Druidism

The Litany of the Dreamers

### Founder(s)

Unnamed GoblinGramenprimusUnknown Evertreyan ElfArchdruid SolomonArchdruid Gamea

### Origin

Loa CoastThe Dragon EmpireEverntreyThe Kingdom of RalNelinth

### Ranks

OvateInitiate of the CircleDruid of the CircleHigh Druid of the CircleArchdruid of the Circle

## Practice

### Values

Connection with NatureHelpfulnessIn Wild God: Defending natureSupporting Wild Gods

### Anathema

Intentional and wasteful destruction of the environmentRefusing assistanceAttacking Wild Gods

### Areas of concern

Maintaining the natural world in harmony with civilization

### Magic

Druidic MagicsPlant MagicsAnimal MagicsPurification Magics

## Relations

### Political power

Significant in AuronNot prevalent in EdosMassive in Island Nations

### Perception of outsiders

Free Druidism: People to be helped and brought into the foldWild God: Potential threats to Wild Gods and Nature that should be monitored and kept at an arms distance

## History

There are four groups that an each make solid claims to be the first druids, depending on what one defines as druidism.

### The First Age

If the definition of druidism is of using magics related to nature and plant life, then the first druids are the goblins of the loa coast, that developed simplistic magics to affect the plant life of the jungle they lived in. These early druids were fairly primitive, focused on altering plant growth. These early plant magics, much like all magics, did eventually create Gramenprimus and his Dragonflight.

This is the second group that has firm claim to be the first druids, if you were to define druidism as just the practice of nature magic by drawing from the polarization produced by Gaea. Gramenprimus's followers drew upon his polarization, and as all Primes are formed by Gaea, upon the polarization of Gaea. The influence of Gramenprimus upon druidism is significant as the magic utilized by him has been transformed into much of modern druidic practices. However, unlike the magic of most modern druids, Gramen's magic was not cooperative with nature. Instead, much like the general attitude held by many of the Primes at the time, the magic treated the natural world around as if they were servants to be utilized, bending the world around it to their will.

The major impact of the legacy of Gramenprimus is the first World Tree, which was grown in the Wetlands of Stentuur. Gramenprimus infused it with his essence and linked it to the very core of Gaea, allowing it to truly harmonize with the Avatar. The sheer natural life coming off it blossomed the valley of Stentuur into a rich and vibrant jungle, greatly boosting the animal life on the planet as species rapidly grew and changed. Of course, the impact of the destruction of the world tree by Dragonprimus, which forced Gramenprimus into hiding, did much of the opposite.

The third group with claim to being the first druids are those of the first Dragon Caller's Guild. While their magic was based upon the practice of Gramenprimus, they cooperated with the plant life of the dragon forests, so if one was to define that the natural world has to cooperate, then they are the first druids. Their druidic magics are still quite often used today, even if modified for more modern sensibilities.

The fourth group with claim to being the first druids are the Faion, specifically those of the Kingdom of Ral. Under the definition of druidism as also involving Wild Gods, their worship and cooperation with the Elk of the Forest was the first of it's kind, and established much of the modern druidic circles of Meder. When the kingdom of Ral fell apart due to the succession crisis (which was caused by a murderous druid), these druids fled to Meder with the Elk of the Forest and overtime divided into the many circles that make up Meder.

### The Second Age

Following the end of the First Age, druidism became almost entirely the domain of the circles in Meder as the plagues and devastation wrought by the Dragon Empire caused the practice to be lost to time. During this time, the practice of druidism became deeply related to wild gods and highly insular. However, in 100 AFNE when Gramenprimus replanted the world tree on Nelinth, druidism rapidly became more accessible as pilgrims from the Listerian Isles, the settlers of Maora, Edos, and the remnants of the Dragon Empire came to study it's secrets.

While the Mederian druids were focused on channeling the epitome of their Wild Gods and ensuring the stability of the environment that they represented, the Nelithian druids were simply studying the usage of the natural magics that druidism encompassed for various other purposes, beneficial or not. Eventually, around 200 AFNE, a sect of druids formed on Nelinth that guided the study of the magic to limit the harm done upon the isle by pilgrims that didn't know better, but the secrets of druidic magic had already leaked to the greater world, which was further exasperated when the old Faion lands became habitable again and the practices were passed onto settlers around 300-400 AFNE. The circle of Nelinth slowly became larger and larger and more focused on educating as time progressed, eventually becoming an organization that could be contracted out and hired by others to assist them with their endeavors, something that sparked great discourse between them and the Mederian druids.

When the World Tree was burnt by X'enon Lich in 763 AFNE, the Circle of Nelinth, led by Archdruid Gamea, led an evacuation of the island. They landed upon the south of Ur-Taen, and shortly after the war ended, bought it from Ur-Taen in exchange for assisting them with their requirements. They twisted the land to their needs, something greatly frowned upon the Wild God druids. Furthermore, they ceased the practice of creating circles like those of Meder, of sharing their mana, something that many believed was fundamental to the practice.

## Current State

The current state of druidism is a tense one. While Wild God druidism of Meder is the earlier one, Free Druidism, based upon the Circle of Nelinth and operating out of Sramar, is the one that nearly all of the civilized world recognizes as the true druidism, with Archdruid Gamea being recognized as the leader of the Faith. The reason for this is three fold: 1) Sramar was established by Ur-Taen, and as such, other members of the Concordant are forced into supporting it, 2) Free Druidism encourages the usage of Druidic magics to assist others, something that Wild God druidism is far less willing to do, and 3) Wild God druidism refuses to interact with the greater world on matters beyond what they believe to be important while Free Druidism is involved in numerous things beyond just druidism.

This has led to Wild God Druidism and Free Druidism being at opposing ends, with Wild God Druidism believing that Free Druidism stains the nature of Druidism with their free and easy access druidic magics while Free Druidism considers the Wild God Druids to be elitist cultists that are too focused on their Gods to help their fellow being. There has not been any active violence and the situation is mainly just a dispute of philosophies.

## Practices

### Circles

Required by Wild God Druidism, but also often practiced by smaller Druidic communities under Free Druidism, a druidic circle is much like a mage circle. The druids pool their mana together into an object of power, often a natural foci in this case, and share their energies with each other. This encourages a greater cooperation within the group and brings the circle closer together, as it does in non-druidic circles. Like Churches and Cults, these circles are often boosted by the connection of faith, in the case of Free Druidism often to the natural world or Gaea and in the case of Wild God Druidism also to their Wild God as well, further increasing their power. Notably, in the case of Wild God Druidism, the Wild God is a member of said circle, which has two effects: Firstly, the Wild God's donated mana is massive and offers a great boost to the pool, making Wild God circles considerably more powerful than others. Secondly, the Wild God's polarization will influence the pool. This does limit the spells able to be cast by the pool akin to the faith-based limitation of faith-based Borrowers.