Wicker-Folk

The Wicker-Folk are a strange race of intelligent Woodkin native to the world of Galimma. They are described as resembling living scarecrows or wicker men, hence their common name, and are found in a variety of Galimma's seasonal regions. Their physical bodies, seemingly cobbled together out of local woodland collectibles, are inhabited by many different kinds of spirits, to include the dead, regional magics, or cruel demons, and can come in a variety of shapes, forms, and intelligence levels.

Origin
The first of the world's wicker-folk emerged from the world's abundant forests, usually as a result of the spirits of the dead taking on their surroundings and merging with the greater natural consciousness. Neighboring mortals treated them with a weary respect and caution, as the wicker-folk's appearance and mannerisms were unnerving, but their wisdom of the local land was also valued.

Appearance
Wicker-Folk come in a variety of different shapes and sizes, but most commonly they are bipedal, standing on two thin stick-legs; these may be like those of tree branches or carved wood. A torso of entwined branches rests upon the legs, serving as a protective cage for the heartwood core; this is often draped in a protective outer layer of leaves, thorns, straw, or bark. Two or more arms sprout from the sides of the body, typically tree boughs laced and interwoven with vines or grass, that end in dexterous hands like gnarled branches or roots. The head may range from many types of shapes or forms, but most often is a kind of wooden mask that may appear carved or naturally grown as such. A crude face may be chiseled or painted over the mask, and often reflects the spirit's neighboring or parent cultures.

Culture
Culturally, Wicker-Folk vary greatly depending on where they come to live, usually reflecting who they live in proximity to or belonged to in their past life. That which is shared among the world's wicker-folk is an innate connection with the world and the magics that flow through living things, especially that of their local wilderness.

Life After Death
The Wicker-Folk in most cases are in a state of undeath, having once died and now existing still in the material world through their new bodies. As a result, many share similar attitudes towards the living and their own continued existence after death, which are noted as increases to cynicism and aloofness.

Most wicker-folk experience a gradual loss of memory and sentiment towards their former lives, approaching most aspects of their new life with something between a carefree whimsy and a cruel apathy. Many are entertained or fascinated by the worries of living creatures, and may inquire on them out of either amusement or a familiar interest, reminded of their own past. The wicker-folk, possessing an intimate familiarity with death, spend much of their time entwined in the exchange of magical life energies in the wilds they inhabit, so they become relatively callous to mortal fears of death and scoff at such perceived paranoias, even treating their own lives with little regard. Death is regarded as one of the many transitions of the natural world, none more grim than birth or growth.

Nature Spirits
The Wicker are best described as spirits of the dead entangled in the web of magic of their surroundings, sustained and given form by it. They are animate by this environmental magic, and as a result can perceive such magical exchanges and interconnections with little effort. They accrue wisdom of the natural world and its connection with magic innately, and are often sought out for these insights by local mortals, such as the movement of herds of prey, oncoming weather, or the success of the season's harvest. Wicker-folk rarely utilize their natural knowledge to any greater ends, instead preferring to observe and witness phenomena for the aesthetic value of it.

In Outer Cosmos Role-playing System
Wicker-Folk are one of the playable races available to players in the Outer Cosmos Role-playing System, first introduced in the Frontiers of Galimma rule book.