The Drui

The Drui-

“I am a harmonious one. I am a green verse. I am Growing. I am Drui. I am beset by the abundant, of which I take but a drop. I follow the BrightVine, it illuminates in sequence the world this and every day. I am not Draoi, deluded by dream.” ************ Dirty of fingernail, garbed in faded clothes smelling of mint and pine sap which does all it can to mask the lingering smell of beast blood, the druids are not a vain group of people. They have no need of boasting, they channel the Low Path, the most potent force in the known world- the magic of the world below the clouds. Steeped in tradition, they adhere with incredible stubbornness to the same songs and verses that have been passed down from before a time when history was recorded. Performing the same rituals brings relative safety when channeling the Low Path, but one must be ever vigilant- lest they become consumed by the power they invoke.

The Low Path

There is power in the ever growing woods. It may not always be visible, but it fuels the climbing trunks of wood, swells the muscles of beasts, and inspires new forms of life to grow from old ones. There is nowhere to hide from this power, it acts on the seed accidentally dropped from the farmers satchel-giving it the strength to grow into a mutated mass of vegetable matter whose roots burrow through stone like putty. Frighteningly, ANYONE can tap into the Low Path if they are privy to the right methods of calling it to them. There have even been recorded cases of individuals accidentally performing a tap into the Low Path- always ending in catastrophe. This is why the Drui are incredibly secretive of their rituals, and why the ranks of the Drui tend to be familial. A well practiced Drui can make a mistake that costs them their life- an unpracticed amateur could destroy all of Abhaile.

When Drui begin training at the age of 12, the first technique they are taught before anything else is how to kill their spells. The Low Path deals with forces that are living, and while the spells cast from the Low Path lack cognition or reasoning (at conception), it contains life. When a Drui casts a spell, they essentially give birth by feeding a concept conveyed by a ritual phrase or song with life energy. This meaning then manifests in the world as magical life enacting the purpose it was given at birth. The Drui can continue to give the spell more energy and make it stronger, but the spell will not go away on its own. Like life it will begin to grow, eventually out of the caster’s control and establish its own connection to the latent natural magics of the world. The spells of The Low Path that aren’t killed by their caster can grow into fearsome creatures or into impossibly dangerous floral growths.

The next thing that Drui are taught is how to control the flow of the magic they channel. Life energy is an overly abundant resource, if one isn’t how careful how much they draw from it, it will consume them in wild growth. Careless Drui who draw too much will find themselves irreversibly changed by their contact with abundant natural magic. Young Drui are taught to visualize an impossibly large basin of water, bigger than the city, whose release is dictated by one simple water spigot- and from that spigot only allow one drop of water to escape.

Despite the danger (or perhaps because of it) those who have borne witness to the conjuring of Drui might call it beautiful. The Low Path must be called - invited in - unlike the channeling and conjuration of the Draoi. The method of accomplishing this is through ritual chant, song and most importantly-poetry. Poetry is the bridge between mortality and the vast natural world. It is the art that connects us with that gateway we tell ourselves we do not have, the gate to the wilds within us.

The Three Druidic Circles

Abhaile has three druidic sects created by the ancient Dromore people:

Buainteoir

The Buainteoir are the ones who use the Low Path to keep the city fed, and tend to the trees in Garrán Drui, the Drui Grove. Their grove is now surrounded by a vast chasm of blight energy, a result of Faidh’s failure still visible to this day.

The city is only able to sustain such a high population because of a special mistletoe plant that produces magical fruit known as GoodBerries. When ingested, the Goodberry provides all the nutrients required for an individual- though it does nothing to stave off hunger. Without Goodberries 75% of the city would succumb to famine with the current production of food from the Everfields-making their growth an absolute necessity.

Producing Mistletoe does not come without danger, as it is a parasitic plant that can only grow on the bark of specially tended trees. These trees require constant supervision- a feat that is only possible if the trees were above the barrier woods. The Law of Rearing States that any animal or plant can grow at an acceptable and controllable rate if receiving constant care, so the Buainteoir invite danger into the city by using their powers to bonsai trees to grow mistletoe on. These trees require 24 hour monitoring for any abnormalities, evolution or rapid growth and they are only allowed to grow in the sanctioned area of the Garrán Drui. Many in the cities vast population fear the nearness of these trees, especially of its position above the Barrier Woods. All factions consider the sourcing of an alternative method of sustenance a maximum priority- as of yet no such method has been found.

The Buainteoir are also called upon (though rarely) to aid in the growth of crops in the Everfield. This is done only in the most dire times, especially when whole crops need to be torched due to a farming mistake. However, because of prior accidents, the Drui are not welcome so close to the farms of the Grain Lords.

Breathnoir

The smallest seed unaccounted for in a Farmers count, or a dropped kernel from a satchel can result in a plant larger than a house that snatches humans and absorbs all the moisture from their bodies out of their skin. The Breathnoir quell this threat before it can grow out of control.

The Breathnoir are the howling Drui responsible for the locating and eliminating of all unsanctioned life in the city. They aid in this endeavor by summoning entities known as Blight Spirits. Blight Spirits are spells that channel the moldiest and most decayed aspects of nature. These spells radiate death and are channeled into wooden totems through a specific ritual of howling death into sculpture. The Breathnoir have found these spirits to be the most effective and efficient way to eliminate illegal growths, but they also use a litany of fire spells and if need be will uproot growths with telekinetic spells.

To help in the location of the cities illegal growths, the Breathnoir employ the aid of familiars who use their heightened animal senses to smell or look for the smallest weeds in their infancy. Some Breathnoir are able to call upon resonance sensing abilities that sense the minute tremor patterns that burrowing roots make in stone. Others make use of special concentrated chlorophyll lamps that react when in the vicinity of growing plants, turning from a gentle celadon green glow to a deep muddy Teal green.

Saoi

Working from the ruins of the old Drui headquarters destroyed by Faidh’s Failure, The Saoi work as both tending-scribes to the memory grove- and the most proficient workers of wood.

The Saoi have long tended to the memory grove, an ancient technique of recording the past. Discovered by Boudella the Thorny Path over a century ago, these specially bonsaied trees can process water stored in root clumps, and play back the information stored inside. Once considered the most reliable form of information keeping with Root Clumps dating back to Boudella in 593, its stores of knowledge were greatly diminished in the BerryLack Riots following Faidh’s Failure. Similar to the Buainteoir, these Drui painstakingly watch over and tend to these trees, with 24 hour surveillance for any growth past the normal.

The Saoi are also responsible for the procuring, processing wild wood into tamed wood, and shaping it for the cities various needs. They are also the ones responsible for making all of the wooden weaponry and semi-living weaponry that the Rangers use in their expeditions. Since there is no metal, wood became the de facto weapon material thanks to its lightweight properties and malleability under a magical hand. To get wood hard enough to cut beast flesh, or protect against blows, the Saoi first smoke the wood to both shock it and weasel out any water, hen they perform a ritual version of Enlarge/Reduce. Over the course of days they pull apart and compress the wood fibers, locking them into tight formations over time.

The Ancient Origins of the Drui

The original forays into The Low Path were made by the ancient Dromorians. They used the Low path to mimic the stone walls of Aghalee by growing immense thorn hedges to surround their population.

Playing a Draoi

When Casting magic from The Low Path, the caster has the option to not immediately kill their spell, allowing it to remain, but potentially allowing it to grow out of control or produce adverse effects.

Whenever you cast a spell that lasts 1 action you can recast that same instance of the spell free of charge every sequential turn, but every time you do roll a 1d10. On a 2 or lower they produce a failure, which can result in deadly consequences. Repeating this action moves the margin of failure up by 1.

The spell escapes the caster’s control and becomes a living spell. Roll initiative. A tree sprouts beneath the caster. All Creatures in 1d4 mile radius are attracted to the spot of the spells casting and rush to it as fast as possible. All vegetation within 1 mile is killed, and begins to rampantly grow back. Thorny roots sprout from the caster, threatening to consume them in 1d6 rounds if they don't stop the spell. Somewhere within 4 miles a creature now considers the caster its mother, and their allies its kin. DM rolls to determine what creature that is. The caster comes into contact with -something- A Witch manifests on the spot of the casting, it blames the caster for the misuse of Natures power and demands repayment. Any hostile beasts or sentient plants within a 200 foot radius ignore everything else but the caster. The Caster regenerates any lost limbs, and heals to full.

Type

Druidic Circle