Child of Yggdrasil

Long ago, a ratatosk found some dragon eggs, smeared them with  the sap of the World Tree, and rolled them into a safe, warm place  for later devouring. The eggs hatched a race of hunters that have  plagued the ratatosk ever since.  

The children of Yggdrasil are sentient parts of the World Tree,  saplings with long “hair” of ash leaves and radial symmetry. A  child of Yggdrasil’s four legs are rootlike and often planted in  

the ground. Its eyes sit at the center of flowers, and its “hands”  resemble tentacles, though with twiggy branches rather than  fingers. 

Cliff-Lovers. The children of Yggdrasil climb vertical cliffs  and steep slopes in search of warmth and sunlight, roosting in  these places until thirst drives them to climb down to a stream  or pond. They often devour bird eggs on cliffs and can catch  

unwary climbers by surprise. 

Whispering Serpent Egg Horrors. Legends say the  children of Yggdrasil came from a dragon’s egg laid on the  World Tree, which hatched a huge mass of serpents, each  of them infused with the sap and cold wisdom of the World  Tree itself. These larval forms of the children of Yggdrasil  resemble a ball of serpents intertwined with leaves, and they  feed on squirrels and mice until they grow large enough to  lure bigger prey. 

Hissing Wind. The snakelike tongues and forked  leaves  of a child of Yggdrasil are always in motion; they are never  entirely silent. In groups of three or more, the sound of  their hissing resembles an ill, disquieting wind. 

Grove Gatherings. At night they come down from cliffs  and hills and gather near streams to hiss, whisper, mate, and  devour sacrifices left to them by druids or giants. At times  like this, up to a dozen children of Yggdrasil may gather in  one place, fusing their limbs and branches until shortly  before dawn, when they go their separate ways.