Servants of the Land
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By Lance Dooly (gt6410c@prism.gatech.edu)
The Priests of the Land have no god or goddess as many other
orders think of them. They believe in the magic of earth and
life. They call themselves Servants of the Land. Other folk
sometimes cal them Druids, though that name hails from before the
Shattering, and true Druids hold a somewhat different outlook on
the Land and their duty. The Servants believe that the Land
contains its own magic, a self-renewing magic that is present in
every stone or tree or creature in the world. It is the magic of
earth and life, and so long as life remains, the Land will
endure. But the Great Shattering has strained the Land's ability
to renew itself. It will need help to grow again and be
boundless as it once was. It is toward this end that the
Servants of the Land toil. They use their own small reserves of
Magic to channel the Land's almost limitless power.
The Servants of the Land are actually direct descendants of
part of the old Druidic order. The devastation wrought by the
Shattering was a great blackness on the hearts of many Druids.
Those who survived had to work diligently to help sustain their
failing world. The luxury of remaining neutral, maintaining the
balance between birth and death, was destroyed, along with the
world, by the hubris of the Necromancers. The balance was gone.
Over the centuries, the Servants have retained the powers of the
old Druids, but they are even more concerned with nurturing their
broken world. Each living thing is precious for the Magic tha
it represents.
In time, they hope the floating islands may be rejoined.
But they know this will take the combined effort of hundreds upon
thousand scattered over all the remains of the world. A Second
Cabel will have to emerge, searching for the power to rejoin what
the Last Necromancer sundered. For now, the Servants are content
to do what they can to revive each piece of Land that remains.
Their symbols are wood and stone. Each initiate is given a
Stone, chipped and rubbed smooth from an Elder Rock, and a
straight Rod of wood, cut and carved from a branch of a Great
Oak. These two totems are the channel for the Land's power.
They are precious above all else to a Servant of the Land.
The Rod is used for all spells dealing with the Animal,
Healing, and Plant spheres. It is an unremarkable piece of wood
about a foot and half long, an inch and half thick. It serves as
one of the material components in a Servant's spells, but it is
not consumed in the casting. The Rod does radiate magic and
saves as hard wood with a +1 bonus.
The Stone is used for all spells dealing with the Divination
Elemental, and Weather spheres. It is a fist-sized roundish
piece of stone, often with a hole through it, so that it can be
worn as an amulet. Like the Rod, the Stone is a principal
component in a Servant's spells. It also radiates magic and
saves as rock with a +1 bonus
Spells of the All sphere may be cast with either the Rod or
Stone. To turn or destroy undead creatures, a Servant must have
both Rod an Stone.
If a Servant loses his Stone or Rod, then he will have
trouble casting spells from the associated spheres. Other
abilities, such a shapechanging are not affected by the loss. A
branch from a living tree can be used as a substitute for the
Rod, but it must be freshly cut for it will lose it's power to
focus the Magic of Life in 2 to 4 rounds. Oak will hold it's
power for 1 to 2 turns. In addition, all Animal, Healing, and
Plant spells cast with such a substitute are at half
effectiveness. This method of casting spells is generally not
used except in circumstances of great need since it involves harm
to a living tree.
The Stone is less unique. All that is needed is a good
sized piece of rock. A Servant standing on a large outcropping
of rock could cast spells for several months. A fist-sized piece
of rock will serve to cast 10 spell levels worth of spells. The
Magic of Stone is then exhausted from that piece and will return
only slowly (over several years). Spells cast in this way are at
full effectiveness. The Magic of Stone is much less fragile than
the Magic of Life, but it takes much longer to be renewed.
A Servant can usually get a new Rod or Stone from another
group of Servants, or he can try to fashion one himself. For the
Rod, an ancient oak must be found, and a branch cut from it. The
Servant must then immediately begin the Ritual of Binding. The
Ritual begins with the freshly cut branch being placed in a
vessel of pure water. It is then Blessed and the piece is
quickly carved to it's final shape. The final step is the
casting of Binding (a 1st level spell). The Binding of the Magic
is difficult and the chance for success is 10% per level of the
Servant. If successful, the Rod created will function properly,
if unsuccessful, the Magic of Life will quickly run out from that
piece of wood.
For the Stone, a piece of an elder stone is required. Elder
stone is rock which is as old as the Land. It is somewhat rare,
but not overly so, and the places where it reaches through to the
surface are well known. The rock is shaped and then purified with
flame and water. The timing of each step is not as critical for
creating a Stone as it is for creating a Rod, but the spell of
Binding is more difficult. The chance for success is only 5% per
level of the Servant.
Both the Rod and Stone function by allowing the Servant to
draw from the vast stores of magic in both the earth and the
living thing upon it. As a result, Servant's have difficulty
casting spells when they are traveling between Fragments. As
they move farther from the Fragment, they lose the ability to
channel the necessary magic for the more powerful spells. Beyond
a few miles, Servants can only use 1st level spells and they turn
undead at half their level. Other abilities such as
shapechanging are not affected. The same may be true if the
Servant should go into a region where there are few or no living
things. Deserts and the farther depths of mountains will make
drawing on the Magic of Life difficult for a Servant. The Magic
of Stone would be unaffected.
Servants are rarely war-like or knowledgeable in combat.
Many know the bow, and a few know how to defend themselves with
staff or spear. None wear armor or carry a shield unless the
need is obvious and dire. Warfare and wanton killing are in
opposition to the needs of the Land. If nothing else, it
diminishes the Power available to the Servants. The Magic of
Stone is not diminished, but the Magic of Life is.
One of the few things that will cause a Servant to begin a
battle is the presence of undead. The blight of Necromancy is a
dagger in the side of every Servant. The old Druids held no sway
over the undead creatures. After the Shattering, the Druids who
would be the forefathers of the Servants, swore to fight forever
the blasphemy of the Necromancers. Servants will usually try to
drive the undead away from any innocent (turning) and then hunt
them down and destroy the foul creatures if at all possible.
If a Servant wields a scimitar, it means that he is on a
mission to destroy some threat to the Land. The scimitar is a
representation of war to Servants. It has no use except when
open battle is the only remaining choice. It is never carried
without reason, and a Servant will often break the weapon when he
has finished whatever conflict caused him to take up the sword.
The organization of Servants is less rigid than the old
Druidic Order. For one, there are fewer Servants and more work to
do. Each member toils diligently from dawn to dusk. The
difficulty of traveling between Fragments has also made
communication among members of the order less frequent. Servants
have travelled to all of the seven largest Fragments, and these
have sizable permanent settlements of Servants. Some of the
smaller and more distant Fragments have been 'colonized'. Some
have not. The colonization of a new Fragment is difficult since
it requires several Servants, as well as time to establish a
Grove which can support itself by attracting new aspirants
At 1st through 8th level, all members are simply called
'Servants'. If necessary, rank is determined by the number of
years 'in service', the years since a member received his Rod and
Stone.
At 9th level, members must pass through the Rites of Mastery
to become 'Master-Servants'. The Rod is replaced with a Staff,
the larger totem channeling the greater spells of the Magic of
Life better. The Stone is not usually replaced. Elder rock is
able to withstand any magic channeled through it.
Many Servants are wanderers who spread their healing hand
over any that need it. Others are stationary watching over a
specific area of the Land. Both are considered valuable and true
service to the Land, and many Servants will settle down for a
while and then suddenly begin wandering again.
Settlements of Servants are called Groves as Servants have
an affinity for the trees which represent the Magic of Life.
Groves are almost always ringed with oak trees (the size
generally indicating the age of the Grove). Most Groves are
established near or around an ancient oak.
A Grove is sometimes dedicated toward the growth and
nurturing of one type of plant or the raising of a certain
animal. Herds of wild horses are often a sign that a Grove is
not far. Killing a protected animal may draw the attention of
the Grove, though not necessarily the same wrath that might have
been garnered from the Druids of old.
Powers & Requirements for Servants
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Neutral good or lawful good, very rarely chaotic good
Servants have retained the old druidic language, and they
still guard it as a secret only for true members.
Spells and abilities as druids with the following changes:
Plant/animal/water identification at 1st level
Pass without trace at 3rd leve
Additional languages at 5th level
Shapechange & Immunity to woodland charms at 7th level
Armor allowed: padded or leather armor, small or medium shield.
Weapons allowed: bow, staff, club, spear, dagger, knife,
sling, scimitar.
Servants CAN turn undead as a cleric of equal level, their
devotion to nurturing life and their burning hatred of necromancy
has caused them to relearn the knowledge of turning and
destroying undead.
The Stone and Rod each can be used by the Servant to invoke
certain powers at any time
-The Rod can be used as a small light source, shedding a
bluish-white light as bright as a small torch. This does not
consume the Rod, but the Servant cannot cast other spells while
maintaining the light.
-The Stone can be caused to heat up and ignite flammables
like wood. This takes several rounds, and is not really useful
for combat. The Stone is not harmed by this.
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