Child of the Forest

According to legend, these fairies would occasionally borrow items from people or ask for help but would always compensate the owners generously, often with either good advice or bread. It was, however, easy to anger such wood-sprites, either by spurning their gifts (which might be the compensations named above) or by giving them caraway bread – of which they had a particular hatred, often being heard to utter the doggerel rhyme "Kümmelbrot, unser Tod!" ("Caraway bread, our death!").

Moss people, especially the females of the species, are able to send plagues on one hand, but on the other can also heal the victims of such plagues. During epidemics the Holzfräulein ("Wood ladies") would emerge from the forest to show the people which medicinal herbs could cure or ward off plague.

They were often but not always the object of the Wild Hunt. According to folklore, in order to escape the hunt they enter the trees that woodsmen have marked with a cross that will be chopped down.

In certain myths, the moss folk would ask humans for breast milk to feed their young, or steal little human children – motifs found in changeling lore.

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I'm still trucking along on the last scene of Highest Bidder, but it's a fight and it's taking way longer than I thought. Even using canvases and other tricks, I have to render multiple panels multiple times. However, rest assured that it's not forgotten.

In the mean time, here's a strange creature Molly encounters from the Fey. Short and waifish, the Moss Folk are enigmatic members of the Faerie world, often keeping to themselves, despite their power over plague and plenty. This means they are highly sought after in the Fey courts as serfs or slaves.