Forest Nymph

393 AC - Zaza always says that Art never imitates reality, but instead gives it meaning. Because when it comes down to it, there is no meaning in reality. What exists exists, and that's all there is to it. But an Alterer's job is to do the complete opposite. It's to create meaning and to manifest it in the world. For the Lyra, the Tumult has always been a sort of breeding ground, with all sorts of ideas floating around. Literally. We harvest them like fruit, and we create with them, like a painter with their pigments. They must first be combined, and then you daub them over reality, using Mana as a fixative. Dad often says that times have changed – that reality no longer precedes Art, and that it's almost the opposite now.

Zaza really stumped me last time. She asked me what we were. Humans, Eidolons, Chimaeras… Which came first? Like the chicken and the egg. But she gave me a clue. If a Chimaera could keep its form based on how others perceived it, and if Eidolons could change based on each person's imagination, was it not also the same for beings in the real world? I look over at the dryad, which had sat down in the hollow of a tree while I collected dead wood for a fire. I manifest some leaves of gouache to flutter around her, to thank her for guiding me through the forest. At the end of the day, am I more real than her?

There are two types of tree and forest nymphs: the dryads and the hamadryads. Dryads are connected to forested areas as a whole, whereas hamadryads are bonded to a single tree and share the same fate: They die if the tree dies or is cut down. Karya for the walnut tree, Sykea for the fig, Morea for the mulberry, Balanos for the oak… There are eight hamadryads in all, and each looks after a specific type of tree.

NADIR