The Veyrathi
The Veyrathi
(sometimes called "Sleeplatchers" or "Rootkin")
A rare semi-sentient species that forms a symbiotic bond with another creature—most often humanoids, but occasionally beasts. Native to deep forest hollows, overgrown ruins, or crypts where the Veil between life and death feels thin.
Begin life as spindly root-like organisms with delicate fronds and faint bioluminescence.
When bonded, they appear as faint veiny patterns or small petal-like growths along the host's spine, neck, or chest.
Fully grown Veyrathi are rarely seen apart from their hosts—if severed, they wither quickly.
Feed on dream energy and emotional resonance, particularly sorrow, regret, and longing.
In return, they enhance the host’s body—slightly boosting reflexes, healing, or memory.
The bond is non-parasitic, but deeply emotional: the Veyrathi feels what its host feels, often amplifying nostalgia or nightmares.
“To carry a Veyrathi is to never forget. You may heal—but the ache will echo.”
Clerics of the Veil once studied them, unsure if they were divine or demonic. Some believed they were tears shed by a dreaming god.
Alchemists consider them valuable. Tinctures brewed from Veyrathi fronds are used in dream rituals or memory-walking.
Some Void cults try to corrupt them to feed on madness rather than sorrow.
Long-term bonding can lead to emotional stagnation—the host may become obsessed with past grief.
If a host dies while bonded, the Veyrathi may remain active, growing into a withered, corpse-like Wailing Bloom, drawing travelers into memory loops.
Severing the bond too early can cause psychic backlash or dream-bleeding (where the host becomes trapped between waking and memory).
They seem to recognize intent and emotional states.
Not fully sentient, but capable of influencing host dreams and memories.
May appear in dreams as a mirrored version of the host—calmer, silent, watching.
Field Journal — Entry 147 Veyrathi Observation (3rd Bloom, Moonsorrow Cycle)
The villagers call them “Sorrowroots.” Others, “Sleeplatchers.” I've heard a shepherd mutter Veil-leeches, though he dared not say it twice. They fear them. But fear is a simple meal, and the Veyrathi hunger for something far more specific.
I have studied three hosts now. None willingly. Two were found asleep for days—pupils dilated, skin flushed, muttering names of the dead. The third weaned himself from grief and wept without tears.
Popular belief claims they feed on emotion itself—sorrow, longing, nostalgia. But this is imprecise. In truth, I believe the Veyrathi consume the chemical echoes left behind when memory stirs certain states. Cortisol. Dopamine collapse. Adrenal rush withdrawal. These, not the emotions themselves, are their true meal.
They are not parasites, not exactly. I’ve seen them soothe a fever. One host’s broken rib healed three days faster than natural. But always… at a cost.
Symptoms of bonding:
Increased emotional resonance (particularly at night)
Lucid dreaming featuring mirrored versions of the self
Craving for past moments, often repeating old habits (one host rewrote the same goodbye letter every morning)
The Veyrathi are not cruel. But they are memory-gluttons. They do not teach; they do not speak. But they do listen, and they do linger.
I severed one once. It screamed.
I did too.
—Th.V.
A rare semi-sentient species that forms a symbiotic bond with another creature—most often humanoids, but occasionally beasts. Native to deep forest hollows, overgrown ruins, or crypts where the Veil between life and death feels thin.
Begin life as spindly root-like organisms with delicate fronds and faint bioluminescence.
When bonded, they appear as faint veiny patterns or small petal-like growths along the host's spine, neck, or chest.
Fully grown Veyrathi are rarely seen apart from their hosts—if severed, they wither quickly.
Feed on dream energy and emotional resonance, particularly sorrow, regret, and longing.
In return, they enhance the host’s body—slightly boosting reflexes, healing, or memory.
The bond is non-parasitic, but deeply emotional: the Veyrathi feels what its host feels, often amplifying nostalgia or nightmares.
“To carry a Veyrathi is to never forget. You may heal—but the ache will echo.”
Clerics of the Veil once studied them, unsure if they were divine or demonic. Some believed they were tears shed by a dreaming god.
Alchemists consider them valuable. Tinctures brewed from Veyrathi fronds are used in dream rituals or memory-walking.
Some Void cults try to corrupt them to feed on madness rather than sorrow.
Long-term bonding can lead to emotional stagnation—the host may become obsessed with past grief.
If a host dies while bonded, the Veyrathi may remain active, growing into a withered, corpse-like Wailing Bloom, drawing travelers into memory loops.
Severing the bond too early can cause psychic backlash or dream-bleeding (where the host becomes trapped between waking and memory).
They seem to recognize intent and emotional states.
Not fully sentient, but capable of influencing host dreams and memories.
May appear in dreams as a mirrored version of the host—calmer, silent, watching.
Field Journal — Entry 147 Veyrathi Observation (3rd Bloom, Moonsorrow Cycle)
The villagers call them “Sorrowroots.” Others, “Sleeplatchers.” I've heard a shepherd mutter Veil-leeches, though he dared not say it twice. They fear them. But fear is a simple meal, and the Veyrathi hunger for something far more specific.
I have studied three hosts now. None willingly. Two were found asleep for days—pupils dilated, skin flushed, muttering names of the dead. The third weaned himself from grief and wept without tears.
Popular belief claims they feed on emotion itself—sorrow, longing, nostalgia. But this is imprecise. In truth, I believe the Veyrathi consume the chemical echoes left behind when memory stirs certain states. Cortisol. Dopamine collapse. Adrenal rush withdrawal. These, not the emotions themselves, are their true meal.
They are not parasites, not exactly. I’ve seen them soothe a fever. One host’s broken rib healed three days faster than natural. But always… at a cost.
Symptoms of bonding:
Increased emotional resonance (particularly at night)
Lucid dreaming featuring mirrored versions of the self
Craving for past moments, often repeating old habits (one host rewrote the same goodbye letter every morning)
The Veyrathi are not cruel. But they are memory-gluttons. They do not teach; they do not speak. But they do listen, and they do linger.
I severed one once. It screamed.
I did too.
—Th.V.
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