Leshy

Name	Leshy
Race	Nature Spirit
Type	Physical
Faction	Nature
Premiere	Desideratum: Blood Bonds
Relative(s)	None Applicable

In Slavic folklore the Leshy (also Leshi; Russian: леший, IPA: [ˈlʲeʂɨj]; literally, “[he] from the forest”, Polish: boruta, borowy, leśnik, leśniczy, lasowik, leszy) is a tutelary deity of the forests in Slavic mythology. The plural form in Russian is лешие, leshiye (retaining the stress on the first syllable). The Leshy is masculine and humanoid in shape, is able to assume any likeness and can change in size and height. He is sometimes portrayed with horns and surrounded by packs of wolves and bears. Many of these myths are based in reality in regards to leshiye. They are nature spirits that resemble trees with great branch antlers growing from their heads. They are all masculine in shape, have long limbs (yes, pun), and they care for their particular biome. That is to say there are cacti leshiye, tree leshiye, and other leshiye of places like rain forests. They are corporeal spirits bound and created in the Physical World when energies within trees and plants coalesce into a consciousness. They protect their land with their lives and can even summon wolves and bears to fight at their side. Their call of the wild also can cause trees and plants to react, magically, as if they were extensions of the leshy’s body.