Update and Thoughts on Druids

Just a wee bit behind on the whole A to Z of April thing. Between being sick for most of the last week and general scheduling issues, haven't gotten much done lately on the Realm, and we haven't had a chance to pick up our Thundarrverse game again. Ideally, I'll be getting some writing done today, and we'll be able to play again tomorrow... we shall see.

As an aside, I've been thinking about the Druids of the Realm a bit lately, as I've been going through the core classes of Labyrinth Lord (Cleric, Fighter, Magic-user, and Thief) and shaking out the "Things You Need To Know" write-ups, and am now considering moving on to the classes of the AEC. Assassins are easy, at least, for me, but the Druids need more consideration, due to the cosmology I've been building, with the Gods of Law and Gods of Chaos. In the Realm, the Druids revere not the gods, but the World itself; and frankly, the World isn't overly much interested in either the Gods of Law or the Gods of Chaos, prefering for the most part its own way, though at times, intersecting with Law, Chaos, and the mortal races and Civilization (with the noted capital "C") in different ways. I'm considering four primary branches of druidism:

Great Green Circle: Law-favoring, Civilization-Friendly, Tree-Hugging nature worshipers. Rustic, rural druids, who work with the peasants of forest and field, united with Civilization to enable it to best thrive together with Nature and the World. Distrust Arcane magic as an unnatural abuse of Nature. Work with the Gods of Law, or rather, work with the clerics of the Gods of Law.

Great Brown Circle: Neutral with respect to Law and Chaos, Civilization-Wary, Barbarian-Loving nature worshipers. Most Druids of barbarian peoples will be of this type (especially of the Highlanders and Northlanders). Despise Arcane magic as an unnatural abuse of Nature. Distrustful of the Gods of Law and Chaos, work closely with the Petty Gods and Godlings of Field, Forest, and Stream.

Great Black Circle: Neutral with respect to Law and Chaos, Civilization-Loathing, Savage nature worshipers. Druids of this Circle are the most primitive with respect to the ways of Civilization; they believe Men and other Mortals should live like beasts, in order to fit in "as they should" with their animal brethren. Despise Arcane magic as an unnatural abuse of Nature. Smallest of the Circles.

Great Red Circle: Chaos-Favoring, Civilization-Loathing, Beast-Like, more-savage-than-Savages nature worshipers. Take the pervasive Druidic belief that the World is merely an extension of the Dragon Primordial to the most unpleasant end, beleive anything that is not subsumed into the reverence of Nature as the Dragon Primordial must be undone (similar to the Demonic belief that the World must be Undone to enable the Dragon Primordial to return to full power and bring the World back to its true potential). Embrace Arcane magic as an natural extension of the Will of the Dragon Primordial. The Red Circle Druids are mostly of monstrous sort, i.e., goblins, orcs, and the like, but there are no few Men and others of mortal races who turn to the Red Circles for power or in madness.

Each Great Circle has its own hierarchy; one Great Circle is usually dominant, though rarely exclusive, in a region. The Druids of the Western Wastelands, for example, are mostly savage Red Circle druids tied in with Kishar; they view the wastes created in her Wrath as a good start toward undoing Civilization and returning Nature to the way intended by the Dragon Primordial. There are, however, Brown Druids among the Highlander clans and other local barbarians, and a few small circles of Green Druids work with the rural folk of Haelyx, Royalton, and nearby towns, villages, and hamlets. Black Druids are rare in the region, the few that can be found here generally living as mad hermits in the Great Northern Stink.