Druid Culture

While some druids choose to live solitary lives in the wilderness or live among others of their race, many druids choose to live in communities with other druids. Members of druid culture are not necessarily druidic spell casters. While casters tend to be disproportionately over-represented in the leadership of druid communities, almost anyone who is willing to subscribe to the druidic way of life is welcome. It's not uncommon to find clerics who worship gods of nature in these communities, as well as less magically inclined members who help to protect the forest or tend to their groves.

Enclaves
Druid communities are typically called "enclaves." Some enclaves can be found near non druid society and appear similar to ordinary villages, while others are located deep in the wilderness in sacred groves. These enclaves may be as small as 3 or 4 members or as large as several hundred. Druids can be found in a variety of races and cultures and the enclaves tend to reflect to the culture of their members. As a result, druid enclaves are nearly as diverse as the non druid cultures found across the continent, but many do have a few things in common.

Different enclaves have different titles for their leaders, but elder, exarch, hierophant, and warden are among the most common. The elder's primary duty is to oversee the defense of the enclave itself and the well being of the lands under their protection. In smaller enclaves the elder may also be responsible for mentoring and training younger druids, though in large enclaves these duties may be delegated to other senior members.

Full time residents of an enclave typically include raw recruits and their teachers, as well as guardians or tenders who are responsible for protecting or maintaining the enclave's grounds. Druids who have finished their training but not taken leadership roles often spend much of their time traveling the wilderness both to explore and learn and to protect and tend to it.

List of Druid Enclaves

Creation of New Enclaves
Any group of druids may call themselves an enclave, but to be formally recognized by the community and granted a voice at moots they must be approved in a vote by leaders of already recognized enclaves. Existing enclaves may vote in favor, vote against, or abstain. The new enclave requires a net of 5 positive votes to be recognized, so any votes against require extra votes in favor. Leaders planning to attempt to gain recognition will often spend some time visiting other enclaves to provide aid and gain favor before requesting a vote.

Leadership Titles
In theory the leaders of recognized enclaves are all meant to be equal within the community. In practice, however, leaders of larger enclaves and those with more experience tend to wield more influence in the community. This difference in standing is reflected in the titles they use. Though they are officially of the same rank within the community, a Hierophant commands greater respect and influence in the greater community than a Warden, for example.

Leadership titles are mostly self assigned; enclave leaders can call themselves whatever they wish. However, the community still has certain expectations for what must be done to earn the privilege of using one title or another, and will look unfavorably on leaders who give themselves the wrong title. A young druid leading only a small band who calls them self a Hierophant will be decried as being overconfident or arrogant, while a leader with a large following who still calls them self a Warden will be seen as unambitious and leave their followers wondering what is wrong. Consequently there is a subtle but constant pressure on druid leaders to assess the community's opinion of them and choose an appropriate title.

Wanderer
Not all druids belong to recognized enclaves. Those who follow the druid way of life but exist outside of the community either alone or at the head of a small band of followers are sometimes given the rank of Wanderer. Experienced wanderers or those with many followers may command respect and prestige within the druid community, but they don't have any official power and aren't allowed to cast votes at moots or councils.

Some Wanderers seek to form recognized enclaves someday and travel the land gaining support from other druids. These individuals are sometimes known as "Aspirant Wardens."

Warden
Wardens are the most junior of enclave leaders. The leaders of smaller enclaves will often proudly wear the title of Warden for their entire tenure, but leaders of larger enclaves generally shed the mantle of Warden and adopt a different title as quickly as possible.

Elder
The title of Elder is sometimes used as an alternate to Warden, but for a druid who is appointed to a leadership role by virtue of their age and wisdom rather than their talents and mastery of druidcraft like a Warden. Elder is also used as a generic term for leaders when referring to several or to a leader whose rank is not known.

Hierophant
The next rank up from Warden, Hierophants are those who have been leading their enclave for many years or lead much larger and more prestigious enclaves.

As it would be unseemly for a large enclave to be led by a mere Warden, new leaders are often pressured by their own enclave to adopt this title as soon as it seems acceptable to do so. Hierophants who don't spend much time as Wardens are sometimes referred to as "Wardophant" or "Hieroden" by others, though this is considered extremely disrespectful and generally only said in private.

Exarch
The most senior title that in common use, the title of Exarch is reserved for the leaders of the most powerful and influential enclaves, or for leaders who have accomplished some extraordinary feat of heroism in service to the druid community.

Rarely an ambitious hierophant from a middling enclave will try to claim this title to gain prestige. While this is not a violation of law or custom, it is considered far more disrespectful than "rank jumping" at the lower ranks will often earn the ambitious leader a great deal of contempt from other enclaves.

Archdruid
Archdruid is the most senior title in the druid community. It is reserved for rare occasions when the entire community (or entire world) is threatened and the community is forced to rally behind a single leader, selected from among the exarchs and senior hierophants.

Though the Archdruid is permitted to carry the title for the rest of their natural life, it is considered good form to shed the title and revert to Exarch once whatever crisis necessitated the transition is resolved and things go back to normal

Keepers
Druid enclaves often have senior members known as "keepers" who embody a particular aspect of druid culture. A keeper's specialty may be related to a particular druidic circle such as the Circle of the Moon or the Circle of the Land, or it may be related to a particular duty within an enclave such as tending the grove or healing the wounded. In small enclaves one individual may be responsible for several of these roles, while large enclaves may have multiple keepers for a particular path who follow a grand keeper.

The primary responsibility of the keepers is to learn as much as they can about their path and share that knowledge with other druids, but many have secondary responsibilities related to their particular role. It's common for novice druids to spend time studying with each keeper in their enclave (and neighboring enclaves if their enclave doesn't have a representative for every role or circle) before deciding what path they wish to follow.

Keeper of the Moon
The Keeper of the Moon is a master of shape shifting and is responsible for instructing new druids in the ways of the Circle of the Moon. Due to their affinity for beasts, the Keeper of the Moon may also serve as an ambassador or diplomat to the animals of the forest. It's not uncommon for druids afflicted with lycanthropy or similar diseases to follow this path, if not become Keepers of the Moon themselves.

Keeper of the Land
The Keeper of the Land guards the ancient rites and traditions of the Circle of the Land. The Keeper of the Land may also be charged with maintaining the secret meeting places for druids of the Circle of the Land.

Keeper of the Hunt
Many outsiders believes druids oppose all forms of hunting, but in general this is only true for the most fanatical druid enclaves. More pragmatic druids don't oppose unless it is done excessively or cruelly. Just as the wolf hunts the deer, the hawk hunts the rabbit, the falcon hunts the sparrow, and the snake hunts the mouse, sapient races also hunt the beasts of the forest.

The Keeper of the Hunt has two main duties. The first is to keep track of hunters in their woods and ensure that they respect the forest by taking only what they need and never causing unnecessary suffering. The second duty of the Keeper of the Hunt is to lead their own hunts when the woods are threatened by overpopulation.

It's not uncommon for Keepers of the Hunt to train predatory animals like wolves or birds of prey to assist them with their hunting duties. A subset of Keepers of the Hunt, known as Keepers of the Fang, follow the Circle of the Moon and primarily use their Wild Shape ability to take the form of these predatory animals when hunting.

Keeper of the Faith
The Keeper of the Faith is responsible for teaching druids about various gods of nature and the land, as well as leading worship ceremonies for the more religious members of their enclave. Keepers of the Faith may also act as missionaries to nearby towns and villages, inviting them to join the in the worship and service of gods of nature. Keepers of the Faith are frequently clerics. Though less common, it's not unheard of for a paladin to become a Keeper of the Faith.