[h3]Druids[/h3]
[hr]

[b](Magic/People)[/b]

Seeing as my penance within this Tower is due to the tumultuous cataclysms which are befalling the land, I figured the first topic with which to begin my books with are the matter of druids.

[right][i]...through their foul, supernatural workings and glib avoidance of our laws, I here-forth grant our zealous executioners way with the vile druids...[/i]
[b]Proclamation of Heresy,[/b]
[i]The [color=steelblue]High Wick[/color] of Ignaes, [color=steelblue]Prescur III[/color]. Circa XXXX [/i][/right]

Even during my isolated upbringing high on the un-scalable peaks of [color=steelblue]Mount Quos[/color] did I hear about the [color=steelblue]Keepers from the Sky[/color]; those said to maintain the balance of the Earth's humors, just as some Calpasian physician might. A people who are strictly secretive of all their matters, they have also been proclaimed as heretics by Ignaes' church for the strange magic and rituals they are said to have conducted.

This proclamation, however, has been long since forgotten by the common people as you may have noticed my past tense; the druids have seemingly [color=steelblue]disappeared[/color]. No longer were children abducted from their homes. No longer were infrequently used roads a source of paranoia nor the doubt that the wolf in front of you truly was a wolf[sup]1[/sup]. No longer has a new [color=steelblue]Grove[/color] been discovered...

Though, as previously stated, secretive, some information has been gleamed about the druids through the ages. Their organization is loose, yet singular; pockets are said to be scattered throughout the world, yet recorded information from discovered Groves -- such as regional weather and soil fertility -- match, with nary an indescrepency between such information.

The magic they are said to have worked is also believed to be a separate category than those permitted by Ignaes and his church, hence the old Wick's declaration. However, I myself have heard little on this magic's exact nature except that it granted control over form; both of one's self and the land itself.

[sup]1[/sup]Though [color=steelblue]therianthropes[/color] have been documented throughout the ages -- and recently have rose to prominence -- their skinchanging should not be confused for a druid's thorough transformations; often resulting in some hybrid of creature and man.

[right][b]Records of a Trapped Man[/b]
[i]by Deles Tro, the Traveler[/i][/right]