Most Layonarans have a stereotypical image of druids: druids are nature loving elven defenders of forests and worshippers of Katia. As druids can be quite reclusive, the visibility of druids such as Legodia of the High Forest and Raven of the Wolfswood Forest certainly lends support to this stereotype. But do not be fooled, druids are an extraordinarily diverse group.
The one thing that druids most certainly do have in common is that they derive power and all of their amazing abilities from nature. Many think that druids control nature. This is not true. Rather than standing outside of nature’s energies seeking to dominate them, druids strive for harmony and unity with nature. Many think that this means druids have some supernatural gift, a heightened connection with nature. For all but the most powerful druids this is not true either. Most druids aren’t magically engrained into nature. Rather, they are simply more aware of the connections – which everyone shares – to the various ecosystems they find themselves in.
This awareness of connectivity allows druids to feel energy coursing through their bodies and spirits. With increasing focus and awareness, druids become able to channel these flows and connections through the force of their well-trained will. During this process, nature’s force is channeled toward ritualistically established forms. Some of them are astounding and to most onlookers seem magical. When a druid morphs into a bear or wolf before your eyes for the first time, or when she makes grabbing vines grow miraculously from the earth to snatch up your feet, you will be amazed. Druids can focus weather and materialize thick tree-bark around almost any living thing. They can twist energy into a barrier against magic or suspend a creature in a similar swirling flow. As awareness and focus increases, druids also become more in tune with the fundamental elements which compose all things, living and inanimate. As such, and with great concentration, a druid can transform herself into a pure form of these elements and maintain her mind and spirit.
To druids, Layonara is alive. They see the world as a complex whole, an intricate individual entity of which we are all just individual parts. Druidic philosophy asserts that we must all strive to find our function within this system for the sake of our own awareness and joy as well as the balance and health of the world. For many, this entity is represented by the Great Oak. Druids across Layonara bind symbols of the oak to themselves and their sacred areas as an aid to focus and a reminder of their identity. Symbols and poems of the Great Oak also find their way into many of the highly secretive druidic rituals. Outsiders have only glimpsed their practices, so little is known of them. What is known suggests that these rituals range from moonlight harvests to bathing to dancing. Meditation and chanting are crucial druidic practices, which are often oriented around thoughts and words of the Great Oak as well.
The belief system of spiritual harmony and direct connection with nature predisposes druids to be less attached to the gods than many other Layonarans. You will of course find druids among the ranks of worshipers of Katia, Aerdin, Shindaleria, Illsare and many others. But a druid is less likely to be a fervent follower than a cleric whose powers derive directly from the blessings of her or his deity. Katia, for example, personifies nature, and as such can give a druid a very powerful and tangible point of will focus. But a druid’s strength is not gifted from Katia herself. A common druidic philosophy is that the gods themselves are a product of a natural confluence of natural forces. They evolved. It is considered blasphemous by many and in some places gives druids a hated outsider status, but to them the gods themselves emerged from nature and are in many ways subordinated to its fundamental flows and connections. Thus, druids are not always worshipers of Katia as is commonly thought, and even those that are may view worship in an entirely different light than others.
It is also a stereotype to assume that all druids have some sort of innate awareness which becomes evident at some point in their life. This may be true for a few, but not for all. There are three primary means by which the druidic awareness and connectivity is established. The first, mentioned previously, is an innate ability. As young children these druids are often drawn to plants and animals, and plants and animals likewise seem drawn to them. It is unknown how this innate ability arrives within an individual, but these druids have a tendency to be the strongest. This is not because they are more gifted than others, but simply because they have had more time to grow accustomed to their talents.
The second means is through cultivation. Offspring of druid and ranger parents are often lovingly encouraged to experiment with nature and revel in its joys. They grow up with animals as friends and the forest as their nursery. They feel the love of their parents channeled through the living and growing things around them and yearn for this love. Some druids have been trained at older ages, but it is much more difficult. When an individual reaches a certain age, she or he is encouraged to view the world through the eyes of an individual in a world of objects to be manipulated rather than a part of an interconnected flow of intensities.
The third means is through a calling. Although, as said above, it is hard for individuals to become druids at later stages of their lives, some nevertheless do. Most of these cases follow traumatic events such as the death of a close loved-one or a near-death experience. In these cases the shell of the person is cracked and new forces come rushing in. Trauma can cause a radical reconfiguration of the substance of a person, and if druidic forces are present during this time then healing can take that form.
The image of the forest-defending elf is also an exceptionally limited view of the diversity of Layonaran druids. Druids can and do come from every race. Related to this, druids can also be intimately associated with a wide variety of habitats. There are deep Gnome and Dwarf druids who feel most connected to cave ecologies. There are human desert druids and giant mountain druids. There are sea elf ocean druids and dwarven canyon dwelling druids. There are even said to be Drow and Duergar druids who find splendor in the ecosystems of the Underdark. The potential diversity is astounding. Likewise, druids don’t always find themselves in the roles of defending wilderness territories. Some may be guardians of sacred groves, but others may be wise advisors to monarchs. One druid may be a cunning master of many shapes and another may be a hunter. Many druids wander the lands in search of animals to befriend while others may reside in cities and practice druidic philosophy at every opportunity. Some druids are outlaws, vigilantes, savages, while others are negotiators and pacifists.
Besides their connection to nature, the one thing that unifies this diverse population is the complex, and highly secretive, druidic political order. Each druid has a place within this order, and this place is negotiated and re-established at annual meetings somewhere on Dregar and in more frequent local gatherings. It is said that there is an Arch-Druid, a sort of druidic administrator, who serves as the central unifying agency. His presence in a druid’s life is far less tangible than a High-Druid, who may be the representative of a local grove or forest. These posts are more formal in nature than functional, however, as the connectivity between druids and all living things is the true source of all druidic organizing.
