The Lord of the Woods
There are countless stories and songs about the Forest King. The Tree Man. Oberon. The Lord of the Woods. He is one who bears many names. They say that when weary travellers enter his lands they scarcely notice him watching them simply standing as if a tree. So tall and lean is he that he appears as one in the distance. His body said to be composed of dead flesh and tree bark, and what sits in place of his head lies a horned elk's skull. And if you let but one foot stray from the enchanted path and into the shadows of the leaves by ancient law he is given the right to do what he wishes with you. Nothing can save you then but his whims. They say that if he is particularly angered with you, he snatches you away, deep into the shadowed woods and lets trees and vines grow through you. Or there are stories such as where there was a woman who talked with great impetuousness. And so the Lord of the Woods called upon a hungry bear to tear out only her throat to forever silence her. And as she lay mute and bleeding he simply watched.
They say that the way he torments his would-be guests is left to his cruel irony. A strong man's prized arms would be removed, a woman who valued her beauty would have her face flayed off, or perhaps if his guests were a pair he would have them look at each other as the greenery would burrow into their flesh, root inside them, and sprout from their innards. Heheh, they say that this is why so many of his trees bear the vague form of a human couple screaming out to each other, in pain, in sorrow, and in despair.
But there is one particular story unlike any I've told ye so far. It is said that once a fair maiden tripped and fell into the shade of the forest, and so, like all stories, Oberon came. Silently, visibly, lumbering through the forest in the shadows of the canopy toward the trespasser, without a sound he appeared before the girl. The black void of his would be eyes burrowing into the girl's own. Eyes of innocence and fear, of purity and hope, hope that even this monster that stood before her was a good thing, a thing with a soul. Long had it been that the Tree Man had found such a pure soul and felt such kindness. And so the Forest King let the maiden be, sending her back onto the sunlit path, where she would be safe, away from the dreadful shadows of his domain. Away from evil, from all that would harm her in his dark home.
And so it is said that "If thou holds a sincere heart, the Lord of the Woods shalt send thou away, back into the sunlight, back onto the blessed road. But if not, pray that the Lord shalt show none of his ire."