Jonny Sween

**Jonny Sween**, also known as **The Stranger**, is a human Druid operating in the Kingdom of Albion as a member of The Nutcrackers and outcast of the Moon Circle Druids. Somewhat of a legendary figure amongst the poorer folk of the Kingdom, very little is known about the elusive figure (hence his moniker, the Stranger).

## Backstory

Jonny began his life amongst a guild of druids known as the Circle of the Moon, a tattered group of immigrants who had been thrown from the open plains of Dragonsreach to its frigid northern wastes by druids of the Circle of the Shepherd. It had been a rough upbringing, living below the animals, begging for scraps from packs of wolves and bears with only Goodberries to sweeten the flavour of meat whose rot had been dispelled.

They first tried west to the waters, but were attacked by the creatures of the deep, then the forests, but were dispelled by the chaos of the spiders, then too the icy mountains of northern Dragonwreath. There, Jonny learnt what it meant to kill. As a mere teenager, Jonny returned from gathering the meagre plant life that inhabited the frozen wastelands to find a bear-ravaged tent, with deep red blood still blossoming across the snow-white canvas, bleached to camouflage into the snow. In a fit of rage he tore after the set of tracks into a snow storm, and with a staff grappled the bear. It was an icy battle, but soon the staff was held against the bears throat, and with tears frozen to his cheek, Jonny brought a beast of nature to its final breath.

He skinned the beast, being the most shameful thing he could think of, and left the naked carcass to be preserved in ice for eternity. Upon returning to the moon druids many rushed out and stared in shock at the pelt in his hand. A young elf boy named Jet screamed “traitor” and a couple of druids began to pick up shards of ice to stone him to death for destroying the balance. Jonny knew that they no longer cared about the balance, as the balance had not been kind to us recently, all they wanted as one less mouth to feed, and without parents or wild shape, he had no protection. However, when they saw the oldest of the clan walk out to me, they froze. An elderly man named iroh, picked Jonny up, and despite his age, carried him to his tent. Now that he was under the protection of one of the 3 guild elders, the druids dare not harm me. Jonny had asked him later why he had helped  a traitor who had attacked nature and damaged the balance. Iroh had simply chuckled and said

*“A fire is a natural part of the forest. It is not your ally against the wilds and the beasts that lurk in the shadows. A fire will spread and conspire to choke you. Some trees will even help the first in a conspiracy against other trees. They'll secrete oils and vapours designed to spread the flames and turn the fire into an inferno. These trees kill their neighbours with fire and ash, some going so far as to explode, sending shrapnel in all directions. In this way, destruction of nature due to loss is not malicious, but perfectly natural”*

This is what moon druid’s used to devote themself to, and this is Jonny’s creed.

Now as part of Irohs family, the moon druids headed east too civilized lands in search for work. We had grown sick of begging nature for life, and still could not return to our west-would home. But these cities were at war, and the only payed work for druids was with the war effort. Eventually we found a city that did not want to manipulate us for political gain, but monetary. The town of Zedash hired those who could use wild shape to act as the exotic and dangerous creature in their battling rings. Jonny was paired unwillingly with Jet. We decided between us that our animal set would be him as a giant spider and Jonny as a bear. This meant that those traitors to Zedash with whom we fought had no fear of death, as the venom from a Giant spider would merely paralysis and not kill, while Jonny would make a show of pretending to lightly throw him around. Jet originally disagreed as many of the other druids were keen for bloodshed. These people had dominated and destroyed the natural worlds around them, and hence were guilty of breaking the balance. But Iroh had put his foot down, and demanded non-lethal activity. But Iroh was old now, and had begun to lose his eyesight. So many of the druids continued to ravage the traitors and bring them painfully to death. But he owed Iroh and would not let Jet do the same

Our first few fights went as expected. The traitors were good fighters, and always managed to get a few good wounds on Jonny before Jet paralysed them. But soon Jet became impatient. He yearned for blood and Jonny heard him complaining about how he wanted to use other animals, and too tear at the traitors as a lion. Jonny became suspicious of Jet, and after a particularly difficult fight with a sturdy dwarf who had attempted to steal money for his family, He followed his seemingly paralised body out of the stadium. It had been a tough fight and a nasty wound on Jonny’s leg slowed Jonny down until the body had been pulled out of sight. However he could still track it. Jonny reached the body in a ditch outside the city limits, and was struck dumb. It had been thrown on a pile 8 feet tall of all the traitors we had fought since the beginning, many of the bottom partially rotted away. Jet had not been using poison to paralyze, but poison to kill.

Jonny returned in a rage but knew he could not take Jet in the form he was in . The bear was always the most attacked, and Jet would quickly overwhelm him with his wounds. Jonny was angry, but still strategic. He rested the night, and returned for his next match. Jet seemed unphased as he readied himself with battle, And Jonny too kept his face clear of any anger, despite the wrath that bubbled under the surface. We both walked out into the arena to the usual cheers and transformed into our usual forms of bear and spider. We both looked at the gate as it creaked open to see who we were fighting. A young boy was pushed out with a sword as tall as he was trailing behind him. The centre had been running low on traitors due to the increased demand of fights the druids  had brought. Even from a great distance away, Jonny could see the pittiful tear streaking down his face, as he turned and began to scream at the closed gate. Jet instantly crawled at alarming speed along the edge of the arena and began to bear down on the child. But Jonny could not watch this happen. He bounded forward and collided with the spiders pounce, sending it spiralling into the adjacent wall. With a crunch it collided with the wall and left a green blood stain, many of its legs bent in the wrong directions.

Then he transformed back into Jet and lay still, unconscious. The sight of him. The boy who had accused me of a traitor. The man who threw the first stone on the mountain. The man who had killed so many for petty crimes. The one who had disobeyed Iroh the man who had saved me. A wave of rage overcame Jonny and he pounded forward and ravaged Jet who lay helpless on  the ground. Guards converged and overcame him.

Jonny next woke up in human form. Chained and wounded staring pitifully up at the fighting rings boss tai lee a stumpy warlock, and the two other elders, not including Iroh. The leaders had gained the same apathy of the tai lee, and had no care that Jet had been killed. But they did know that it had thrown shade on the moon druids, and business will be difficult. We made a deal. If Jonny could return with an exotic worthy fighter from far off lands, one which could return business to its former glory, then he can rejoin his people.

Since then Jonny was exiled and sent on a boat and dumped on a distant continent's wilderness. But Wilderness was Jonny’s friend, and he regained the lifestyle he had grown up on. He did not flee back to the mountains, but stayed among the cities, listening to pub talk, stalking adventures, trying to find someone worthy to bring back the fame of the moon druids.