Druid

The druidic tradition of Gaea stretches back for eons right through the era of the gods. The great god of destruction, Gunahkar, struck a fell blow against the Tree of Life in an attempt to hasten the end of the world. In the process of doing so he also nearly annihilated the elves of the fae world and he triggered their exodus to the mortal world and entrance into the War of the Gods. Sensing the great pain of the World Tree, Dana the Earth Mother journeyed to it and bonded with it. She then took seeds and planted them at various places all across the globe. As time passed these seeds gave flower and blossomed into smaller versions of the original extra planar World Tree. Named Yn’Drassil, the union of these trees and the magic they permeated the world with crossed thousands of miles and ignored culture and physical boundaries. In time it came to be known as the Yg’drassil Union and those who learned to tap into the magic it provided came to be the first druids.

Many modern-day Druids are unspoken members of the Union although smaller druidic circles do exist that are more culturally focused. The orcs of the People of Adom in the northlands have a strong tradition of animism and worship of the elemental forces of nature. Their tribal shamans are often druids who espouse these teachings without realizing, or rationalizing its connection to The Union. Lizardfolk in distant Am’shere have always had a strong reliance on the magic of nature but again their own druids are unaware of the larger connection to the Union. Many Grey Elves and Human druids are members of The Union. Wild Elven druids act as forest wardens and keepers of the boundaries of the great wood while druidic traditions are also common among the Phurai Dae of The Vast. The Union itself is largely a neutral organization and thus it produces as many benevolent druidic circles as it does tyrannical. Some radical druid groups have been known to take active measures against the continued industrialization efforts of various nations. They speak out against what they believe to be unnatural uses of magic and often prove quite dangerous to the attempts of others to build settlements or to use artifice.

Druid Options: Playing a Druid from any number of the various cultural groups could easily provide a Druid player with a strong sense of history and importance where relevant to his character's people. Emblem of Ea has also adapted some Prestige Classes to better focus the efforts of a Druid player.

Prestige Classes: Shifter and Elemental Shaman are some prestige classes that might appeal to a Druid.