[Togetak]

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Powerful sentries of the natural world, the Druidic Order are often seen by outsiders as primal controllers of the wilderness. However, although drawing great power from nature, Druids, nigh universally, do not see themselves as masters of the wilds, but rather its equal, a caretaker and arbiter. To the Druids of the Circle, claims of power over nature are something that only those lacking a proper understanding of the natural order can profess, as the primordial powers that Druids draw upon comes to them not through control or the bending of will, but through a spiritual unity with the forces of nature- a shared understanding and duty of mutual beneficence. This distinction is, however, often lost on those outside of the Circle.

History:

Founded in the mid 1670s by Grendel Beo and Miran Tsuchai, the two having independently rediscovered the powers of Druidcraft following the destruction of Moonfall’s Druidic Circle, Esshar’s Druidic circle was conceived from the beginning to be a place of diverse opinion and method- owing both due to the differences in ideology of the two founding members, and a mutual understanding that strictness of thought was inherently a harmful and stagnating force to such an organization. To this end, Grendel believed the pair embodied nature’s duality in Wrath and Peace respectively, their differing methods and beliefs creating a solid foundation for a new unified circle.

Following a series of assasination attempts by the forces of Osrona during the height of the demon conflict, and Grendel’s own ascension into a position within the Moonfall leadership, the mountain of a man sent an open invitation to Moonfall and its allies of apprenticeship in his form of the Druidic arts, taking a handful of students in the process. Miran, for his part, set his sights on Druidic duties rather than teaching- wandering the north of Esshar and maintaining the delicate balance of the wilds as human conflict continued to flare.

A short few years later, at the height of Esshar’s internal conflicts, a botched attempt to summon the dark master of the Moonfall witch coven instead drew the attention of the primordial spirit  Aschea. The Overseer’s disdain for the occultists of Moonfall causing her to cross through the barrier between the physical and spirit world, striking at the coven. Grendel, ever the defender of his home, fought against the Spirit’s intrusion alongside the witches and, although she was slain, she gifted the common people of Moonfall her blessing, giving them the power to drive out what was left of the Coven and their allies in her stead. Peasants, craftsmen, and apprentice Druids alike rallied to her call as her power flowed through them, remaking them into the first Teraphim.

Grendel would perish that day, driven back with the rest of the council by the newly-reborn Teraphim. He would choose to end his fading life by merging with the wilds in an ultimate act of spiritual oneness, leaving behind a final message, and a tree with his distinctive armor embedded within.

"Beware of the lullaby of the dark.

Beware of the lure of the light.

For both are equally consuming."

Finding himself as the last active and fully trained Druid, and with a deep guilt for being unable to assist his friend, Miran would take Grendel’s mantle as teacher, keeping alive the traditions they shared, in a world where such connection to the spirits was evermore needed.

Miran’s unorthodox ideas on how his students should be taught- teaching them how he believed the world to work in one breath, while pushing them to challenge his ideas and find their own meaning in another- combined with the lingering distrust for those who aligned with the old order of the village quickly resulted in Miran’s teachings becoming respected, yet rarely sought out, as successive generations of Druids came of age to take their own apprentices, removing the necessity of training under him.

Still, the influence of the two founders permeated throughout much of the modern Circle, even as rarely as the two were invoked or honoured.

The modern circle- while traditionally focusing on Myllenoris as the center of learning and spiritual enlightenment- considers itself far more than simple defenders of one village, taking responsibility for much of Esshar’s wilds and the balance within it, theoretically above race, class, or nation.

In practice, much of the circle being Teraphim means their ties to Myllenoris run far deeper than could truly be ignored. Those not born of Aschea’s blessing find it increasingly more difficult to find a teacher within the order, and few outside of Myllenoris’ borders consider their claims of neutrality to be completely accurate.

Muddling more is the freedom given to Druids by the circle itself. While their first allegiance is always to the spirits and the wilds above all, and the Archdruid is considered the individual amongst the Circle with the foremost authority on such matters, they hold no direct political power over the Circle beyond speaking for them, and many individual Druids choose to join with other guilds, or even state armies, for a myriad of personal reasons. While the Druid circle itself proclaims impartiality, such deep friction caused by two members seeing each other on differing sides of a conflict- particularly aligned against Myllenoris- increasingly drives factional divides and cliques within the circle itself.

That is not to say the integrity of their mission is truly compromised, however. Few Druids would put their homeland above the safety of the spirits, or the wilds connected to them- such is the level of their connection to these forces that it is often unthinkable to do so-  and indeed the Circle has maintained the distinction of true neutrality in the midst of every major conflict since their formation. Yet still, few can deny the actions of Myllenoris tend to be given a wider level of tolerance than those of the other independent states of Esshar.

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Practices:

The foremost responsibility of any and all Druids is the welfare of the wilds, and the spirits deeply connected to them. Everything from the most ancient oak to the smallest woodmouse hangs within this delicate balance of the wilderness, and all aspects must be sustained to ensure the spiritual welfare of the ecosystem.

To this end the Druids of the Essharian circle are concerned with the wellbeing of the continent, trekking far into the swamps, forests and deserts of the country to ensure animal populations remain stable, the spring blooms open on time, and the rivers continue to flow.

Some Druids choose to do this by taking responsibility over a single location, a forest, a lake, a mountain, or even a single herd of animals- this speciality and deeper connection to the spirits of the location allowing them to better care for their charge than those who choose to wander, at the expense of their efforts going to other areas. Such Druids tend to be far more protective than those who choose to wander, to the disdain of a number of loggers and hunters that’ve found themselves driven off by a horde of Mandrakes rallied by a particularly short tempered Druid.

Unlike those of the old order, those of the Essharian circle rarely engage in blood magics, such practices becoming obsolete with Teraphim making up the majority of their membership- their crystalline hearts allowing them to better directly transfer pure mana from their body to the earth, without the need for bodily fluids as a medium. While still necessary for most of the non-Teraphim within the circle, it is increasingly only performed using the blood of others, spiritual funeral processions performed to return a Magi’s mana to the earth, the killing of a rogue occultist to cleanse their taint from the earth, or the blood of a hunted animal given back to the spirits as thanks for the bounty.

As such, Druids of the Essharian circle are often found wandering battlefields shortly after particularly bloody bouts of combat, one of the few times Druids are seen working alongside one another in noticable numbers, ensuring the spirits are properly appeased with spiritual satisfaction to counterbalance the spiritual turmoil caused by vast numbers of deaths. While considered spiritually necessary, the optics of this practice- rare public gatherings of their number generally being heralded by such bloody and violent events- has led to a number of fearful rumors and level of folk assumption on the nature of their powers, and their work, as being inherently macabre. Indeed, the presence of a Druid is considered by many of the more superstitious hamlets of the wilds to be an ill omen of oncoming death.

When the charges of multiple Druids come into conflict- for example, one responsible for a patch of forest redirects a river to stave off the effects of drought, and deprives another of the flow needed to maintain the lake the preside over- diplomacy is always touted as the first option, appealing to the shared responsibility of the world at large to find a solution that may benefit all of them.

As is often the case with such situations, however, a reasonable compromise may not always be accessible, whether it be by stubbornness or simple mutual exclusion of the options, and a more violent altercation arises. Such situations rarely end in true trial by combat, however- the Druids will instead muster the spirits to their cause, creating a visible and visceral expression of their argument, the power and size of their summoned spiritual hosts representing which of the two has the greater need, and thus which of the two represents an action for the greater good.

The path of wrath, and path of peace:

Embodying the duality of nature, the destructive power of a wildfire and the serene calmness of the new growth left in such a disaster’s wake, Druids of the circle are, as a collective, expected to express both in equal measure, upholding the balance between the two.

Sometimes, however, the personality and spiritual connections of a Druid are considered to inherently push them down one path above the other, making walking a true balance impossible. These individuals are rare, but not abhorred or chastised for their unique perspectives, or manifestations of power. Instead it is considered a dire omen- a message from the spirits that the wilds are out of balance, that an iron fist or open palm are vitally necessary in the coming times. The arrival of these individuals is considered by the Circle to be worthy of equal amounts of concern for what comes, and shame that their own actions were not enough to prevent them.

Those who walk the path of peace are often followed by regrowth and the bloom of spring, such as flowers blossoming as they travel by, or the first shoots of new growth bursting from dead wood. Such Druids rarely have strong connections with any individual spirits or locations, instead following the whims of need. Those of Peace hear the wailing cry of ailing spirits the loudest of all Druids, being naturally pulled towards places of great spiritual anguish.

In contrast, those who walk the path of wrath are generally associated with the cruel reality of the wilds and the cycle of life- thick brambles entangling those in their wake, or thorny vines snaring at the unawary from the undergrowth. Followers of Wrath tend towards alignment with individual spirits of destructive and chaotic power, such as the primordial Boar Erymanthus, becoming conduits for the disorder that preludes life, the catastrophe before the regrowth. Those of Wrath are the most dangerous of Druids to the enemies of the wild, followed by hushed legends of whole hamlets vanishing beneath the choking forces of the undergrowth for crimes against nature, all traces of their existence wiped clean from the face of Esshar.