Druid

Fan art of Keyleth, by BlackSalander.

A **druid** is a type of spellcaster who is able to magically manipulate nature and the elements and, in some cases, transform into beasts. Druids are typically associated with the Ashari.

## **History**

### **The Ashari**

*See also: Ashari*
The Ashari was originally a single society of druidic masters wandering the continent that would later be called Tal'Dorei. Before the Divergence, there was a celestial solstice that caused massive elemental rifts to rupture across Exandria, causing disasters and an invasion of elemental monsters. Though the monsters were driven back at great cost, the world feared what would happen at the next solstice. At that time, the Ashari made a covenant and divided into four tribes. The Air Ashari, Earth Ashari, Fire Ashari, and Water Ashari each watch over the main known rift to the corresponding Elemental Plane, where they aim to understand, master, and subdue escaping elemental forces, all the while healing the surrounding lands.

The druids of the Ashari later assisted in sealing the rift to the Frostfell, the Elemental Plane of Ice, that had been torn open by Errevon the Rimelord during another celestial solstice.

### **Tal'Dorei**

#### **Post-Divergence**

The Shadebarrow was originally a druidic ritual site of the Dawn Circle, but the site became their tomb during the rule of Tal'Dorei by the Drassig family. After the end of the Scattered War, the Shadebarrow came into the possession of Westruunian baron Sevil Howthess, who renovated it and made it his own tomb. By 836 PD the region was plagued with specters and dark magic able to taint the very power of nature that other druids channel.

A druid named Burning Oak who was born circa 312 PD would eventually become the leader of the Scions of Flame, a tribe of black-scaled lizardfolk who claim to have been Thordak's elite guard in ancient times.

#### **Around 812 PD**

The drow city of Ruhn-Shak maintains a twisted network of easily collapsed and reopened tunnels in the surrounding region through pit witches, drow druids who master earth manipulation.

Flamereach Outpost is a stone fortress in Flamereach Grove that was constructed in the aftermath of the Chroma Crisis as a base for Fire Ashari druids and elemental specialists who traveled to Emon to heal the Scar of the Cinder King.

By 812 PD, Burning Oak is vulnerable in his old age, possibly destabilizing the Ashen Gorge, as his magic has kept the other tribes at bay.

In addition, there are adventure hooks in the *Tal'Dorei Campaign Setting* sourcebook that involve druids. In *Nature's Anger*, a trio of druids who tend to a grove in the western Bramblewood Forest claim to keep the spirits of the forest at peace. However, loggers make claims of the trees themselves uprooting and attacking them, blaming the druids. In response to a mob of angry workers who set out to bring the druids to justice, the druids claim some kind of corrupting force has recently entered the Bramblewood.

And in *Bite the Bulette*, a tribe of stone giants and goliaths claim to be the Stoneherders, a druidic order that maintains balance between nature and civilization in northern Tal'Dorei, takes up residence at an important choke point in the Othendin Pass. They will only leave once they receive assistance in rounding up the recently spiking population of bulettes.

#### ***Exandria Unlimited***

The Fire Ashari of Flamereach Outpost naturally play a significant role in the elemental crisis of Emon starting in late 842 PD. One of the adventurers tasked with solving the crisis is a (non-Ashari) wildfire druid named Fearne Calloway. Her party discovers that a large quantity of residuum from the Air Ashari home of Zephrah has found its way into the possession of the criminal Nameless Ones.

### **Wildemount**

In Molaesmyr, druidic forces and fey enchantments were laid throughout the Veluthil Forest to protect the elves of the city as they expanded it.

The Vinewreathed Enclave is a druidic order of bugbears and goblins who have broken the hold Bane had over them, instead devoting themselves to Melora. They are based in the Lushgut Forest.

Mata Laau-afu, a shaman and the marquis of Othe, bolsters the ranks of his Zhelezo with a few druids from the Othemoor.

After the marids that were forced to power the steam engines of Port Damali were freed, a group of druids and mages were hired to maintain what functionality they could until Marquis Olesya Lapidus searched for an alternative source of energy.

In one scenario offered by the *Explorer's Guide to Wildemount*, a trio of wildfolk druids riding on killer whales attack the ships that comprise Vurmas, angry that other wildfolk are leaving Eiselcross for Xhorhas in droves and believing that the Kryn Dynasty are using enchantment magic against the wildfolk to trick them into leaving their friends and family behind.

Druids are among the residents of Charis, some of whom make up part of the community's defense.

The residual power of a long-buried druidic fane empowers and protects the Lotusden Greenwood and is directly responsible for enlarging some of the creatures that live there.

### **Issylra**

In this religious continent there are communities that honor nature itself (such as Hearthdell), or even elemental forces (such as Hishari), instead of the gods, and they are led by druids.

### **Marquet**

In Bassuras, in the Hellcatch Valley, there are desert warden druids.

## **Culture**

Druids typically practice **druidism**, or the practice of harmony, connection, and reverence for the natural world. Druids of Melora work with clerics of Erathis to preserve the balance between nature and civilization.

**Druidic** is the private language of druids.

Many bugbear hermits in Tal'Dorei practice druidism. Most firbolgs are druids, rangers, or fighters, and these vocations are passed down from one generation to the next.

Oloore root is a ceremonial tool used by druids for vision quests and communion with nature, but it has also become a popular drug in Tal'Dorei.

**Archdruids** can form bonds with nature-bound spirits such as eidolon, connecting with the land they protect and slowing down their aging process. After countless years maintaining that connection, and usually after some epiphanies about what they can contribute to the world, such archdruids can choose to become one with the land, or to transform into a new life form, such as a tree.

There is a belief, particularly common among the Ashari, according to which the center of a spellcaster's connection to nature (called their "root") is at the base of their neck. There seems to be some truth to this, since Ludinus Da'leth used magical device to strengthen himself through that part of his body.

## **Notable Druids**

* Of the Gau Drashari:
	+ Oma-Dua, who died after defeating Evithorir the Taker, and whose spirit became a guardian of the Irriam Canyon, her place of rest
	+ Evontra'vir, who transformed into the Great Tree of Atrophy in the island of Kalutha
* Of the Ashari tribes:
	+ Keyleth member of Vox Machina and headmaster of the Air Ashari as Voice of the Tempest
	+ Korrin, Keyleth's father and interim headmaster of the Air Ashari
	+ Vilya, Keyleth's mother who disappeared for decades during her Aramenté to become Voice of the Tempest
	+ Dwala, Voice of the Tempest before Keyleth
	+ Cerkonos, headmaster of the Fire Ashari as the Flamespeaker
	+ Pa'tice, headmaster of the Earth Ashari as the Heart of the Mountain
	+ Uvenda , headmaster of the Heart of the Tides
* Burning Oak, 500-year head of a tribe of lizardfolk in the Ashen Gorge
* Greenbeard, advisor to Kevdak in the Herd of Storms
* Nila, ally of the Mighty Nein who helped destroy the Iron Shepherds in Shadycreek Run
* Reani, ally of the Mighty Nein and vigilante in Uthodurn
* Camellia Springshower, a firbolg nomad in the Dividing Plains
* Fearne Calloway, member of the Crown Keepers and Bells Hells who came from the Feywild
* Manaia Turei, a gnome who works within the Collective of Bodhan in Jrusar
* Archdruid Hevestro, hierophant of the Emerald Tree
	+ Elder Joan Abaddina of Hearthdell, his former student
	+ Ennorai, Oldaan and Keese, three of his followers, killed by The Taker

## **References**

1. ↑ See "Arrival at Kraghammer" (1x01) at 2:47.
2. ↑ See *Tal'Dorei Campaign Setting*, p. 55 (Chapter 1: *Gazetteer Tal'Dorei*).
3. ↑ See *Tal'Dorei Campaign Setting*, p. 75 (Chapter 1: *Gazetteer Tal'Dorei*).
4. ↑ See *Tal'Dorei Campaign Setting*, p. 69 (Chapter 1: *Gazetteer Tal'Dorei*).
5. ↑ See *Explorer's Guide to Wildemount*, p. 67 (Chapter 3: *Wildemount Gazetteer*).
6. ↑ See "A Haunted Past" (3x63) at 1:52:53.
7. ↑ See "Arrival at Kraghammer" (1x01) at 2:47.
8. ↑ See *Tal'Dorei Campaign Setting*, p. 30.
9. ↑ See *Tal'Dorei Campaign Setting*, p. 11.
10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 See *Tal'Dorei Campaign Setting*, p. 55.
11. ↑ See *Tal'Dorei Campaign Setting Reborn*, p. 171.
12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 See *Tal'Dorei Campaign Setting*, pp. 72–73.
13. ↑ See *Tal'Dorei Campaign Setting*, p. 75.
14. ↑ See *Tal'Dorei Campaign Setting*, p. 95.
15. ↑ See *Tal'Dorei Campaign Setting*, p. 53.
16. ↑ See *Tal'Dorei Campaign Setting*, p. 69.
17. ↑ See "The Nameless Ones" (E1x01) from 3:56:45 through 3:59:07.
18. ↑ See *Explorer's Guide to Wildemount*, p. 18.
19. ↑ See *Explorer's Guide to Wildemount*, p. 67.
20. ↑ See *Explorer's Guide to Wildemount*, p. 69.
21. ↑ See *Explorer's Guide to Wildemount*, p. 72.
22. ↑ See *Explorer's Guide to Wildemount*, p. 132.
23. ↑ See *Explorer's Guide to Wildemount*, p. 136.
24. ↑ See *Explorer's Guide to Wildemount*, p. 140.
25. ↑ See "Embattled in Bassuras" (3x70) at 2:42:03.
26. ↑  Druidism on Wikipedia
27. ↑ See *Tal'Dorei Campaign Setting*, p. 18.
28. ↑ See *Explorer's Guide to Wildemount*, p. 23.
29. ↑  Druid on D&D Beyond
30. ↑ See *Tal'Dorei Campaign Setting*, p. 126.
31. ↑ See *Explorer's Guide to Wildemount*, p. 170.
32. ↑ Keyleth explains that Ludinus chose to drain the energy from fey connected to nature, mimicking a druid's merging with nature magic and thus prolonging their life.  See "For The Tempest" (3x68) at 2:58:59.
33. ↑ See "Mist and Whimsy" (3x71) at 3:29:47.
34. ↑ See "For The Tempest" (3x68) at 2:44:11.
35. ↑ See "For The Tempest" (3x68) at 3:00:27.

**Art:**

1. ↑ Fan art of Keyleth, by BlackSalander (source). Used with permission.
2. ↑ Official art of Camellia, a blighted druid marked by a specter, by Adrián Ibarra Lugo from *Tal'Dorei Campaign Setting Reborn*, page 86. Used with permission.

## **External links**

* Druid on D&D Beyond
* Druid on Wikipedia
* Druid (*Dungeons & Dragons*) on Wikipedia
* Druid on The *Forgotten Realms* Wiki (note)