Coming of the Druids

When the mortal races were at last born from the fruits of Precious Eliwyn, the gods born of the same tree determined it was time for them to depart the mortal sphere. They set themselves in the heavens, building great and shining cities. But on earth, the One Tree was still in bloom, heavy with an unripe fruit. She eventually came to be watched over by Thellyne the Huntress and Rontra, from whom Eliwyn sprang, in case any of Asmodeus’ brood might try to harm the Tree of Life.

It was not long, though, before mortals who loved the woods and beasts and all of nature’s bounties formed an order of their own, without guidance from the gods. They turned their attention from the heavens and instead found all they revered in the dirt and grass, hills and valleys of the world. They did not heed the dictates of the gods, and were interested in nothing but the flowing power of life, from which they drew sustenance and strength. Before long, the most powerful of these mortals, who came to call themselves druids, sought out and found the sacred grove wherein Precious Eliwyn was hid.

Though the Giver of Life was shrouded from the eyes of mortals by the power of Rontra and Thellyne, the druids had become so mighty in their ties to the natural world that they saw through all veils and illusions, and came to stand at the foot of the mighty Eliwyn, who grew ten thousand spans high. Her branches reached through to the heavens, and her mighty roots shot down to the very foundations of the earth, where once the lands of the dead were found. All life came from her branches. When Thellyne saw that these mortals assaulted the tree, she struck with her hunter’s bow.

In three breaths she killed the three mightiest of their number, so great was her skill, so mighty her bow, so deadly her aim. The blood of the first druid spilled by Eliwyn’s roots; from it spouted forth a field of red poppies, forever showing their sorrow for the great druid’s passing, and the offshoots of Eliwyn’s roots that bathed in the blood came suddenly to life, and walk the earth still. These are the treants, protectors of the wood. The blood of the second druid spilled in the glade around Eliwyn; from it burst forth a great bramble of roses, red from his blood and thorny to protect the Tree of Life. Out of the thicket burst the naga, a great protector spirit, like a snake born of bramble and thicket. The third druid killed was the greatest among them, and from her blood, which spilled at the edge of the glade, there grew the most perfect of all flowers: red lotus blossoms with white hearts. And from the pure white center of the lotuses sprang the most perfect of creatures—white horses with golden horns, the unicorns.

When Thellyne saw the pure and good creatures that came from these dead mortals, she realized she had committed a grave error. She approached the druids who remained, none of whom had moved, though arrows flew in their midst, and spoke with them. When she had learned who they were and understood that they wanted only to observe and protect the Tree of Life, Thellyne agreed to share the grove with them. In sorrow for the deaths she had caused, the goddess of the hunt agreed to let the grove be known among the druids and no other mortals, and so she does not even reveal its location to her most blessed worshipers, nor does Rontra. Thus, the mightiest of druid groves is also the most serene and sacred place on earth: the grove of Eliwyn, the One Tree, the Giver of Life. To this day, the greatest of druids call the grove home, and among mortals, only they know its secrets.