[@vide] I can't find your CS, so I presume you either haven't posted it yet or PM'ed it right to Lyla. Though, for Alexander, I think I wore my influences on my shelve. I like the modern myth of the druid, and decided to incorporate the core theme of the anachronistic nature of this world and have my character be the son of the old, secretive, superstitious clan of the past and the modern, innovative, eco-tech society of the future. There is also a bit of incidental symbolism in that the "old ways" nation is named after roots, and the "new ways" nation is named after leaves. Really, I just like underground forests, and at first I was going to have Rutan just be settlements in underground forests near the roots. Though it developed into them living inside the roots, though there is probably natural caves that are connected to the root system that are filled with overgrowth.