Archdruid's Notes

Archdruid's Notes
Hint: N/A
Category:	History
Area:	Rahu Sewers
Visibility:	Hidden Until Found

Archdruid's Notes is a Lorebook found in the Rahu region. It can be found in the [[Rahu Sewers].

Content

Hello, fellow Druid. It was my decision to keep this place intact. You likely think you deserve an explanation for that. You are wrong: I answer to Dreva directly. But though you are owed nothing, I will be generous for the sake of future druid generations.

I doubt I need to explain Dreva's anger at the loss of Ilmari. I was in neighboring Anselon and felt the earth tremble, saw the night sky light up with storms of impossible size. When I felt Dreva's summons, I knew it would be the final time I was called to fight the Rakshasa, one way or another. The time for patience and diplomacy was over. Rahu had to fall.

We numbered only a few hundred druids, but Dreva gave us terrible new powers, and we took the city in short order. We then spent weeks hunting down surviving packs of warriors and slaying them.

We have destroyed every demonic artifact on the surface. That includes the "weather machine" responsible for ravaging Ilmari. A few demonic airships escaped to their home world, but we have destroyed their portals forever, thanks to our newfound abilities. No reinforcements will be coming.

That left us with a few thousand surviving Rakshasa, all of them injured or very young. We druids had tired of killing by then; our rage had turned to sadness. We asked Dreva to let us be merciful. Dreva agreed so long as we "gifted" them with a strange liquid that took away their evil nature and made them "compatible with the natural world".

The surviving Rakshasa have been given this gift. They have lost their shapeshifting powers, taking on a form more compatible with the creatures of our world. The concept of a 'conscience' has been sewn into their minds. They barely understand what is happening to them... but they know enough to hate druids.

Their offspring will be a new race. They will feel new emotions that their parents cannot help them understand. They will be fragile and vulnerable. And that is why I have left this place intact: the water crystals here are responsible for filling the surface lakes with clean drinking water. This may seem unimportant now while the weather machine's storms still batter the city. But when the storms end, I believe there will be no life left in Ilmari. Without clean water, this fledgling race would surely die. I will not permit that.

That is your explanation. Now on to other matters.

--

I asked Dreva to post an observer in Rahu, much as we keep observers in other major cities, to ward off problems before they become severe. Dreva angrily refused to spend any more resources here... and I must honor that decision. But during the Battle of Rahu, I met Archdruids from other lands, including followers of Ri-Shin, the god of plants. They have agreed to post observers here for a few hundred years. They are allies! Do not fight your fellow druids. There has been enough fighting! Trust that they, like you, want what is best for the world.

We have agreed upon a code-phrase for like-minded druids to greet each other: "When the sun sets, the forest beckons green." I believe in you and trust you, druid, and I give you the code-phrase as proof.

I believe Rahu was intended to be a mining colony. The invading Rakshasa chose to colonize Ilmari for the same reason the crones came centuries ago: there are large untapped veins of magical metals here. Perhaps the future inhabitants of Rahu should be allowed to mine this metal for themselves. But for now, these wretched survivors must not be given access to the metal, for they seem to understand its powers far better than we do. They are desperate for weapons and care not for consequences. So we have destroyed every piece of mining equipment and collapsed their mines. The survivors won't soon reopen them.

But the underground creatures of the "gob-lands" covet the metal as well, and without the crones to keep them in check, Goblin miners will eventually find this place. When that happens, I fear for the safety of the water crystals. So I've asked the druids of Ri-Shin to help me plant many small Treants in the most defensible areas. With luck, they will ensure that Rahu has a few hundred years of clean water.

--

Emotions are part of nature, so Dreva is just as susceptible to anger as any druid. I take no pleasure in disagreeing with Dreva, but I have NOT disobeyed! I have performed my solemn duty to protect life now and in the future.

I do not pretend to be blameless. I fought many Rakshasa during the battles with Rahu, and I believe they would have preferred death over what we did to them. But we did not ask. We forced this new life upon them.

If you are a young Rakshasa who has become a druid of Dreva, this news may be a shock to you. If you feel anger, or any other emotion, rejoice, for that is natural! Emotions are not a sign of weakness! If you wish to speak further, find me in Verta. I am retiring to my ancestral trees in Dwyndarre. I will answer any questions that I can.

But heed my warning: if you intend to destroy me, you will need to bring a better army than last time. Dreva has gifted me with powers you cannot comprehend.

- High Archdruid Celatus

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