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Ust Delmah: Dark Druids
What little is known about the Dark Druids is summarized here. Please see the Float Archives for the source material.
Unwelcome - DMAl - Monday December 14th, 2009 9:02:31 PM In the great Temple of Truth on Open Level, Belkior visits the temple library. After a full evening chatting with scholars and combing through old manuscripts, the halfling cleric comes upon a treatise exploring the nature of the Crying Woods as a Power of the Wold. There are comparisons to the Culverwood that runs between the Windbourne Hills and Izen, as well as a section in which the author comes to the conclusion that the woods as a Power and a single entity, is evil in character.
Deep within the treatise, Belkior finds a small section that describes a cult that had venerated the Crying Woods as a god. The treatise describes them as having been expelled from Floating City many years ago. A librarian places an estimated date of the scholarly work at roughly a hundred years old, so it would be reasonable to assume that this group was banished from the city even long before that.
The thing that catches Belkior's eye, and the only thing to connect this group with the Darkwood druids is a drawing of the symbol of the group. It's in a cruder form, but the symbol is decidedly recognizable as a black root sundering a boulder.
Something Against Elves- DMAl - Tuesday December 15th, 2009 9:11:30 PM
Jass also finds himself on Gold Level. At the Temple of Flowers he's shown to an attractive older woman. She smiles, an smile every bit as charming as Jass'. She asks him what specifically he'd like to know.
Jass - Wednesday December 16th, 2009 10:08:49 AM Once getting around to the subject of the Crying Woods, Jass changes history a little bit. He tells her of the recent of the plant creatures in the Crying Woods, and insinuates the Darkwood Druids fought the Crimson Shields at the same place. Jass mentions the druids used elementals, summoned animals, flying halflings, and fey. He goes into great detail of the Druid riding the flying plant creature, the symbol on his chest, the Greenwood armor he wore, and his triumphant shout when he killed the elf the Crimson Shields were protecting.
"He said, "THE ERA OF OUR LORD THE CRYING WOODS NOW BEGINS. HIS GRAY MAJESTY WILL ROLL OVER THE LAND, AND WE HIS LOYAL FOLLOWERS WILL GO FORTH BRINGING HIS BLIGHT TO ALL."
"WE ARE DARKWOOD! FEAR OUR NAME!"
After a pause to let that sink in, Jass continues. "So, the Crimson Shields would like to know all we can about the Darkwood Druids, this 'Gray Majesty' who is taking over or trying to take over the Crying Woods, and how we may be able to find them and help make the Crying Woods safer for those good woodland creatures and fey."
Once the lady tells all she will about that subject, Jass will bring up the Greens and that they are enslaving Awakened Creatures. "Anything you can tell me about thier method, history, or potential weaknesses would also be very helpful."
Good People Bad People – DMAl - Wednesday December 16th, 2009 8:52:38 PM "I'm sorry," the priestess of Mittiri replies. To Jass' eye, she appears genuinely interested in helping him to the best of her ability. "I know nothing of this group of druids, this ... Darkwood. Have you considered, though, that this Gray Majesty of which the one druid spoke is in actuality the Crying Woods itself? His use of the words 'our lord the Crying Woods' seems to indicate that. The symbol that you describe supports that idea as well. A root, you say? Sundering a stone or rock? That could possibly symbolize the dominance of plants over stone or the woods of the Wold itself."
She goes on to apologize again and say that she has heard nothing of a group known as the Greens who enslave awakened creatures.
Jass - Thursday December 17th, 2009 10:25:41 AM
Jass thanks the nice lady for her wisdom and stays in the peaceful Temple for a little while. Wouldn't do to appear to run off once they can't help ;-), he thinks. "Don't worry that you can't answer all my questions, my lady. Sometimes not knowing an answer reduces the number of questions to ask. And really, I DIDN"T think that he was talking about the Crying Woods. That makes sense." And, he thinks, that matches with what the elves said and we glimpsed at the top of the pyramid, that Florin is going to be fighting a power all his symbiote life. He's not assisting a Good area of the Wood against a Evil area... he is the finger in the dike that holds back the flood.
Calls and Challenge - DMAl - Thursday December 17th, 2009 8:54:20 PM Belkior is directed to a house on Gold Level by a succession of a helpful passer's by. A human answers the door and introduces himself as Tarketh. The druid is exceptionally receptive once he finds that Belkior is with the Crimson Shields. The Shields had done some work for the Circle in the past. He shows the halfling around, but no one seems to know anything about an opposing group of druids. This shouldn't be a surprising fact, though, given that the elves of Elvenguard knew nothing of then either - until they attacked.
They do, however, have more on the group that were expelled from the Floating City so many years ago, the one which Belkior discovered about in the library of the Temple of Truth. They had called themselves The Dark Souls of the Wood back then. They would gather converts and lead expeditions into the Woods as supplicants to the power of the Crying Woods. These expeditions would turn out badly with many slain and injured. The Crying Woods, it seems, was indifferent to their worship and treated them as any other invader. Finally, they their religion was outlawed and they were banished.
Brahmah is lead into the manor house, to a large and well appointed room that serves as an office. Lord Bael sits behind a large desk, standing as the minotaur enters. He apologies when Brahmah finishes asking his questions. Neither he nor any of his people have been in the Crying Woods since the Woods attacked the city during the wakening of Ebyron. He has heard nothing of a group called Darkwood and he's never heard of Green dragons in the Woods. He adds that if Brahmah is referring to the one known as Parnoth, that even that terrible green dragon kept well clear of the Culverwoods.
