Druids

Species: Human

Life of the Druids

TROM01 Restriction/12

Unlike their physical and psychic magic brethren, they have found life in the natural world more compelling. They have left the society of other men and gone to live deep in the Dark Forest where they can better commune with nature. Have become a bit more animal-like in their movements, with better senses and fleet movement. On their way to becoming elves. Like Arcadia, they are building a civilization that lives up to their ideals.

TOTFD01 The Arcadian Druid/01, 2, 3

In training, battle, and normal, everyday living, the druids went without shoes of any kind. The constant connection to the ground below always kept them close to nature and allowed them to better access magic at all times. If you don’t close yourself off to nature, it’ll warn you of impending dangers. We just have no respect for people that are ungrateful to the land, animals, and even the other people that they take from in order to have the lives that they do.”

Sense energy in all living things: plants, animals, and people alike. Once a person could do that, they can sense the magic of others. They can also sense their true nature.

The Chieftain took a drink of coffee from a clay cup. It was his favorite. Tea had been their main drink of choice—minus the delicious sweet wine that they made—but they wanted something new. They’d spent quite a bit of time growing and nurturing the Arabica beans so they could flourish in their area, and it was well worth the effort for the Chieftain. It made him even more hyper than normal, Though he was almost eighty years old, the Chieftain appeared to be closer to fifty. Druids aged very slowly because of their healing abilities and pure, stress-free way of life. It was nothing for a druid to live to be well over a hundred years. Others in the tribe were much older and had proven just how much nature magic can work to heal its user.Several of the older druids were several years past their first century, even though they'd first been wanderers and then Arcadian before finding their true place in the world with the Chieftain in the Dark Forest some forty years ago.

Druids were very protective of one another. There were different bloodlines among the community, but everyone was considered family. They stuck close together, and almost no one left. If someone did want to leave, be it for traveling to one of the other druid communities, hunting on their own, or even being as adventurous as traveling to a city, they had to pass a test called the Versuch. Sixteen was barely old enough to partake in the Versuch, which was a rite of passage that all druids were able to take advantage of, but very few did unless they wanted to marry—forcing them to travel to another tribe to find someone. It wasn’t something that was taken lightly. The druid that wanted to leave was pitted against another older, stronger druid. A warrior. The leaving member must go through all three trials—hand-to-hand combat, weapons, and of course, magic—and come out the victor of all three. There is no room for error. All three are vital.

Druid warriors didn't spar like other soldiers. They hit full force and used weapons, careful to avoid piercing anything vital like the chest or head. When the final blow was made, the loser would be healed by those supervising, and they would begin again. Druid warriors were the fiercest around, and that was what gave them the deadly reputation. A warrior that won't hold back on their own while training will never hold back on an enemy. This made their hand-to-hand combat skills unimaginable, and their expertise with long and close-range weapons made them unbeatable.