Druidism

The Origins

Y'shendra and Azunath. WIP.

Concepts

Law of Druidic Exchange: The Law of Druidic Exchange is also often called the 'Law of Verdant Equilbrium'. It is a universal truth built into Atharen's structure, instilled so by Y'shendra and Malek. All life must mean death, and all death must mean life. The consumption of a plant allows for an animal to live, through energy; the carcass of an animal allows for fungi to decompose it, for its own sustenance, and the fungi may then enrich the earth. Heavily linked to Azunath's domain of 'The Cycle', these three Gods once acted as a coalition to construct the laws and principles of what a scientific mind may know as biology.

Given that Druidism is the magic of life, it necessarily must follow this principle. Therefore, all life energy is exchanged for another. A Druid must absorb or decompose in order to produce; the wounds of a mortal may only be closed by the wilting of flowers, grass, trees; and even the opposite may be true.

Initiation

X

Threshold Sickness

The drawbacks listed below do not always come in pairs, and certainly not simultaneously. Some may come and others may not.

Lesser: Nausea, fatigue, headaches, muscle spasms, dehydration

Moderate: Bleeding through the nose, eyes and ears, intense cramps, seizure-like shocks and spasms, internal bleeding, vomiting and weakness

Severe:

Abilities

Cultivate: Novice. Cultivate is the first ability any new Druid learns. It is within this ability that they practice the principles of the Law of Druidic Exchange (also known as Verdant Equilibrium), learning to trade life for another, using ether as a medium through which to perform the transaction. To Cultivate, the Druid must channel ether through one source of life surrounding the plant or fungal life they wish to cultivate. This can be an organic life, a weed, or another fungi or plant. A Druid may sacrifice a bundle of weeds to grow a bouquet of flowers, or they might drain the life of a mouse to do so, until it is dead or feeble. Whatever the case, they drain the essence of one source of life and usher it into another, causing for it to cultivate, or grow. This ability is a very challenging one to learn, and can often consume months of a Druid's life to master. Many Druids accidentally drain their own essence in doing so, causing their hands to shrivel until they naturally or magically recover.

Suture: Novice. A Druid learns not to grow but to manipulate plant life through this ability, which acts as their first glance into 'healing'. By drawing a wound (typically a cut or gash) near to a plant source, the Druid may draw away the fibers of that plant, threading them into the wound to act as sutures. This ability will whittle at the fibers of the plant, causing it to lose large sections of its leaves or other fibers, but the ability offers an efficient and easy way for a Druid to suture wounds closed, a method that tends to be considerably less painful and less infectious than through traditional methods.

Commune: Apprentice. Through Azunath's imprint on the magic, the Druid learns to Commune with animals. Most animals are said to be mildly less hesitant to interact with a Druid, and Druids are known to be capable of forming at least surface level bonds with most species that are not exceptionally aggressive. If an animal's trust is sufficiently acquired, Commune allows the Druid - through touch - to communicate with them through the eyes, which will convey questions and answers. They may grasp whether the animal is ill or hungry, or may even be able to discover whether the animal has seen a specific entity or individual they are looking for. For this reason, Druids typically try to cultivate strong bonds with animals in their surrounding areas, hoping to be able to harness those bonds to discover information.

Entangle: Apprentice. Later into a Druid's development as an Apprentice, they may learn how to harness and manipulate plants to their benefit. This allows a Druid to control vines and roots, typically, as their mastery is not advanced enough to harness trees or other large structures. Through Entangle, the Druid's ether seeps into nature and seeks out roots or vines that it will then empower, greatly heightening the durability of their fibers before bending and controlling them. This can allow for the use of these roots and vines as whips, or - more commonly - they can extend upward from the soil to grip and constrict a target, wrapping them in a tight verdant binding. These roots can still obviously be cut or otherwise destroyed, so this ability is typically left to distracted or otherwise vulnerable targets. At times, it is also used benevolently, such as to capture a wounded animal so that they may be healed.

Equilibrium: Journeyman. Rather than meeting a perfect balance between two objects, Equilibrium refers to the balance of life, which is inherently limited by the balance of death. Equilibrium is a Druid's first true healing ability, and it can be performed a number of ways. The most common is to draw roots or vines from the soil, like with Entangle, and manipulating them to lodge into the wounds or veins of a target. Pumping out vital energy through this connection, Equilibrium will mend the intended target's wounds, closing them rapidly. The life and vibrance of the plant will shed off into the wounds, reconstructing the individual's cells, fibers, proteins and so on almost miraculously. This can also be done by laying their back against a tree, which will decay as it heals them, laying them in a bed of grass, and so on. In all cases, the plant life used to heal the target will rapidly degrade and may even die, as not all lives are considered equal; a blade of grass may only be as valuable as a small scrape or cut.

Conversely, an animal or human life may also be used to mend plants or other living entities. A deer may be entangled before being rapidly decomposed, revitalizing a burnt bed of grass. Equilibrium appears to be able to revive plant life, but cannot revive animal or mortal lives. It consumes a variable amount of ether, depending on the severity of the wounds; marginal, or large, if the wounds might otherwise be fatal.

Regeneration: Journeyman. Regeneration is similar to Equilibrium in concept, but widely different in practice. It is a form of therapy through which the Druid sacrifices or absorbs the life energy of one object, called the catalyst, into the body of another in order to speed up their natural recovery. Rather than only being able to mend surface-level wounds like Equilibrium, Regeneration can help one recover from an illness, help detox from poisons or drugs, and can help mend fatigued muscles and even exhaustion. Regeneration is extremely potent for this reason, and increases the body's natural rate of recovery by around eight times, normally for around a period of a day, though a Master Druid can extend Regeneration to last up to a week through a more equivalent sacrifice of life. It consumes a decent amount of ether to perform, but often is seen as a more cost-conservative way to mend wounds than Equilibrium, which is more direct and instantaneous, and typically reserved for emergency treatment.

Wildveil: Expert. WIP. Thread a powerful, protective layer of plants within your own muscles, creating a seamless underarmor.

Wildflail: Expert. WIP. Spring large roots around a target, which will lash or crush them.

Affinity: Expert. WIP. Bond with one animal, who will grow, and come to your aide and defense throughout your life.

Convalesce: Master. WIP. Cure any illness, including any of those crafted by a Bane mage. Even a Scourge's diseases may be cured, with great expense of ether.

Renewal: Master. Renewal is a similar ability to Equilibrium, only on a much larger scale. The Druid will typically stand still for a few moments, holding both palms open before their sides and facing them upwards towards the sky. As they channel their ether into their palms it will begin to diffuse outward, causing leaves to flow within the wind and crystalline-like flecks of light to shine softly around them. The area surrounding them will almost appear to be immersed beneath rays of sun, made more verdant and vibrant, though ironically the effect of Renewal tends to be quite the opposite. Renewal is the power of mass-healing. By sacrificing an enormous amount of plant life and vitality, one may mend an enormous amount of mortal wounds.

A few, even dozens of people may be healed at once, any individuals the Druid chooses to heal within around fifty feet of them. The more grievous the wounds, the greater the amount of plant essence consumed, and also the greater amount of ether. A Druid can, through Renewal, likely heal at least a few of their allies of mortal wounds before submerging into Overstepping, but depending on the amount of Raw Magic they have recently channeled, this ability can be extremely precarious to cast. If a Druid were to heal a dozen allies inflicted with serious wounds after already expending a large amount of ether in a conflict, they could even immediately be submerged deep into Severe Overstepping.

Keeper Abilities

Kindle: WIP. Bring trees and other plants to life to serve the Keeper's will.

Lifewell: WIP. Create a mending well that can create life, cure ailments and extend lifespan. Can also heal Spirits.

Ascension: The Keeper

True physical supremacy, life-creating powers, wip. x