15.9 The Druids Guild.
Accounts of contact with mysterious beings in the woods in the area between Thakria, Orc Town and Eleusis have increased in recent years. Select Excerpts have been compiled and are available for review in the Parrian Library.
"Rumor has spread throughout the land of a cult of mysterious folk living in the hills under Gaurthang. Eyewitnesses have described standing pillars and strange rituals performed under starlight. The council advises all folk to avoid Guarthang after nightfall." Eleusis Town Crier, 1097 ADW.
"I saw it, moving about on the road south of the great gate, taking three fathoms to a stride if it was an inch. A great big tree! Walking right out of the dark forests! It looked at me with eyes that glinted like hot coals. I thought I heard it chuckle but I didnt wait around to ask, I turned right about and ran all the way back home, I didnt look over my shoulder til the gate was in sight!" Report of an anonymous Grim-Faced Thakrian, 1098 ADW.
"A mysterious lot be thye Droods, wyth strange powres o'er thye trees and woods." Rhyme of Ancient Lore Recorded in the Library of Parrius
"Horst is dead. That devil of a tree glared at him and he rotted away to nothing right before my eyes, the notched axe he always carried dropped right to the ground before he could log another tree in that accursed wood. I locked eyes with the tree that did it, its eyes.... red as flames they were... Then I heard rustling and looked...there were more... Trees where before had been naught but felled stumps... The big one spoke, his voice was deep and loud as a blowing horn. I couldnt help but cringe, "B
e gone from this place," he said this and waved his arms at the woods around us. "Tell your people to rouse not the anger of the Druids, to fell not living things with impunity, but leave us in peace and your land shall be thrice blessed." Then he just up and vanished into the wood and I felt the ground heave beneath me, I was pulled into the undergrowth... Next thing I knew I was at the great meeting place North of the Mercinaen gate... Miles from where Horst was killed. I oughtve listened to the coun
cil, Horst oughtve too...It was a long nervous walk home through the woods that night." Grast Thistledown, Citizen of Eleusis, 1099 ADW.
"We's on the road fer two days when our caravan was bushwacked by orcs. Black feathered arrows wus all I ever seen of 'em. They flew in from the thickets along the great road. The first volley t'werent as bad as it oughtve been. Bad shots I 'spose. Took out the lead wagon tho, and that were nuff... That and those 'orrible cries. I don't ken a word of orc-tongue, but I ken trouble, I ken it very good. Wit the lead wagon stopped there t'werent anyplace to go. There was kids an wimmens on that caravan....
Wot happened next was a miracle. T'was an odd rustle in the thickets. Thought they was to charge us next.... The cries changed tho. Went from cries for our blood to cries of terror. Crunching and snapping sounds in the trees....wet crunching....wet snapping.... 'orrible screams.... Then it all got quiet, quiet so deep it hurt my ears. A man stepped out on the road from the thicket. Wos leaves and twigs in his long black 'air. He smiled tho... Smiled like nuthin' had happened. Smiled like he had passed
me on a street in some town someplace. He said he wos a friend. He tended the wounded, people so injured they oughtve died right on the spot.... One fella.... You gonna think I'm crazy, I think he wos already dead... Had an arrow righ' in his gullet... Plucked the arrow, muttered something, mashed some odd plant into the wound.... he was allrigh'. Shot in the gullet and he wos allrigh'.... The man walked straight back into the woods and didnt say another word, but he turned back as he stepped into the
brush and his eyes flashed like shiny steel in torchlight. Red like that. Trees followed him as he left.... I's never gonna get within ten leagues of that road 'gain. Stayin' right here in this bar." Grintor Whitfoot, Citizen of Eleusis, 1100 ADW
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