[Lore] Descended Druidism

[Swgrclan 2633]

 

Prelude

 

Time and time again, there had been histories writ of betrayal; sons killing fathers, brothers warring brothers and knights slaughtering their own peasantry. Some wars were wrought of rebellion; others born from the spark of anarchy, conflicts neither side truly understood. But whereas mortal men waged their wars with eachother, so did mortal men who were heralded by the divines. Shrouded by a blanket of distracting tales of light against the dark is a inner-turmoil in many immortal cults -- and one most prominent is of the Druidic Order, whose origin spans back toward the unknown ages of the four brethren. In such times came raw power; and the naivity of the lesser races led to the undoing of the carefully-threaded amalgam of Druids who were guided by the silence of nature's twin court.

 

It had always been the interest of the Druidic Order to remove the influence of the Void from the land. They stood for the natural -- what was right in the land they, and all others, were born in. They did so in good measure with the ways of the word; and when war met them, their magi enemies met the wrath of the Aspects. The Druidic Order found victories in it's provoked conflicts, and met it's own losses as well, but they never found themselves on the brink of utter destruction; never were there so many mages within Aegis, atleast beyond the time of the fabled Great War, that outnumbered the Druidic cultists that would rally to nature's beck and call. In later eras the mages concocted their guilds and conclaves; lawful places that, while brimming with the unnatural, sated the Order's desire to keep a tolerable balance in the land.

 

But somewhere along the line, the tapestry of purity and balance had been dealt a tear in it's weavings. Sparse incidents are known throughout Aegis' history, and the histories beyond the presently-Abyssal region, but they all followed the same pattern: Druids were ensnared by something twisted, and thus were led down a darker path. Their dogmas shattered before their very eyes as they assumed themselves magisters and wizards just like the ones they had fought against. Yet, it was not magic that struck a black streak in their natural hearts. It was their very being that rebelled against them -- it was the attunement of the Druian that revolted against those who abused it. As if the Aspects spited these false Druids themselves, they went mad; and their Druidic powers became warped in reflection of their sum of unnatural, arcane power.

 

Where the Druidic Order did not annul and purge these betrayers, mad and frenzied by the attunement that went against them, they took their own lives. The most powerful fell first, for it was not a Druidic inquisition that overpowered them, but the pain that took them. The forests they called family uttered not a word to the greater false Druids, and the beasts they called friends met them with hostility and the yearning fire of retribution in their feral eyes.

 

Summary & Explanation

 

Descended Druidism is a state of a Druid's attunement that reflects a darker path that a Druid can follow. As per their sacred Way, magic is shunned; and to tip the scales of truer balance would be to betray the machinations of natural order. While actions that do not directly involve a Druid's spiritual attunement do not effect a Druid's being as much, to toy with magic -- and worse, black magic -- would mean not to break their attunement, but to corrode and warp it and mark them damned. Such a state scales from menial to greater, where beyond such a point would mean the attunement would actually shatter as a result of some kind of darker turning. In other words, to become Undead or a being of darkness unshackled by the mortal coil would sever a Druid's ties to the Aspects.

 

Drawn from an understanding of Descended Druidism would be a theory which explains a Druid's attunement as it's own balancing scale. If a Druid murders their own ken and sets fire to a forest without means to rectify overgrowth, they would find that nature would hold a distaste for them; a perpetual unease from the trees, and a subtle caution from animal life. If a Druid assumes the powers of a master necromancer and leads an enthralled army of the dead to wreck havoc within a sacred Druidic grotto, then the profligate would find himself shunned -- not from common mortal men or their Druidic brethren if they discerned the identity of the necrotic Druid, but from life itself, for news of such a betrayal and sin would travel through the roots of the world in but days' time. Where oaks would not simply refuse to communicate with this exemplified villainous Druid as if unattuned, they would scold and shout at it; they would deem them a fiend, and reject the Druid's presence with tremendous tones that would echo through the Druid's mind and bring about a great deal of mental stress. Creatures of all sizes would either flee from the presence of the anti-Druid or simply attack on sight, for the unease is so great in the vincinity of the anti-Druid that beasts would immediately deem it a threat to be disposed of.

 

Even Druidic Control would be limited and warped to a degree. Vines would sprout vile thorns able to thread flesh, yet they would struggle in the descended Druid's hold as if thrown about against their will. Root would rise from the ground twisted and curled and jagged; able to impale, yet brittled by the descended Druid's corrupted hold. Where a descended Druid would manage to persuade a beast to assist it in battle in it's worst stages, the creature would do so out of fear; the will of a slave that follows the bidding of an ill-minded master. The corruption of Descended Druidism seeps even into shapeshfting, where Druidic animal-forms would become corrupted and twisted; the bear would become a mad beast whose teeth, uncountable, would be impossibly large and jagged, yet painful to bear. The wolf would sprout horns; wretched things, the horns of a demon with eyes the color of a blaze. The elk would be a pale, hairless creature who would bear the tusks of an Orc and a third, staring eye upon it's forehead -- an eye that would not blink, yet would not see, which further exemplifies the distortion of a descended attunement in it's worst form. 

 

However, Descended Druidism isn't without it's peculiar laws. It is not the outright actions of the anti-Druid that corrupts them to the core, but also their intention and their beliefs. Some Druids simply become mad from the side-effects of abusing their gifts and thus spiral out of control. But others would believe the path of a descended Druid to be a necessity -- it is not the assault of the necromancer Druid and it's onslaught that damned it, but the raw desire to do so. To want to spill another innocent Druid's blood is treachery; but to lead an army of undeath to the gates of other traitorous Druids to slaughter the lot for the sake of balance would imply there to be a means to an end - to sacrifice ones' very mental integrity so the little evil in the world could crush the greater threat to balance. The scales of nature are chaotic, and know no bounds.

 

It is why descended Druids that follow their dark path, yet seek to do so for the greater good of true balance, are met with forgiveness by the trees, and apprehensive tolerance by the beasts. It is why the thorns of the vines recede, and why the roots untangle. In a world consumed by blackness, the last remaining tree would greet the darkest Druid with kindness if that Druid would mean to save the world with it's foul powers. Equally, in a world completely gripped by peace and goodness, the darkest Druid who would seek to shatter such a peace would be met with the same warmth. There is no balance without evil to tip the scales true, and thus one may even believe that Descended Druidism is merely a means to an end concocted by the Aspects that say no words to their followers. How the means is used cannot be controlled by the silent divines.

 

Guidelines & Laws

 

There are a set number of rules to Descended Druidism that keep them from breaking the proper boundaries of the magic, yet assure that the possibility of becoming a descended Druid and remaining so for a sum of time is not impossible. They are as followed;

 

- A descended Druid may not retain their powers if they gain certain unnatural means to immortality. To become Undead, a Dreadknight or some aberration that contridict the laws of nature would be to shatter ones' attunement; but as Descended Druidism is based on both ones' actions and inner-intentions, there are some unlikely exceptions. To be a Druid recently twisted into that of a second-generation, enslaved Lich would not mean the Druid's attunement would shatter - for such a foul existence was not chosen for the descended Druid in question. It would only mean to break the Lich-Druid's attunement would be to either directly annul it's attunement, or shatter it's phylactery. To further exemplify this, if a Druid is to become one of Iblees' Undead, their attunement would shatter because their mind would be both warped by the indoctrination of evil and their souls would be corrupted to the core by the attunement of Iblees, which would put enough stress on the connection of the Aspects to break it.

 

- A descended Druid's "advantages" that come with their gradual descent have their own drawbacks, and if requested may be explained in this thread. The scale may also be explained to further make sense of these changes.

 

- In the case of determining who a descended Druid is, a pure Druid cannot simply seek out the nearest tree and inquire if the descended Druid in question committed several murders in the nearby neighborhood Druidic grotto. The tree, or beast if in another situation, would not offer such information openly - this may be because the tree questions the direct intentions of the descended Druid and the meaning behind their crimes, and as the nature of ancient oaks or creatures is vague and unclear at best, a direct answer would not particularly be straight from them. However, as Descended Druidism bears it's own scale, a tree would outright accuse a descended Druid if the individual was a master necromancer, shade, dark-arts user or insane wizard that had been committing a goalless, chaotic racial genocide for a sum of years. Though it is likely that the descended Druid's identity would already have been found out by then. 

 

- As a result of nature gradually becoming uneased in the presence of a descended Druid who would be slowly spiraling into a state of total corruption, the Druid would go likely go insane. This is most prominent for greater descended Druids, whose atrocities would be so abhorrent that the backlash, vocal and physical, would take a toll on the Druid's mind despite what stoic nature they would already retain.

 

- A descended Druid holds the advantage that comes with the power of their attunement. While common magic degenerates a mages' form, the healthy aura of the Aspects would scale this effect back to a degree. This would not mean a descended Druid would be able to raise five flaming corpses and duel well with a blade at the same time, but it means that descended Druids would retain a greater sense of endurance than regular magi and dark-arts users.

 

- Physical changes are varied, and often ties with the magic used. Any form of unnatural or sickly differentiations in ones' being would be to fault mostly for dark arts and it's various, negative effects on the mortal body. Further explanation may be provided if requested. Furthermore, aestetic changes are being considered.

 

[Supremacy 3357]

This lore really needs a tl;dr.

[Swgrclan 2633]

This lore really needs a tl;dr.

This is an alternative result to the status of the Druidic attunement if magic is tampered with by attuned Druids instead of either being deattuned or gradually losing their hold on their Druidic power, thus offering a wider variety of roleplay.

[Elad™ 550]

This lore really needs a tl;dr.

If you didn't take the time to read Swgr's org-.. beautiful writing then you're doing it wrong. :3

[A Spooky Witch 156]

*gasp* Like the dark side!

 

IMMEDIATE +1

[mitto 2307]

One question: If  an Archdruid or Guide got a hold of one of these Anti-Druids, would they be able to severe their corrupted bond? Would they need blight healing too? What would happen if it was severed?

 

It's not really clear how the bond between them and the Aspects work, which allows them to control things out of 'fear'

 

Other than that, good read! It's a nice possibility but for now until I'm not going to +1 or -1

[Zarsies 6028]

I really, really like the concept but my issue is of their power; descended Druids have greater endurance than another magic user, yet their balancing for such is insanity. Without much of an outline on defined power and given assumed creative freedom, the magic seems 'overpowered' for its possibilities yet lacks much of a drawback since there rarely are wild animals being played, nor ET playing plants. I suggest adding that the tranquil lulling of Druidic Magic acts as a bane to descended Druids, and that in a place of nature a Druid could overcome a descended Druid due to their prowess to sway the growth. Why fight a bully when you can turn to the side with an already larger front?

[Pinsir99 525]

Very well written. Looking forward to see what may come out of this.
Good points raised by both Zar and Mitt above ^^

[Parkins 549]

It's Swgrclan. Automatic +1.

 

Just kidding I read it and loved it.

[ski_king3 0]

I'm of a similar mind to Zarsies. This is cool and I like it, but insanity isn't a proper balancing tool, as folks will use it as an excuse to randomly kill with high degrees of powerful. Don't make these characters more powerful than a normal mage.

 

Also, I hella skimmed and read the comments and gathered information from those. If what I said is stupid or doesn't make sense, sorry :/

[TavernLich 324]

No. Sorry, they are strong, evil druids? Can you imagine how many evil druids we will have running around randomly killing people because they are “insane?” LotC will go rampant with evil druids. RAMPANT. Make them as strong as any other mage or person with a sword, please. For now, -1.

[Nug 1886]

No. Sorry, they are strong, evil druids? Can you imagine how many evil druids we will have running around randomly killing people because they are “insane?” LotC will go rampant with evil druids. RAMPANT. Make them as strong as any other mage or person with a sword, please. For now, -1.

are you complaining about the lore or the playerbase here

[TavernLich 324]

are you complaining about the lore or the playerbase here

Both, sadly.

[Katherine1 362]

No. Sorry, they are strong, evil druids? Can you imagine how many evil druids we will have running around randomly killing people because they are “insane?” LotC will go rampant with evil druids. RAMPANT. Make them as strong as any other mage or person with a sword, please. For now, -1.

 

Considering they'd still need to be attuned by druids and would be hunted if they went evil, I don't see that as too much of an issue.

But nature already stops responding to druids that act against it or use other magics, and draoi have been a (rare) thing forever, so I'm not sure what this changes?

[Sister Sequoia 438]

It's interesting, I can't deny that.  I share some of the same concerns, and suggest some adjustments, but it is basically a more elaborate version of what already exists for Draoi.

 

-No more powerful than other casters, no extra endurance, etc.

 

-A Druid of the same skill as an anti-Druid would have advantage in their requests from nature.

 

-Work out a Pro's and Con's list at the end of your post to help summarize for the average non-Druid reader.

 

 

I do like it though, keep refining it, and come chat with me some about it, Druidic lore is my domain after all.

As it currently stands, it's a little vague in important areas and certainly stands a little overpowered and abuseable.

 

Beautiful writing still.~