[✗] [Legend] The Ram's Debt

[Gladuos 857]

[Credit: Setius]

-An artist’s depiction of the Ram Druid Jeremiah during the apex of his druidic tenure.

 

Your MCName: Gladuos.

 

Is this Legend a Player Character? (y/n) If so, list their MCName: Yes, Gladuos.

 

Legend Name: Ram Druid Jeremiah Bimbleweed.

 

Legend Race/Birthplace/gender/brief history: The Ram Druid was a hierophant of the Druidic Order, born to a simple halfling family in Athera. After his death, he was deemed the first Demi-Aspect the world’s seen in many centuries.

 

RP belief about the legend (Why people view them positively/negatively. What people know in RP pre-events.):

    Jeremiah is known as a druidic icon for his many accomplishments. He is reported to have amassed a small army to invade a false nature goddess’ realm and defeat her giant champion, fend off cosmic horrors the size of dragons and ravines, fight with demi-gods, heal away miles of blighted lands, tend to many flocks of animals, help destroy imbalancing forces like the Black Nexus of old, save many fellow druids’ lives, and to have an unbreakable conviction in the Aspects. The druid faced off against many titans in the war against the September Prince, and prevailed against all of them almost single-handedly. More generally, he was instrumental in the war against September. These are but summarized examples of his many exploits, of which there are certainly more.

    For those that knew him in life, Jeremiah was a singularly focused man with an unmatched drive and fury. When against impossible odds, he went on past his natural limitations - usually to his own detriment. This gave him a charisma of self-sacrifice that many in the Order would call a prime example of the ideal druid, even if the man was rude and perpetually angry.

    To Jeremiah, the Wilds came first before anything else. Not the Druidic Order, not his friends or family, and especially not himself. The Ram tossed aside everything he cherished for the sake of being a greater servant of the Aspects. For that, he might be remembered fondly.

 

Brief OOC overview of Legend story (What actually lead to them becoming a legend. This may be the same as the RP belief, or it may be different.):

    The majority of the IC belief is true. Many living druids saw his accomplishments firsthand. Some might have even helped him on a number of these exploits. What most didn’t experience was his damaged soul, and his final act of self-sacrifice for the sake of Nature.

    The story of how or when Jeremiah entered his extreme grief is majorly unknown. When he was a child, the death of his pet sheep Bess left an irrevocable mark. He felt that it was his fault. It was him the ravenous dog licked its lips toward, she merely got in its way. It was the way of nature, yes, but it would not have happened without him.

    The loss of his sibling brother in the move from Athera was heartbreaking. They loved one another and did everything together. He remembered fondly the day they tried to challenge a giant crab, and fled immediately, or the days they spent with grandpa Jimmy. Jeremiah never got to say goodbye, and never knew what really happened to him.

    Full of determination to pay back the death of his pet sheep Bess, Jeremiah became a druid. As Bess was a part of Nature, he felt indebted to it. In remembrance of his dear pet, he named his dedicancy staff after her. He spent many idle years to his duties, and as he grew old, the secret of soul trees was bestowed on him. Through it, he became inhuman. No longer mortal, a plethora of curses came his way that he knew not would come.

    In this time he became close friends with his fellow druids Oliver and Ashton. He even went so far as to entrust a portion of his soul to Oliver, a sapling of his own soul tree. They went on to follow through with a vision Jeremiah received to create a blessed tool of the Wilds. This was when Jeremiah met the Mother Tree. Not known to anyone but he and the Mother Tree at the time, they struck a romantic interest in one another. Strangely, Jeremiah could still find happiness despite all his previous loss and guilt.

    This was not to last. Oliver lost his love Ashton to tragedy, and started to lose his mind. Jeremiah lended a helping hand, and offered his friendship. Filled with his grief, Oliver ignored this and corrupted into a monster - for he was a tree lord. Oliver began sacrificing other druids in hopes of creating an army of spriggans under his wing, and eventually the Druidic Order had to subdue him.

    Betrayal continued to strike. Jeremiah begged and pleaded the inner circle to cure Oliver of his corruption. They said they would try, but before the scheduled time came to do so, they unattuned and murdered him. Jeremiah was there as it occurred and tried to save his friend, but he was not strong enough nor fast enough. For the second time in his life, Jeremiah felt responsible for the death of a cherished friend. There was no justice, no compassion given to Jeremiah when he would have done the same for anyone else.

    He lost contact with the Mother Tree. She was ungrown so she could be moved; passed on to Jeremiah’s adopted granddaughter Tailesin. Jeremiah couldn’t find it in himself to be responsible for another loved one, to have their life in the palm of his hand. He knew he could not be trusted with this duty.

    If that were not enough, Jeremiah would eventually outlive his halfling family, watching as each faded away in time. The unending life of a tree lord, in what was at first a great blessing, became his greatest curse. Inescapable and suffocating, he had no choice but to watch his everything dwindle away.

    A great depression overwhelmed him, throwing him through decades of going through the motions and refusing to leave his dwelling. Then, one day, something snapped in him. The young, cheery halfling had vanished. A great rage welled up within him, and his conviction was finally born.

    Jeremiah was now dead, and only the Ram remained. Ram went on to accomplish the majority of his exploits after this, destroying or defeating anything that got in the way of achieving Nature’s balance. The Ram druid was furious, and had nowhere to place it but his duties. He hated himself, and almost everything that was not Nature. With this his power grew ten-fold, and his strategical mind developed as he found new ways to better serve the Wilds. This went on for over a century’s time. His conviction never died in that time - nor his hidden sorrow or guilt.

    There were few that the Ram still loved and respected, though he would not dare say it anymore. There was a warmth towards them that none ever saw elsewhere. If it were not for them, Jeremiah might have become the same monster Oliver did all those years ago. He would have certainly destroyed himself, and left a sour taste in his memory.

    Then the September Prince arrived. It was like staring into a mirror of his perceived future. The Prince was filled with the same rage he felt, the same broken feelings, and the same conviction to see balance achieved in the world. He could see himself in the Prince, and for that, he hated him dearly. The Ram Druid went on to face September in battle many times, and defeat many of his titans. Yet, he could never deal a devastating blow on the Prince. Just as he could not die himself, he could not kill the Prince either. This left a feeling of powerlessness Jeremiah had not felt since the death of Oliver. For a long time, this served to only empower his rage into near mindless insanity. It was a self-fulfilling prophecy. The more he fought against the Prince in some vain attempt to fight against fate, the more he became like the Prince: An avatar of nature’s fury.

    It came to a breaking point, and when Jeremiah found a way out, he took it. The Druidic Order, namely Kasfer, helped the Ram construct a massive boat to travel to the lands of Vectra. This was another effort to find something to fight September’s forces, but when least expected, Jeremiah stole away with the boat and sailed off without anyone’s knowledge. The Druid arrived in Vectra, flanked by his flock of bighorn mountain sheep - the ones entrusted to his protection after he learned the ancient secrets of shapeshifting.

    He spent many years on the island of dinosaurs, surviving by merit of his druidic influence. Even his soul tree was transplanted here as opposed to keeping it in Atlas. Eventually, he came across a fairy ring. For many nights, the halfling druid meditated in this ring. Emotions overwhelmed him, and the sounds of Nature bored into his mind like drills. Day after day, the feelings remnant from the September Prince and his other losses in life eroded away at him. The tree lord started corrupting, flesh transitioning to pure bark as his horns grew ever more wild. Then he caught sight of his reflection in a still pond. Everything grew silent, and he knew what had to be done.

    Jeremiah took his soul tree and grew it in the center of the fairy ring, sitting down in front of it. His old friend Bess, the staff, spoke to him with empathy and solemnity. The Ram Druid Jeremiah knew this day would come, he’s always known. The only true balance is to give and take in equal parts - a life for a life. For Bess, for his loved ones, for nature, he’d always do that. It was time to repay the debt.

    The empathic demeanor of Bess changed then, becoming akin to the somber, knowing touch of Nemiisae. The sharpened vines drew near, and with a swift motion, they impaled Jeremiah’s chest. A massive burst of druidic energy erupted from the old halfling, submerging Bess, his tree, and the ring with natural radiant light.

    Then, something extraordinary occurred. Jeremiah’s soul was empowered by the lingering cataclysmic levels of druidic energy present in Vectra, and even more-so by the flow of natural powers from the fairy ring. The elder druid expelled more energy than ever before, well past his usual limits as he knew this was a task there was no coming back from.

    The energies surged into Bess, forcing her to grow at an exponential rate. The wood acted as a cutting as its roots plunged into the dirt, surrounding Jeremiah’s body. With the massive amount of energies, Bess grew well past her natural potential until she went so far as to grow the size of an Elder tree. With Bess’ personality and soul used as the base, a new Elder tree known as the ‘World Tree of Vectra’ was born. Jeremiah’s final act of self-sacrifice. In doing this, his soul was severed and sent into death.

    This event was not without a few after-effects. Anomalously, the area around the newborn Elder tree is prone to a collection of dire rams. Creatures born identical to the normal variety, but upwards the size of elephants. The Elder tree communes with all life in its radius for miles, preventing any untoward influence on the wild-life there. This means using druidic magic or otherwise on creatures is especially difficult closeby the ‘World Tree’. It actively contests anything that tries. The animals here are said to be wild and free, traits Jeremiah would have respected greatly.

    In the years following Jeremiah’s death, the Druidic Order came to realize what had happened. An icon of their time had fallen. In remembrance of his deeds, and spirit, he was deemed the first Demi-Aspect the Order’s seen in countless centuries. A symbol of honor for a broken man that gave his everything for nature, and those he loved.

    Thus the tale of the Ram Druid Jeremiah ends. A life full of tragedy and passion, a bittersweet note was the only inevitable conclusion. Bess lives on to this day, acting as a great protector in the lands of Vectra. She’s not without her own sorrows, knowing full well the guilt which consumed her lifelong friend. Regardless, she knows this was the only way he could find his peace.

 

How the Legend would be proliferated in RP (If this involves books/stories, you may wish to write them with the submission. Once the Legend is fully accepted you may RP knowledge of the legend, however you may only RP the RP BELIEF of the legend, not any OOC overview knowledge. Otherwise, the ET will do our best to introduce the Legend in-game.):

    Most of everything that was written here actually happened on the server. Druids that were there for the events may speak on them as they remember freely. As for the events that happened on Vectra, they can find out by various methods including druidic transcendence to ask Jeremiah personally (if they can find him somewhere in the Fae Realm), or they could try to visit the Elder tree on Vectra by a series of events if they really wanted, etcetera.

 

What events would you like to occur around this legend? (ex, discovery of the Legend’s gravesite, retrieving of the Legend’s body, discovering something the Legend created/did):

    Jeremiah did leave behind some of his relics in life such as the Piper’s Whistle, the tool created by he and Oliver. If the ET wanted to put special attention to it, they could make an event site for the ‘World Tree of Vectra’ to be explored by the druidic playerbase (or other players) as described in this post. More personality details for Bess is available if requested.

    Jeremiah rests at peace somewhere within the Eternal Forest. Anyone could use transcendence (or possibly other plane-hopping magics) to converse with him directly. How he responds may be different depending on the situation.

 

Relics Associated:

    The Piper’s Whistle: An elderwood flute made from the Axios Sutican Mother Tree, blessed with the ability to attract animals in a nearby radius while being played. This is an accepted MArt.

    The Duck Ring: An awakened ring always worn by Jeremiah in days-gone-by. It was a gift to him from his old friend Ashton, and had great sentimental value to him. It has an etching of a dire duck on its face, representing his old mount Bertrand.

    Enmity for the Prince (unusable, but maybe could be used in events with staff approval): A recurve bow constructed of elderwood and spider-silk bowstring, awakened by the Ram Druid to be used as a weapon against the September Prince while he was still in Atlas. It is incredibly durable due to its components, and may be used by a druid to shoot with greater draw weight than a normal bow (assuming permission is given in an event).

    Druidic Runesmithed Armor: A set of halfling-sized plate armor etched with runes to make the wearer immune to fire and resist voidal magics. This was a set of armor adorned by the Ram himself in many battles. There could be events to find these, assuming runesmithing finishes its rework. If not, assume the runes are now inactive and it’s just a nice set of armor with a pleasing druidic design.

    There may be a few more, but most likely they’re just sentimental nicknacks compared to the importance of the aforementioned. His staff, the Ram’s Debt: Bess, was used in the creation of the Elder tree and thus no longer exists.

 

OOC NOTE:

    This is indeed about my character, however, I assure you he’s very PKed. It’s partly a PK post, and also being submitted as a legend lore because I feel it’s significant enough to merit such. Everything on this post actually happened on the server except for the parts when Jeremiah arrived on Vectra. That is the part which I feel needs to be reviewed most, considering the resultant effects of it. That aside, the rest is a historic summary of server events. Thank you!

    Finally, I just want to take a second to say thank you to the druid player-base for allowing me to finish off my character with such a bang. I love you guys. ❤️

[Luciloo 2651]

Blessed be, Brother Ram

[FloralHedgehog 411]

"Blessed be Brother Ram.” A creaking wee man brought out as they puffed out a cloud of smoke

[Delmodan 852]

Thank you for submitting your piece! It is now under review, you should have a verdict in about 1 ½ weeks to 2 weeks.

[Delmodan 852]

This Lore has been denied. Currently the team has found a multitude of issues with this piece of lore. A legend written about your own character is best left as an in character piece. This should be written by someone else and left as a book or a post on the forums, instead of trying to make this a lore piece.

 

Topic moved to Denied Lore forum.