The Beast Fears Fire - Maiden Trees

Sassafras Maidens [Hardship 2]
Impulse - Bring Forth Confusion

Opposite the strangers, no one has ever seen these beings in our world. They are a feature of the land, almost, in the Other and they wander together as forests or groves surrounded by a shimmer you might be forgiven for mistaking for wind-kicked snow. It's not snow.

Sassafras maidens (there are also sassafras youths, but there seem to be about 10 apparent females to every 1 apparent male - I say apparent, because biological sex doesn't always match expectations) are white at the trunk and shade to red at the branches with sparse leaves in the single, double and triple lobes of sassafras in our world. Their trunk appears to be that of a human (most often a young woman as discussed, but sassafras "mothers" and "crones" are also evident in larger forests, as well as males of various ages) from the last three ribs down. They are not rooted, and can walk and run somewhat faster than the average human (though not usually as fast as the fastest or as long as a long-distance runner). Their branches can reach up to 3 meters high, but their human portions are about the size you'd expect from a human being.

Sassafras maidens constantly give off and are surrounded by a cloud of glittering particles that attach to the mucus membranes of (usually eyes, nose, mouth and eardrums) of animals nearby and, somehow, manage to randomly stimulate the nerves. This is extremely disorienting at best and incredibly distressing and unpleasant on average. Exposure to the dust has caused seizure and death in some cases.

Harm 1/Peril [Confused, Sickened] Sassafras maidens aren't very aggressive and will only attack someone when they are hungry. That said, the dust they shed is a constant danger and, in a larger grove, at least some individuals are bound to be hungry at any given time. Sassafras maidens hunt by incapacitating prey with their dust and then kicking it apart with their feet. They feed by rolling in the corpses of their prey, seemingly able to absorb nutrients through the skin of their human appearing trunks.

In the Forest, I lost Myself
When the glittering dust from the sassafras maidens reaches you, face Hardship.
On a Hit, you suffer from one of the Perils stated, but can still act as you see fit.
On a Hard Hit, the stimuli send you into a trance where everything makes perfect sense and you are perfectly in touch with all your faculties. Gain +1 Hit Forward on all Moves you make while exposed to the dust.
On a Miss, you get overstimulated and suffer Harm as stated.

Here in the forest, dark and deep, I offer you eternal sleep
Explorers have collected Sassafras maiden pollen and brought it back to our world as a weapon, or, for the truly jaded, a drug. Given the dangers of collecting it, it's almost wasted on any purpose, but being sold to someone who is willing and able to pay for it. Someone who has a buyer and a means of harvest could become fabulously wealthy selling it. And then probably get eaten by a lobsterman, but hey, we do what we must.

Speaking of the truly jaded, students of the Other have observed that sassafras maidens (and other age/sex configurations) have apparently functional apparently human genitals and wonder if any human has had sex with a member of the species. The short answer is maybe. The correct answer is I don't even want to think about that, but... There are rumors of apparent albinos showing up occasionally, with red braids for hair and yellow and orange leaves therein, dedicated carnivores, but otherwise human, if a little odd.

If you want to play a hybrid child of the Other, I'm not going to stop you. It's possible that you could be part Stranger, a Sassafras Child, or part Liminal Merrow.

Other Child
When you want to call upon your Otherworldly heritage, face Hardship
On a Hit you have instinctive understanding of what is going on with whatever denizen of the Other is present. You can ask a single question about the Denizen and get an honest answer. Likewise, this counts as a on any move the Other might make.
On a Hard Hit, you get the benefits of a Hit and can manifest the power that your denizen parent manifests.
On a Miss, you weird yourself. Suffer 1 Harm and the Peril Confused or Sick.