Druids of the Flame

The Druids of the Flame are a somewhat unusual but still well respected enclave of the druids. Though they make their home on a volcanic island far from the mainland, they often travel to the Wispwood and moot with the druids there.

Given their specialty the Druids of the Flame often attract members of races with an affinity for fire, even those that aren't commonly found in druid communities.

Contributions to the Druid Community
Many druids consider the members of this enclave somewhat eccentric, but their contributions to the druid community are nevertheless highly valued.

Ashroot
One of the things that makes the Druids of the Flame so notable is their expertise at growing ashroot, a rare herb that will only grow after the seeds have been burned and must be fertilized with ash. The plant is highly sought after for its medicinal properties, as it can be used to make salves and potions that will heal burns or grant temporary resistance to fire.

Forest Fire Control
Their mastery of fire makes the Druids of the Flame as adept at fighting fires as starting them. Flame druids are often called upon to help contain fires that rage out of control or to oversee controlled burns to prevent the likelihood of future fires. A small band of flame druids will often travel to areas afflicted by drought or that face other risks of fire so that they will be close by if needed.

Enemies
Though they are well liked by other druids, the Druids of the Flame are not without enemies.

Adherents of the Sacred Fire
The Adherents of the Sacred Fire are an order of zealots who worship primal gods of fire. They believe that burning something is an act of worship and seek to sacrifice everything that burns to their ancient masters.

After an emissary of the Adherents sent to recruit the Druids of the Flame was turned away the Adherents launched an attack on the enclave in order to conquer Brhan Kell, which they saw as a holy site. The Druids of the Flame repelled the assault, but remain ever vigilant against future incursions as the conflict between the two groups continues.

Undertow Knights
The Undertow Knights are a band of mostly aquatic beings who seek to flood the land and extinguish all fires, especially the sacred fires of Brhan Kell. Though their lack of affinity for fighting on land has made them easy for the Druids of the Flame to repel, they are nevertheless a constant nuisance for the enclave.

Flamewarden Keldren Honorek
Keldren was born among the azers living beneath the surface of Brhan Kell. The Honoreks are a family of beetle farmers, raising the small catlike fire beetles the azers use for pest control. Though he dutifully did his part, Keldren didn't feel that this was his true calling, so once his younger siblings came of age and were able to take his place on the farm he left for the surface and joined the Druids of the Flame.

Despite finding the work of raising beetles tedious and unfulfilling, it instilled in Keldren respect for the natural order and taught him skills in animal husbandry that made him adept in the druidic way of life. He rapidly became a respected member of the enclave. When the previous Flamewarden was killed in battle by Adherents of the Sacred Fire Keldren was appointed to take his place. Excerpt from a biographical account of Keldren's rise to prominence Keldren felt pangs of nostalgia as he traversed the caverns leading to his childhood home. Even though it had been many years since he left his family’s Miog ranch to join the Druids of the Flame the caverns still felt as familiar as if he’d been here only yesterday.

Mixed with the nostalgia was a sense of guilt. How long had it been since he had come this way? How long since he had visited his family? He’d come a few times since joining the druids, but lately his duties as a senior member of the enclave had kept him too busy to visit. Or so he said, but deep down he knew it was a lie. Something else had been keeping him away, and he wasn’t quite sure what it was. Perhaps it was guilt about leaving in the first place. Some secrets we keep even from ourselves, he reflected.

Before long the small tunnel gave way to a larger cavern and he saw his family’s dwellings. Much of it was as he remembered, though there was a new hut in a freshly excavated part of the cavern. His family had grown since he’d been away, and his parents had hired diggers and builders to make room in the cavern for their children and grandchildren. The feelings of guilt were renewed as he realized he had nieces, nephews, and siblings-in-stone he barely knew.

“Uncle Keldren!” His niece Keytin’s gleeful shout shook him from his guilt-laden musing. She was nearly twice as old as when he’d last seen her, and had grown so much he barely recognized her, but nevertheless she happily ran toward him and leapt into her uncle’s arms. He involuntarily gasped, surprised by how much heavier she was.

“My you’ve grown, and look at your flames.” She giggled as he combed his fingers through the wreath of fire around her head.

“You’ve gotta meet my baby brother!”

“I will, little ember, but first I have to talk to your grandmother. Do you know where I might find her?”

“She’s getting food for the my oaks.”

“You mean Miogs.”

“Yeah that’s what I said!”

“Thank you, I’ll come see your brother in a short while.” He set the girl down and made his way to the shed where they kept the beetle feed. He gave a quick rap on the door to let her know he was coming in, then pushed open the door and stepped inside.

“Hello, mother.”

“Ah, Keldren. Here, help your old mother out and take this feed. The little beasties are hungry.” To some it might have seemed rude that her immediate reaction upon seeing her son for the first time in years was to give him a chore, but Keldren took it as a kindness. It was her way of showing him he was still part of the family and was always welcome back on the ranch.

“So how are things up topside?” she asked conversationally, as they began dropping food in front of a growing herd of eager beetles.

“They are. . . not well. The Flamewarden was recently killed by the Adherents.”

“A damn shame. Those fanatics are getting worse all the time. It stokes my fires that some of our people are even supporting the bastards.” After a beat she continued, “So, who is going to replace the old man?”

Keldren hesitated before answering. “Me. The Keepers have selected me to become the new Flamewarden”

“Oh have they now? I always knew those tree huggers were wiser than people gave them credit for.” Keldren knew it was true. While he was not the only azer to move to the surface and join the druidic enclave, and others happily traded with them, many azer thought of them as eccentric neighbors that were tolerable at best. He was always grateful that his mother w as supportive of both the druids and his involvement with them.

“They are quite wise, but I’m not sure I’m ready.”

“Ah, you couldn’t just come to tell me the good news, could you? Needed your old mum to show you the right way? Well, for what it’s worth, and it had better be worth quite a lot, I think you should do it.”

“I’m flattered by your faith and theirs, but there are surely better options. The boy Arthur is young, even for a human, but he’s a better shapeshifter than any I’ve ever met, and the wood elf, Elodie, has magic more powerful than you can believe.”

“And so what? A leader isn’t someone who can turn into a big beast, or cast the most powerful spells. That’s what the Keepers are for. Oh, don’t look surprised. Your old mum likes to know what her children are up to. I started learning about your druid friends after you joined them. I know all about Keepers and moots and circles. Now where was I? Oh yes, a leader doesn’t need need to be the strongest or the fastest. They don’t even need to be the smartest, though it sure helps. A leader needs to be someone people will follow, someone who can inspire people and show them the right path.

“Do you know why I’m the one running this farm, Keldren? It’s not because I’m the best at selling our stock to the shroom farmers, no I leave your uncle to that, with his honeyed tongue. He sells more beetles than I ever could. It’s not because the beetles like me, quite the opposite.” As if to prove her point, an overzealous Miog tried to snatch food still in her hand, and she had to yank it back before she was bitten. “No, I run this farm because the family trusts me, because I know what everyone’s good at and how best to let them use their talents. Because I listen to everyone and then make a decision on what’s best for the family.”

“Yes but you’ve been preparing to run this farm your whole life.”

“And you’ve been preparing to lead the druids your whole life, you just didn’t know it until now. Let me ask you something else: If you think the other druids are so wise, why are you standing here telling me how wrong they are? Because that’s what you’re doing, Keldren. They chose you, in their great wisdom they looked at all their keepers and seniors members, and of all of them they thought you were the leader they needed. What makes you so sure you know better than all of them”

Keldren found it hard to argue with that. His mother always did possess an extraordinary ability to root out what he was really thinking, and lay it out so plainly that he felt foolish for not having seen it before.

“I suppose you’re right,” he finally conceded. “Still though, seems a bit funny a young beetle rancher would be named Flamewarden of a prestigious enclave.”

“Let me tell you something about beetle farmers, Keldren. Everyone loves to praise the smiths like they’re the hottest fires in the mountains, but where would they be without us? Without those big oafish beetles our cousins breed they’d have no beasts to pull their carts. Without the Taror they’d have nothing to eat but shrooms, and without our little Miogs they wouldn’t even have those. Cave rats and fire slugs would eat their whole crop. So don’t slouch your beetle ranching shoulders, hold them high and proud. Do you know what the old hero Melgann rode into battle? That’s right, his own massive fire beetle.”

Keldren paused for a moment, as an idea struck him.

“You’re right, mother.”

“Of course I am.”

“And I think I know what I can offer the druids.”

—

Some time later, after Keldren had met his new nephew and enjoyed a small meal with his family, he made his way back to the surface, but not before making one more stop. As he made his way back his purse was lighter, but he had 3 massive Derfruli Fire Beetles in tow.

He had thought he’d only be able to purchase one or two, but the head of the farm, a distant cousin, had insisted on giving him a generous discount. Keldren wasn’t sure if this was because of his family, or because he was one of the druids. He feared it would be rude to ask.

He had to take a different path to the surface, as the Derfrulis were nearly the size of an Enninfield bison, and wouldn’t fit the way he’d come. Nevertheless, it wasn’t long before he emerged on the surface of Brhan Kell Island to show his prize to his fellow druids.

“What in the name of Syrtis are those?” asked a dragonborn, whose name Keldren had not yet learned.

“Fire beetle from the caverns below.”

“They’re massive! I’ve never seen any that large,” exclaimed Elodie.

“Fascinating.” Arthur Brynly gazed the creatures intently, studying their form and observing their movements, learning all he’d need to mimic their form with his wild shape ability.

“What will we use them for?” the dragonborn asked.

“As mounts!” Keldren exclaimed. “Humans and elves ride their majestic horses into battle, halflings have their riding dogs, goblins make mounts of spiders, and half-orcs have tamed mighty bison to carry them. These are the beasts that carry my people into battle.”

The gathered druids erupted into a cacophony of questions and objections. Being druids, some of the concerns were about the ethics of using mounts in battle, while others had more practical questions about how riding a beetle would work. Can they be controlled? How fast are they? How will they react to the noise of a battle? Are they intelligent? Without his mother’s recent encouragement Keldren might have been defeated by the withering barrage of doubt.

Instead he decided to show them. With an ease that belied the fact that he’d only done this a few times in his life he leapt aboard the leading beetle and urged it forward, toward a cluster of training dummies erected for practicing novices. The beetle charged forward with surprising speed and barreled into one of the dummies, knocking it to the ground without breaking stride. As the beetle took out one dummy, Keldren swing his staff from atop its carapace and delivered a crushing blow to one adjacent to it. This dummy stayed standing, but the point was made.

Without prompting, the two unmounted beetles let out a unified screech and surged forward. Keldren felt a sinking feeling as he feared he’d lost control of the beasts, but a moment later he realized the opposite was happening. The two massive beetles surged forward, each charging another of the target dummies.

There were murmurs from the crowd, and even a few cheers, but Keldren sensed that not all of the crowd was convinced. Suddenly a fourth beetle approached the original three, and exchanged a series of clicks. Arthur, now wild shaped into the form of a beetle himself, was attempting to communicate with them. After a few short moments, he returned to his human form and turned to the crowd.

“Well?” asked Elodie. “What did they say?”

“They are not clever beasts,” Arthur confessed,” but they know two things: They know this island is threatened by outsiders, and they knew we fight to protect it. They are eager to help us.”

That was enough to dispel any remaining doubt among the druids. “Keldren!” the crowd shouted. A few even jokingly shouted “Keldren the Beetlewarden!”

Sitting atop is massive Coleopterid mount Keldren allowed himself a smile. It wasn’t just the crowd’s doubts he was trying to quash. At last, he finally felt like he was ready to do what was being asked of him. He was Flamewarden Keldren Honorek, leader of the Druids of the Flame, protector of Brhan Kell, and rancher of beetles.

Elodie Duskblossom
Elodie grew up in a small community of wood elves on the outskirts of the Wispwood. When she was still quite young a wild forest fire swept through her home, razing the village and killing or wounding many of her kin. She came to both fear and loathe fire. When Druids of the Flame arrived and began conducting controlled burns to deprive the wild fire of its fuel she was initially disgusted, believing them to be making things worse. However, when their methods proved successful and the raging fire was stopped Elodie realized that fire could be a useful tool as much as a force of destruction. Leaving the charred remains of her childhood behind her she ventured with the druids to their volcanic island and learned the ways of fire from them.

Having already trained as a druid in her original home, Elodie was able to make tremendous contributions to the enclave and was appointed Keeper of the Land so that she could share her knowledge of druidic magic.

Arthur Brynly
As a volcanic island far from the mainland, Brhan Kell receives few visitors. Nevertheless, traders do sometimes visit to trade with the druids or the azers. Arthur Brynly's father, Captain Leonard Brynly of the Gallant Selkie, was one such individual. He occasionally sailed to the island bringing items from Bayt-Altinin or Thimlonde to trade for lavaforged arms and armor from the azers or Ashroot potions from the Druids of the Flame.

Tragically, the Gallant Selkie was caught in a storm near the island and sunk. A shapeshifter among the passengers was able to transform and escape, but could only carry a single person with her. The captain begged her to save his son and she obliged, carrying young Arthur to Brhan Kell where the druids nursed him back to health. Though it was never proven, some of the druids suspect the storm was conjured by the Undertow Knights in an attempt to cut the islanders off from their allies.

Owing his life to a shapeshifter and the druids, and sharing their hatred of their foes with them, Arthur joined the druids and followed the path of the Circle of the Moon. Driven in equal parts by a desire to use shapeshifting magic to help others as he was once help and by a thirst for vengeance against those he believes responsible for his father's death, Arthur rapidly progressed in skill as a shapeshifter and now serves the enclave as Keeper of the Moon.