are best avoided, and have no place among civilized people.

Aartiran legend says that in the Age of Myth, Belial, the Father of Whispers, created his immortal progeny, the Vek’pem Ahyre. Railing against the curses imposed upon them by the gods, the Vek sought to trascend the limits of their nature, and entered into a century of ruthless experimentation upon mortal folk. Great swaths of the elven people were murdered in these experiments, and the Vek failed utterly in their attempts to understand the workings of the soul and body. They succeeded unintentionally in creating Dryth.

The Dryth are not quite mortal, nor are they immortal. Their bodies age and bleed the same as any others, but in a way not well understood, they exist partially outside the cycle of death, cleansing, and rebirth. The souls of Dryth are condemned always to return to Aagos, and never obtain the joy, suffering, or oblivion of true afterlife. Some societies teach that the Dryth accomplish this by dominating and twisting the minds of others, changing shapes and leaving their old bodies behind. The Dryth are masked in a thousand secrets and lies, and on the rare occassions in history that scholars write of Dryth being captured, tortured, and questioned, it has been revealed that they largely do not even understand themselves.

Their nature is schizophrenic. Dryth were born of the Vek, but they claim Melchior as their patron. Tradition holds that the Dryth turned traitor against their masters at first chance in the Apocalypse of the Eye, but as all things from before the Apocalypse are simply oral legend, nothing can be known, for certain. Today it is known that the Dryth and Vek continue a secret war that has lasted for millenia, a futile struggle of undying beings, neither of which could ever truly claim victory.

Though they have common enemy with the mortal races, the Dryth are no friend to them. The Dryth are known to possess many strange, unnatural arts, and all speak of them as able to read the minds of others. Many believe Dryth draw sustenance from strong emotion, like parasites of the mind. For fear of their innermost secrets being revealed, their bodies taken, or otherwise being violated, the wise keep well away from Dryth. Especially unnerving is the knowledge that the Dryth are deeply entwined with Vek — where there is the one, the other will be soon to follow. Melchior’s patronage of Dryth is taken less as a sign of their holiness, but a sign of the utter ruthlessness of the Gods in their internal struggles.

Recent decades’ rumors of the Dryth involve a handful of words: ‘The Arcana,’ ‘Awakening,’ and ‘Gnosis.’ It is not known what these refer to, but may perhaps be strange Dryth rituals.

Dryth in Seahaven:

Though no law exists against the Dryth, one who is outed will quickly find himself friendless and alone, as no one would dare associate with a mind-taker out of fear for their thoughts, soul, and reputation.

Dryth in Balinand:

Are killed on sight, marked as quarry for Seekers. Treated as abominations in human form.

Dryth in Tarkas:

Considered admirable prey amongst Skrel’eth tribes, a few powerful shaman boast of wearing Dryth scalps.

Playing Dryth