(Original here-
https://www.worldanvil.com/w/laeonesse- ... ds-article)
Quote:
Never disrespect a druid, boy. Nay, not for fear of them. I have never heard tell of a druid with a cruel bone in their body. They're peaceable folk, real enough. Fae-touched, aye, but good folks regardless. Caretakers, they are, no different than herdsman and shepherds, although caring for the balance between Fey and mortal realm takes a great more effort. Anonymous, discovered in a letter fragment
To be a druid one must be born an Awenyddion, one capable of using the Awen and its Nature that exists around them in the world. So in most cases, druids have a touch of Fae-blood somewhere in their ancestry. It can appear randomly and after dozens of generations in some cases. Once one has been ascertained to be an Awenyddion, usually as a child or young adult, the individual, if he or she wishes to, moves to one of the Druidic Circles, where they learn the Druidic arts, which takes eight years to finish the education.
Career Progression
Initiate- a new student who has just begun their studies at a Druidic Circle. Usually between the ages of nine and sixteen.
Apprentice- After their second year of education, an initiate is considered a Journeyman, able to assist in the normal functioning of the Druidic work while supervised by a full druid. Their use of Awen is limited in scope and generally only done as an assistant to a full druid who does the bulk of the work.
Journeyman- After six years of education, a druid becomes a Journeyman, capable of limited independent work as a druid. Usually handles small Awen tasks in and around their home Circle, as well as the local villages.
Druid- Upon completing their eighth year of education, they are initiated fully into the Druidic order, swearing the secret oaths, and completing the rituals that will bind them and their Awen to a specific location. The bonding rituals must be first accomplished before they step through the Fey and back into the Druidic Circle to swear the oaths and earn their tattoos. When reaching this rank, they are free to do as they feel compelled by the Awen in their blood. Some stay and teach, some work as healers, and some as caretakers for the agricultural life of a certain region, generally centered around their bonded location. Others choose to be wanderers to care for the wild places and the Awen in the remotest regions.
When a druid performs a service for an individual, the individual usually provides food and board for them during the duration of the druid's stay. Additionally, after it is completed, many people gift the druid with produce or livestock of some sort, as more settled druids have their own homestead gardens at their home, which they rely upon for most of their food. Sometimes, the druid will ask for coin instead, especially if they are of the traveling variety, but that is uncommon, as most individuals do not have very much coin. However, the druids are the most respected people in Laeonesse, serving as the ones best able to cure ailments, heal blighted crops, and undo Faen enchantment.
Purpose
Druids are the caretakers and guardians of the Awen and human society. They are the primary defense that stands between malicious Fae and humans who have little defense against their power.
Social Status
Druids are special in that they are considered outside the normal social hierarchies. They stand upon equal footing with kings and laborers alike, but through the entire society, they are treated respectfully.
Demographics
No more than 3% of the population ever finishes their druidic training and is sworn in as a full druid.
History
Cruithne Cruithson was the first of the Druids, discovering his ability to use Awen in his quest to free himself and the other mortal inhabitants from the Fae glamour in which they were enslaved in The Dreughold Dreughold. After freeing the Dreughold and establishing themselves as their own kingdom, Cruithne taught all who had Faen blood in their veins to use the Awen as well. Experimenting over time to develop their skill, Cruithne formulated a code of ethics and oaths of behavior for future druids that evolved into the formal Order of the Druids.
Over the course of centuries, they spread beyond the Dreughold, and eventually formed their central location at Ynys Awen, for that is where they felt the Awen to be strongest in the isles. They spread across the rest of the isles and established them in other places powerful in the Awen and became a rooted part of societies that had never seen them before. Even currently, nearly four and a half centuries later, there are still remote communities that have never seen a druid and treat them with suspicion.
