The Terror Druids

The Druids of Akiviras are idealogically Neutral, concerned as they are with the preservation of nature and the balance of human civilisation versus the animal and the supernatural. They forbid the practise of taking sides and refuse to lend their aid to either Law or Chaos, Good or Evil. However, in the darkest recesses of the world, there exist lost and forsaken sects of druids who have cast off those final shackles and chosen a path wreathed in darkness and destruction. These are the Terror Druids, and if left unchecked they will wipe the world away forever.

Origins

The exact origins of the Terror Druids are difficult to pin down, since there is no such thing as an overseeing organisation or definitive founding moment. The earliest confirmed activity of a Terror Druid sect came in 277 at the height of Dur-Shraikein, where orcs were reported fighting alongside evil druids who could scorch entire armies with waves of fire and flame. However, tales depicting evil warlocks and witches bent on the consumption of the world have existed dating back to pre-Emergence, even pre-goblin times. All that is known is this; at some point in the distant past, druids began gathering who had forsaken the ideals of neutrality that the Circles so praised. These druids instead held a deep reverence towards their chosen element, and enacted long meditations and seances in an attempt to further connect themselves with the element they so deified. Instead, these rituals brought them into contact with strange, primordial beings who dwelled in the deepest, darkest corners of the world. The world promised by these beings was euphoric to the Terror Druids, who began enacting terrible and evil acts in attempts to bring them about. Though many sects of Terror Druids exist in the world, they all tie into one of a few major paths, each embodying one of the creatures so contacted all those years ago.

Terror Druids of the Darkest Deep

The worshippers of the Darkest Deep hail an entity known variably as The Lightless Deep, Devourer of Worlds, or She-Sleeps-Below. This entity is believed to be, as the name suggests, asleep, with her rhythmic heartbeat causing the tidal patterns of the entire world. The sect of the Darkest Deep is focused on waking up She-Sleeps-Below, which they believe will cause the oceans to rise and drown the whole world. It is a goal that has led them to ally themselves with a number of evil seafaring creatures, including sahuagin and even a kraken on one occasion. Druids of the Darkest Deep wear dark blue robes, and are fond of taking captives to bleed to death over a period of hours.

Terror Druids of the Howling Horrors

The sect of the Howling Horrors is mostly attended by insane druids who have abandoned not just neutrality, but reason itself. The Terror Druids of the Howling Horrors believe that they are constantly being watched and monitored by a being that lives in the very air around them. They have no name for this entity, but detractors of the cult know it as the One, the Eye in the Storm, or The Howling. They believe that this entity guides their actions constantly, sending them signals in things like the shifting of the winds or a pattern made by falling leaves. These 'directions' are often nonsensical and incomprehensible to outsiders, but it leads to the maniacal Terror Druids terrorising the common people with acts of unexpected and unpredictable cruelty. Whenever tales are abound of a mad cackling warlock destroying miles of farmland or a rampaging horde of monsters wiping out a village for no reason, a Terror Druid of the Howling Horrors is likely the ultimate cause.

Terror Druids of the Ceaseless Cleanse

The Terror Druids of the Ceaseless Cleanse are enraptured by fire, and believe that anything that has not yet been burned to ashes is disgusting and revulsive in the utmost. Their only concern is scorching and burning as much of the land as they can, dreaming of a day when they can one day burn the entire world to ash. Druids of the Cleanse believe that all fire is an extension of the immortal body of their lord, a creature they refer to as either The Maw, Ashes-Above, or simply End. They believe that fires feed it and allow it to grow, and that the fire that consumes the entire continent will be large enough to finally summon it for good. Druids of the Ceaseless Cleanse tend not to last as long as other druids, but their sect is considered one of the most dangerous, and they are able to collaborate with a great deal of other evil creatures to accomplish their ends.

Terror Druids of the Slumbering Silence

Those of the Slumbering Silence revere the ground itself, which they believe is an entity known only as Deep. The Druids believe that Deep is resting in a fitful, uneasy sleep, and furthermore that if it is ever woken, the world will end. To avoid this, the druids of the Slumbering Silence work to bathe the world in darkness by blotting out the sun, and silence the intrusive noises of the people by wiping out every other creature on the planet. The druids of the Slumbering Silence are believed to be some of the most dangerous non-Circle druids in existence, and their determination is matched only by the horror of their true intentions.

The Lost and Cold

In the Twelve Kings era, there existed an order of Terror Druids whose original name has long been forgotten by history. Like many things from that era, most records of the druids and their activity have been lost. However, what is known is that the order were involved in the magical mishap that created the White Sea and drove the city of Zhadena to ruin. The druids vanished in this event, but rumours of strange and terrible northern druids with powers over frost and ice continue to spread throughout the continent. These druids are known only as The Lost and Cold, and it is unknown if they remain a part of some larger organisation or even if they are the same druids at all.

The Terror Druids of the Realmic Conjecture

The final and most terrifying of the Terror Druidic sects is also the least understood. It is believed that, during the course of experimentation in which druids meditated on their chosen element, some druids instead chose to meditate on other concepts. Those who meditated on the dark were touched by an entity known only as It-Is-Lies. By its own admission, It-Is-Lies dwells in what it calls 'The Cannot-Be', which is neither in nor out of the 'real world'. Its goals, along with the goals of the druids who follow it, are inscrutible beyond this one fact, and even their powers cannot be readily determined. Druids of the Realmic Conjecture are said to be liars and shapeshifters, feeding their master with every secret or lie they spawn during their quest. Whatever they plan to do concerning It-Is-Lies and its unique situation, many believe that their sect is the most likely to actually succeed in their goal of ending the world.

From left to right, top to bottom: the symbols of the Terror Druids of the Darkest Deep, Howling Horrors, Ceaseless Cleanse, Slumbering Silence, Lost and Cold, and the Realmic Conjecture

Type

Druidic Circle