1, 6, 7, 11 for a vari of your choice ✨
Thank you for the ask! I'll be answering these for Theitia :D
1) Are they woodier or leafier? Succulent, deciduous, evergreen?
Aside from the left over scaring from being corrupted by Mordremoth, which is definitely more of a wood-like texture, Theitia's skin is probably more like leaves, specifically rose leaves, but her hair is made up of thorned vines as opposed to leaves. She's never really grown her own armour, she prefers fabrics because they feel more dignified to her and she prefers the look in general, but if she were to it would naturally tend towards petals and some thorns as opposed to leaves or bark.
6) What’s their relationship with the Pale Tree?
Contentious. She believes that she is uniquely qualified to be the knight of the thorn because she is willing to, and I quote, "tell mother dearest where she can stick it." Basically she had a lot of misgivings towards the Pale Tree as a sapling, she was given a wyld hunt and she resented that, she didn't like being told what to do, hence, nightmare court, then soundless. She came back to the dream because everything with Mordremoth kind of gave her more perspective on the situation and prompted her to reevaluate. But even as the Pale Tree's champion, even with her new respect for her, she uses her position to challenge the Pale Tree when she thinks that she's being unreasonable or unfair. Theitia worked fucking hard to stomp out the Nightmare Court after Faolain died and she's not about to let that be undone because the roots of the issue, so to speak, weren't addressed. She understands that the Pale Tree is wise in a lot of aspects and loves her children, but she doesn't understand them all the time. She doesn't have a mortal perspective on this, she's a fuck off big magic tree. Theitia understands how people work and why, and she's willing to challenge the Pale Tree, and the Pale Tree values her insight. It's difficult for both of them sometimes but it seems to be working.
7) How do they react to Mordremoth when they first hear him?
Hey remember how a paragraph ago I offhandedly mentioned Theitia was soundless for a bit? Yeah. Yep. I wouldn't say she reacted well. Using a bunch of Asura gates she came basically straight from Ascalon where she was hiding from the Court to the Heart of Maguuma because "Oh free will is my whole thing guess I'd better help!" This was widely regarded as a shitty idea on her part and she did loose her mind a bit there the second she got in the vague proximity of the call. All things considered she kept it together pretty well. I mean yeah she killed some people, yeah she got sent into unfathomable rage at Arceidai for things that were pretty much her fault, yeah she did try and kill them and steal Aurene's egg, but the important thing is she didn't! And she learned some valuable lessons from the experience! Or at least she said she did which almost counts for just as much.
11) Random headcanon!
Theitia didn't want to get involved in the icebrood saga because she didn't want another Elder Dragon fucking with her head, so she wasn't there for anything that happened in Bjora Marches. When Arceidai was shot by Bangar, there was a bit where no one was entirely sure whether or not they were going to make it. So Theitia was called by Braham to the Eye of the North. She had to deal with the fact that her partner might die again and that she might have to take up the mantle of commander in their stead. It didn't come to that but she went with them to Drizzlewood Coast. It was also the first time Ghainen didn't give her any shit for ignoring her actual job.