Mandragora (race)

The Mandragora are a humanoid people who resemble plants such as leaves and flowers. Considered a tribal people, they gather in small communities deep within forests, and they rarely interact with outside people. The leaves and petals on top of their heads have incredible healing properties, and many an unsavory fiend would love to get their hands on a Mandragora's petals; this is a major factor in why the Mandragora communities are so secretive about their locations, and rarely venture outside their vast forests. Due to this, much of Mandragora history is unknown, and the Mandragora did not often participate in most of the continent's wars and diplomatic issues, leading to them not being present in much of recorded world history.

### **Prominent Features**

Mandragora are a short people, averaging from 4'7" to 5'3" in height, with most being in the middle. They can range in skin tone from light peach to dark brown, and some have a green-ish tint to them. Their bodies are mostly humanoid, aside from a few plant-like portions. All Mandragora have a sprout on the top of their head, either one to two leaves or petals of varying species; leaves are more common than petals. Some Mandragora have leafy protrusions on the ends of their arms and legs, beginning at the hands and/or feet, though it only appears on 30% of Mandragora. Eye and hair colours are usually the same as the colours of their petals, if they have any, otherwise they default to various shades of green hair with any colour eyes.

Being part plant, Mandragora do not build muscle, leading to a naturally lean body type. They gain nutrients and sustenance via photosynthesis, as plants do. Similarly to plants, they also enjoy setting themselves waist to chest deep in dirt, as a secondary way to gain nutrients and water, and sometimes for relaxation purposes. Mandragora are able to absorb these nutrients from the sunlight and dirt via absorption through their skin, which is naturally more porous than that of other races. Due to this porousness, this makes their skin especially sensitive to the elements, such as extreme cold and heat, and irritants such as smog and waste products. This is a major factor as to why they prefer to live in southernmost forests as opposed to areas in the Midlands or the Northë.

### **Language Customs**

Mandragora typically speak in the Common Tongue, however, they substitute many of the words for their own plant-inspired terms. A semi-complete dictionary of Mandragora terms was penned by an anthropologist of unknown name, and it can be found in most scholarly libraries. A section of the more common terms are listed below.

* **gora** - from "mandragora", a verbal tic said at the end of most sentences, such as "what's happening, gora?". It's usually not included in written works, as it is assumed to present by default.
* **growing** - used in the same way as "going", ie "where are we growing?"
* **grow** - used in the same way as "go", ie "where are we supposed to grow?"
* **stem** - the spine, when referring to one's own spine
* **fir** - the same as "for", ie "this is fir them"
* **leaf** - the same as "leave", ie "let's leaf this room"
* **thyme** - the same as "time", ie "it's thyme to eat"
* **Roots** - the legs, when referring to one's own legs
* **weed** - a pest or nuisance
* **thistle** - used in the same way as the contraction "this will", ie "thistle be fine"
* **sow** - the same as "so", ie "this is sow great"
* **yew** - the same as "you", ie "is that yew?"
* **dew** - the same as "do", ie "what should we dew?"
* **bean** - the same as "been", ie "it's bean a while"
* **nut** - the same as "not", ie "this is nut good"
* **hay** - the same as "hey", ie "hay, what's that?"
* **firget**, **firgot** - the same as "forget" and "forgot", ie "I firgot..."
* **grass** - the same as "ass" and "arse", ie "let's kick grass!"
* **herb** - the same as "heck", ie "what the heck?"