Divine Order of Druids
This sect exists to give the druids a unified voice to the outside world, and claims thousands of members across Tellene (though this has not been verified). Unlike the Brotherhood of The Bear, they have different raiment, no holy books, and their own temple ranks. They also differ from the Orthodox belief when it comes to the concept of reincarnation. They believe souls do not go to be with the Bear, nor do they appear from nothing. When a creature dies, its soul is reborn in another creature. When deaths outnumber births and no newborn creature is prepared to accept the spirit, an undead creature arises.
The Order has a loose structure, with the druids organizing their priests more strictly by power than any other religious organization. No huckster with a smooth tongue will advance in rank in the Divine Order. Neither seniority nor skill nor strength of will outrank personal power.
An Arch-Druid is a Druid of the Order who claims stewardship of a large region, often about the size of a small country or a province of a large kingdom. These regions are said to include: the Western Shore (Voldor Woods to Pel Brolenon and the islands to the west), the Heartland (the Young Kingdoms), the Waste (the Legasa Mountains, the Elenons, the Elos Desert and Norga-Krangrel), the Two Rivers Valley (named after the Ridara and the Badato Rivers and encompassing the Kalamaran Empire and the Duchy of O’Par), and the Ward of the Dead. The latter is based in Dynaj and the eastern coast of the Bay. Its name comes from the serious duty of protecting the “living” lands of Tellene from the heresies found in the Khydoban Desert.
Arch-Druids must be able to cast druidic spells of 6th level. Once a druid gains that power, he may petition to become an arch-druid. He visits the Great Druid of his region to state his wishes. The Great Druid demands a task that benefits the faith and shows the petitioners dedication to the faith. The task might be to remove an undead threat, clear out all aberrations within a certain area, or build a shrine in the heart of an area dedicated to the Bear.
The petitioning druid may use any resources available to him in his quest. He can undertake the task alone, bring adventuring companions, rally the people, or even convince another druid to do it for him. In many cases, the task is not as important as the revelation of character his method yields. If the petitioner’s methods and results please the Great Druid, the Great Druid assigns him a region and gives him the title of Arch- Druid (see sidebar for duties and benefits).
The current Grand Druid is a Dejy Human named Ruasha. He has been the Grand Druid for sixteen years and is nearing the end of his life already. During his time as Grand Druid, Ruasha has spent his time caring for the great woods of the north— specifically the Voldorwood and Brindonwood forests. He has reached a delicate peace with Slen concerning the treatment of its natural resources.
Ruasha is a stern, almost callous man who is nonetheless skilled at dealing with worshippers of other faiths (which usually means “the Orthodox faith”). He has a strict policy of avoiding any moral or dogmatic discussions with Orthodox clerics, which removes nearly any chance of a theological disagreement. He has thus excelled in deflecting Orthodox hostility toward the druids.
His critics say that Ruasha has ignored the southern lands. The Elos and Khydoban Deserts have both expanded into fertile regions during the last two decades, and he has never visited Svimohzia at all. The repeated rumors of aberrations in the Obakasek merit investigation, and Ruasha has ignored the rumors and warnings from his Arch-Druids whose regions border that area. Druids are not known for subtlety on certain topics, and some of Great Druids say that Ruasha’s death will allow a new and more focused leadership to take over the faith.
Holy Books
The Order has no holy books, not even the Brotherhood of the Bear's canon, "Laws of Nature." Their druidic dogma is simple and passed on from generation to generation orally. In the past two hundreds years, some druids, inspired by the Orthodox faith, have written their thoughts down, but worshippers consider these papers private opinions rather than official decrees. Some worshippers might read them as a curiosity, but the documents have little religious or commercial value.
Structure
Ranks
An Arch-Druid character gains the following rights and abilities.
The Arch-Druid gains the right to call upon the services of a 1st level druid acolyte. This character serves the Arch- Druid as a faithful follower and gains experience points as a cohort.
Once per month, the Arch-Druid may send a telepathic summons to every druid in his region as a spell-like ability. Each druid receives the same message. This summons is similar to the spell sending, except that the receiving druids may not reply.
The Arch-Druid may remove a druid from a particular location if the druid has been lax or incompetent in his caretaking.
The Arch-Druid may command a druid to remain in one place and care for a location.
The Arch-Druid may speak for the druids, obligating them to certain tasks and reaching agreement with individual creatures, isolated settlement and towns. While any druid may reach such agreements, he may only obligate himself. The Arch-Druid speaks for every druid within his region.
Great Druids must be capable of casting druidic spells of 8th level. The process of becoming a Great Druid is simple but far from easy. First, the Arch-Druid wishing to advance must make his desire known to the Grand Druid. The difficulty inherent in this early stage underlines the challenge of the rest of his tasks; the Grand Druid does not stay in one place. Thus, the Arch-Druid must first find out where the Grand Druid is and travel to that place before he leaves again. Spells like transport via plants or wind walk become useful in this search.
Second, the Arch-Druid must perform a series of tasks for the Grand Druid. By tradition, the Grand Druid asks for seven tasks. The first task is menial and often a test of humility. “Wash my feet” is the archetypal example. If the Grand Druid wishes the applicant to fail or wishes to make it difficult as a test of character, he might follow such a command by fleeing the scene, forcing the applicant to capture him and forcibly wash his feet. The tasks quickly increase in difficulty, danger, and importance to the faith.
These missions might involve the end of a war, the recovery of a region from flood or tidal wave, the destruction of a gate to an elemental plane, or conversion of a town or small city.
Lastly, a position must be open. In some rare instances, Great Druids retire and relinquish their title, but many of them continue their activities until death. In the case of a retirement, an applicant may begin the process before the Great Druid retires.
The Order has only one Grand Druid. Unlike lowerranking positions, the Grand Druid ascends based solely on availability of the office. On the death of a current Grand Druid, the Great Druid with the highest total divine caster level assumes the new title. The title of Grand Druid is not associated with any site in particular. Individual Grand Druids, however, often make a point of protecting or visiting a particular site and become associated with that site.
Culture
Vestments
Druidic acolytes often travel the countryside doing what they can to teach the balance of nature and encourage people to live with the land. People recognize them by their white cloth robes and the common sickles they use to harvest their mistletoe. Sandals are common, but the everpractical druids wear boots in colder weather. Many druids prefer bare feet, however, for the connection with the earth.
Some acolytes become personal servants of a higher-ranking druid instead of wandering. They typically wear a silver brooch in the image of an oak or holly leaf on their robes. While not an official distinction, a druid’s acolytes tend to wear their brooches in a similar location (left arm, hem, neckline, etc.) to mark their loyalty at gatherings.
Higher-level druids wear green or brown robes tied with a rope belt in a simple, rustic fashion. Titled druids wear silver torcs around their necks. They often enchant these torcs with a variety of effects ranging from energy resistance to enhancing their wild shape ability to protection.
The very highest-level druids, the hierophants, have advanced beyond rank. They are former druids of Arch-Druid or even higher rank who no longer serve in an administrative capacity. They return to white robes, although they usually retain the torc.
Some hierophants adopt a policy of total immaterialism, refusing to use tools of any sort. They wear white robes, but they often travel in one of their varied wild shape forms. They consort with the ancients of nature more often than they do with humans. They are rumored to enjoy the company of treants, titans, storm giants, and dragons.
Territories
Sacred Groves
Sacred groves serve the same role for the Order as do temples for Orthodox clerics. They provide a base of operations for the clergy and a meeting place for the worshippers. Groves often have a token of each of the four elements. The earth underfoot is a propitiation of Earth. The lack of a substantial roof shows reverence for Air. Groves not built around a spring often have a basin of water to represent Water.
The Fire reference need not be literal. While the druids might light a bonfire for night-time services, many rely on the use of a ritual knife with a wavy blade, reminiscent of a flame. An important distinction of this symbolic raimel is that it is rarely sharp. A different knife, called the luinoli is used for the sacrifice.
Non-worshippers often confuse the two. (In game terms, use the dagger's statistics for a raimel or luinoli.)
Shrines
The Order’s shrines take the form of monoliths in places removed from civilization. They might be a single stone serving as a marker or a collection of stones arranged in mystical formations. Most of them are ancient. Nature has reclaimed many of these stones, unknowing Orthodox worshippers have torn down many of them to use their stone in building their homes, and brute beasts have toppled others.
Druids number far fewer now than they did in the past and rare is the druid who commands enough manpower to create new shrines or even maintain the ones that remain. While worshippers and druids still celebrate some of the remaining shrines, others go unnoticed and forgotten.
According to the Order's lore, shrines once serviced as divine focuses for powerful spells. The druids relied on ritual spellcasting to make casting epic spells accessible, and the monumental focuses allowed their most powerful leaders access to magic beyond the normal limits. Druidic lore is full of references to spells that created the first treants and allowed them to breed true, sent hurricanes spinning across the vastness of Tellene, staved off Winter for two weeks, or hastened Spring.
Worship
Sacrifice
Sacrifice is an important part of the Order’s worship. The sacrifice is usually a livestock animal like a young bull or a prey animal like a deer. Among fishing villages, a particularly large catch might serve. Evil druids prefer to sacrifice captured humans and nonhumans. In any case, the sacrifice should be healthy and strong. Sacrificing a weak animal is offensive.
Worship
Fortunately, worship offsets such a hefty cost with fewer meetings than is typical of the Orthodox faith. The druids feel that the idea of worshippers needing weekly reminders of their faith insults the worshippers. The faithful show their faith daily through their actions and don’t need to draw attention to their faith every week.
Worshippers gather for solstices, equinoxes and rare events like solar eclipses. These ceremonies take place during occasions important to the heavens: solstices, equinoxes, solar eclipses, and other astronomical events. The druids credit themselves with first learning to predict these events, and knowledge of such events is part of their teaching.
In addition to services involving worshippers, druids have additional worship obligations. They are required to observe nature, be alert to threats, and say prayers of blessing over creatures and places in need. A druid in nature conducts three or four such blessings per week; less if he remains in one place, and sometimes as many as two a day if he wanders.