So, as I said at the start of the month I want to make more content about my World of Green and Black universe. One thing I’ve always wanted to do is put together my sketches and make a bestiary of all these weird alien creatures. To start that off, I’m going to try and make an entry once a month for all of this year featuring a different creature.

I haven’t completely figured out a lot of the ‘rules’ for this bestiary. I know I want it to be written from a human point of view, and given the technology level in the World of Green and Black stories, in a somewhat outdated manner. I’m currently reading up on a few ancient systems of categorizing animals. It seems Aristotle had a method that is going over my head, but there’s something about grouping creatures by what they appear to be made of. I also figured my theoretical naturalists would make a distinction between creatures with telepathy and those without, but given they don’t understand how telepathy works, or even how brains work (or, important for later, how Wi-Fi works) they’ll probably come up with some pretty interesting conclusions when it comes to what type of thoughts creatures have.

I need a lot more research on taxonomy, but fortunately I do know a lot about the wildlife from this world. Which I admit isn’t saying much, since I made it all up. Still, it has been a while since I have shared any World of Green and Black stuff, and I would like to stop worrying about little details and invite you all to step into my world once again. I’m going to start off with the stars of these stories, the Drids.

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Name: Drid
(Note: this is a human name, of unknown origins, that has been accepted by most Drids who communicate with Humankind. Unlike other species familiar to Dridkind, a consistent Drid descriptive name does not exist, as different Forests describe Dridkind differently.)

World: Black
Material: Mold/Flesh Hybrid
Thought Type: Untethered
Species Type: Farei, Human (Morally)
Habitat: Tropical Rainforests. (Note: Forests containing Drid appear to follow the entire equator, making a land crossing into the Unknown North impossible. It is therefore impossible to know how far north they spread, or if a sub-tropical variant exists in the Unknown North.)

Dridkind are the most powerful, and most strange of the Farei kind. (See ‘Lesser Farei’ for more information on the biology of these creatures.) Unlike other Farei, who reside exclusively in one tree and use their telepathic abilities only to further the base needs of themselves and their hosts, a Drid’s tendrils connect to Drids in other trees, giving them the intelligence and sophistication to use their abilities for community, philosophy and science. Whilst the Drid mind is as different from that of Humankind as can be, they are beings capable of reason and thus are considered as Morally Human.

The secret to Dridkind’s success appears to be their choice of host tree. The species, called simply Host-Trees by Dridkind, are a clonal, colonial tree. One sapling will spread its roots wide and shallow, and clones of the tree will shoot up through the ground from these roots, creating a single organism of hundreds or even thousands of identical trees, all connected underground. As Farei bodies spread throughout all parts of their tree, a Drid in a Host-Tree will eventually spread into the root system, where it may become entangled with other Drids residing in other trunks of the Host-Tree super-organism. It is this physical connection that separates Dridkind from the Lesser Farei. A singular Drid alone in its tree and out of reach of others of its kind exhibits no sign of self-awareness, and a Drid that has a sufficient volume of its body removed from its tree will continue to live if transported into an empty tree, but it will exhibit no sign of its former reason. The question of whether or not a Drid will regain its sense of self if it reconnects with its colony is a mystery to Humankind, due to the topic being taboo amongst Dridkind.

There is much confusion about Dridkind and their philosophy and biology. Some claim that each community of Drid within a Host-Tree super-organism (most commonly called a ‘Forest’) should be thought of as a single person, yet multiple accounts of individual Drids at odds with their Forest exist. The fact that each Drid Forest has differing philosophies about their own state of being – and, if they are anything like individual Humans, different experiences of existence – makes observing the nature of their cognition a confounding endeavour even when communication and trust barriers have been overcome. Three observations however have been agreed upon by all Human naturalists;

1. Within a single tree trunk resides the Drid individual, with not only the largest concentrated mass of their body, but also their personality, private thoughts, and niche skills. Meanwhile the Drid’s animal instincts, cultural attitudes, and commonly learnt skills reside within the interwoven strands of Drid bodies in the roots, and are shared by all members of the Forest.
2. The number of individual Drids within the Forest, and the distance between individuals, both contribute to the overall intelligence of the Forest, and the individuality of its members. Larger populations and shorter distance between individuals result in more complex ideas and traditions within a Forest, whilst smaller populations and wider distances result in simpler societies. However, whilst wider distance between individual members of a Forest appears to result in lower intelligence, it also results in greater individuality.
3. No matter how large or widespread a Forest is, charismatic individuals may gain enough influence to directly alter the thoughts and attitudes of others in their Forest, without applying any persuasion techniques.

Whilst the nature of the Drid mind is a mystery, their telepathic abilities have been well demonstrated, and an explanation of their breeding cycle has been shared. Like all Farei, they are made of that rare Black World material that bares similarities with both mold and flesh. Their bodies lack defined shapes, and they resemble large masses covered in hooks, mouths, and fleshy tendrils. Once spawned, they spend the first few days of their lives floating through the air using a rudimentary air-sac and the membrane of their body. Eventually, they land on a Host-Tree and use their hooks and teeth to burrow into it. Conception is achieved by telepathically controlling small, furred creatures that have become so reliant on Drid care as to be suicidally stupid when not controlled (see ‘The Pollinators’ for more information). Under Drid guidance, these pollinators transport the spores of two Drids to the highest branches in the rainforest, where they can be combined, spawn into embryonic Drids, and then fly off in search of Host-Trees.

Once Drids are established within their Host-Trees, they quickly bore holes into their trees for their telepathy tendrils to reach out. Drids are amongst some of the most effective telepathic creatures within the Black World. They are able to control most creatures within their environment, and use these abilities to sense the world around them and tend to their Host-Tree’s every need. Whilst Host-Trees infected by Drids never grow as large as uninfected trees, they live longer by centuries, with some Drids claiming ages of over a thousand years.

Due to their ability to communicate with Human naturalists, Drids are one of the most well studied Black World creatures. They are also the source of information on most other Black World Creatures. However, it must be noted that some information provided by Dridkind has been disproven by the examination of living or dead specimens. Because of this all information on Black World creatures – especially Drids – should be read with caution.

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If you would like to learn more about Drids or the world they live in, come read my novella Neighbor, which can be read online HERE or can be downloaded HERE.

– Jayde