Stewardship (CDH)

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Although druids do not claim to "own" sacred groves, they take responsibility for them very seriously. The druid associated with a grove normally goes by the title of steward, keeper, or caretaker. Stewardship of a sacred grove is traditional: Keepers always designate their successors.
==Guards and Wards==
The steward of a sacred grove is first and foremost responsible for the grove's safety, especially if the grove has "awakened" with magical powers (explained later in this chapter) or if beings such as dryads live there. Therefore, druids devote considerable effort to protecting a sacred grove—in some cases, through secrecy. Only a few trustworthy people and creatures know the grove's location. A druid obscures the pathway to the grove, while hallucinatory forest spells and better-cleared false trails twist away from it, leading a searcher astray.
More active defenses include pits covered with branches and leaves (perhaps sharp stakes, poisonous spiders, or snakes). Druids of at least 5th level use the snare spell liberally, as its defenses remain fixed until triggered. Using plant growth to set up permanent dense barriers around the grove is a very good strategy, especially if a druid plans to lace the obvious paths through these barriers with traps and snares, leaving only one or two concealed "safe" passages.
If enemies are on their way, the druid should strive to prevent them from using fire to damage the grove. Controlling weather to create a rainstorm before foes even reach the grove keeps the enemy miserable and stops the grass, bushes, and wood from igniting. Of course, one of the best ways a druid can defend a grove is to discover potential enemies and strike before they even reach the sacred natural site. (See "Eyes in the Wilderness," Chapter 4.)
==Tending the Grove==
While safeguarding the grove remains most important, stewards must not neglect regular care. This day-to-day work involves tending the plants and animals in the grove, talking to them, and dealing with illnesses or parasites that might appear. In addition, if a druid prefers a gardenlike appearance to a wild one, the steward cleans up loose branches, prunes trees and bushes, and so on. Druids should devote 12 days per month to this job, or about three days per week. If a druid fails in this duty, the DM can assume the sacred grove's health and appearance deteriorates (as does the magic of awakened groves, lesser powers first). Deterioration is immediately obvious to any visiting druid.
Several druids may use the same sacred grove as a place of worship, sharing the work detailed above, but only one is its steward; the others usually consider themselves the sacred grove's tenders. By tradition, if the keeper dies or retires, one of the tenders takes over the stewardship.
It is considered a crime for one druid in the Order to forcibly displace another from a stewardship. Such an incident, when reported to the great druid, constitutes grounds for the ban. In response, several druids will join together to expel the offender from the grove, finding a more suitable replacement—the original steward, if that druid did not die in the grove's defense.
An exception is allowed when a druid's negligence results in the deterioration or defilement of a sacred grove. In this case, an inner circle druid or the great druid appoints a new keeper for the grove. It becomes that druid's responsibility to reclaim the grove, by force if necessary, from its inept steward.
==Grove Law==
Druids, far stricter about protecting their sacred groves than any other wilderness area, have established a law to safeguard these special sites. The following points make up the law of the grove, upheld by all except the steward and those with special dispensation from the steward:
* No trees or plants within the grove may be harmed, cut, or pruned. No one may pick or cut branches, berries, nuts, or fruit, either; visitors can eat or otherwise use only that which has fallen to the ground.
* No one may fight within the grove.
* No bird or animal within a sacred grove may be harmed. If a hunted creature flees into the grove, hunters must break off the chase; they cannot shoot at the beast from outside the grove once it enters.
* No one may fish in the waters of a grove, nor foul these waters in any way.
* None may light a fire within a grove's bounds—not even tinder or a pipe.
The maximum penalty for violating the law of the grove is death, though a druid may apply a lesser penalty in certain cases. The punishment for violating these rules—or for more serious defilement of a sacred grove—depends on the offender's motives, the damage, and the druid's inclination. If a cruel wizard damaged a sacred grove with a fireball in an attack on the steward, the druid would think death a proper punishment—preferably death by fire. On the other hand, if a careless toddler did the same damage by accidentally setting fire to the grove, the druid seeks a more suitable punishment: kidnaping the child to raise as a druid. Thus the child devotes a lifetime to atonement.
Note that there is no law against folk entering the grove. While some druids keep visitors away, others welcome people and animals who come to admire the grove or worship, and even shelter needy travelers. Similarly, the steward may allow visitors to collect fallen deadwood, fruits, nuts, and berries. Since druids usually can speak with the animals, plants, and (sometimes) stones in their grove, they can determine easily how a person acquired suspicious bounty.
==Becoming a Steward==
A druid player character can acquire stewardship of a sacred grove in four ways:
First, the keeper of a grove might nominate the PC to become the successor to the stewardship. This tactic allows the PC to take over when the existing steward dies, disappears, or decides not to care for the grove any longer. The successor must have the current steward's trust and respect, and usually has spent time worshiping in the grove and tending it under supervision. Most of all, the nominee must prove worthy to defend the grove. If the grove has magic, the character should have reached at least 7th level to deserve consideration. However, young sacred groves lacking magic often receive the protection of lower-level druids.
Second, a player character can find an abandoned sacred grove and reclaim it. Sometimes a powerful monster or other foe eliminates both the steward of a sacred grove and the chosen successor. Such groves often are cursed, haunted by undead, or frequented by local monsters. But a druid who overcomes these obstacles and reclaims the grove proves worthy of the stewardship.
Third, a stewardship may come with a title, although this practice varies from circle to circle. For instance, a circle may award the responsibility for certain sacred groves to its archdruids or great druid, and—unlike a normal grove—this stewardship changes hands as new druids assume the high ranks. At the DM's discretion, the world might even hold a wondrous "high sacred grove"—the responsibility of the Grand Druid.
Fourth, a PC can find a virgin grove site and sanctify it. Virgin groves match the physical requirements listed earlier for a sacred grove, but have no magical powers and have never been tended. Finding such a spot is simply a matter of the druid's knowledge of local geography. A virgin grove rarely has clear boundaries, so the druid may make "improvements," such as planting a circle of trees or erecting standing stones to mark the new grove's borders.