Greetings, my fellow Achaeans. My nam is Imlorien, surnamed Sylvae. There are many here who know me, many I count as friend and some few, regretfully, as enemy. My freinds know my heart, and how I feel. This post is not for them, but for those of you who do not. I am, proudly, a Druid. Here I will attempt to instill some inkling as to what that means to me, my Guildmates, and Achaea at large to those of you who do not know and, perhaps, serve as a reminder to those who may have forgotten our place in this world.

The forestsm of Achaea are our purview. There we find solace and refuge from the bussle and turmoil often associated with the cities. Gaia is our Divine Patroness, we are bidden by Her to be passive. To seek the middle road, neither 'good' nor 'evil'. It is a path hard to follow, at times, and easily strayed from.Being mortal, one can't expect perfection from that which is inherently imperfect. In the main, we freely forgive those who offend us. Those who would slay us for whatever reason are reminded that we offer no violence to them, of whatever alingment, and indeed have much to offer by way of healings and elixers of protection from the dangers of this world, such are the pronouncements and guidelines given us by the Earthmother.

Sadly, some few years ago, our beloved Spirit of Life was cast in chains of no escape. There, She was to abide 'til that time when the Gods would see fit to release Her from her prison. Her reasons for doing that whicj She is accused of are not for mortal minds to judge, neither too are the reasons for her imprisonment. I will not presume to know the minds of the Gods in this matter, but will instead tell of our despair and our great woe following hard upon this disaster. I will attempt to evoke the emptiness we feel when, walking through the forests, we feel not that Presense which gave spring to our steps and joy to our hearts.

These tidings were certainly bad enough for anyone among us to be plunged into the veriest depths of despair but, following hard upon this tragedy, was the coming of the Morningstar. many were the souls that filed the halls of Sarapis on that bittersweet day when the world was mad anew(made). New Gods adorned the Garden of the Gods and grace us with their Presense here in the mundane world as well but, alas, this boon was not without cost and again the Druids bore the brunt of the woe that beide(betided) that day. All Life was extinguished...mortal, animal and...plant life. All Druids were reborn to find their lovely, well tended and dearly loved groves utterly destroyed. This heartbreak, following the recent one, ahain plunged us into deep gloom and piteous despair. many were the voices raised to the heavens crying, "Why hast the Gods forsaken us?", as indeed it appeared to our mortal eyes to seem. But, casting aside our woe, we redoubled our efforts and again, with joy in our hearts for the work to be done

Years of peace and properity ensued for us. We grew and thrived and carried out our ethos as best we may woithout guidance from Her which we held so dear. These were, mainly, happy times for me as I grew in understanding of the people and cultures of Achaea. In former times, I held the Occultists to be nothing more than butchers of innocent folk. I now know that to be a foolhardy notion in the extreme. I thank bakhu and Mordyval for patience and instrution to me and indeed to many others of their Guild for their studious and scholarly teachings. They do not hold themselves to be 'evil', nor do I, now. Those of the Church DO, however hold themselves to be 'good', and they are indeed for the most part kindhearted and given to charity, if that is classed as 'good'. As for me, I see them as merely polar opposites and leave the debate and the label of 'good' or 'evil' to them to agrre on.

The Templars would no doubt prefer that we do not provide the Occultists or the Shadowsnakes or the Serpentlords with skullcap. The aforementioned guilds would also no doubt prefer we not supply the Church with sileris and caloric salves. You see now how the middle path is a hard road to follow, but we must try, for balance in Nature is the lesson taught us by Nature herself and we cannot do otherwise.

This service we gladly provide to all in Achaea as the Earthmother has decreed that ALL life is dear to Her, and to provide solace and healing to that life is good in her eyes. So, for little in the way of personal gain, as gold cannot buy sunlight to power our groves, we sell elixers and herbs far below what the outrageous gougers Rurin and Seasone would tend. In many cases, to newbies of whatever class and to friends, we charge nothing at all.

We come now to the present.

Hardship and grievous woe has again descended upon us, the most luckless of Guilds, it seems. twilight has cast a pall over our beloved groves. Few there are that can boast of an energy level even one fifth of that which was before. Banking some of this energy for emergencies , we ate left with enough enrgy to grow perhaps one or two sets of ingredients for elixers every Achaean week. That is ALL. Many of our everyday grove powers, status, energy, return and some others, we have to use almost daily. It is easy to see then, that there is little left for even ourselves, let alone others. In our bitterness and despair at these disasters, coming, as it seems to us, one after the other and only on our heads, we have spoke in haste and bitterness, not with hope and charity,which our Divine earthmother gave unto us to exhibit to the world.

For this weakness in myself (and many among us feel the same), I humbly, and with great shame, crave the forgiveness of all in Achaea who have felt the pinch of these desperate times. I hope you can understand the depth of our feelings when again we bear the brunt of Godly misfortune. Their ways are inscrutable to me, and cannot be fathomed by any amount of thought I may bring to bear. I can only report what I fell(feel), and I feel cursed.

There are many who bear no love for Gaia. There are some few who despise Her with all their strength. We love Her, for to us, She IS Nature AND love without which we have no hope to survive. The Druids as you know them will be no more. Many will rejoice in that prospect but consider this: a strong Druid guild provides thos things without which life in Achara(achaea) would be much more difficult. Gaia alone can sweep aside the dark blanket that veils the sun from our groves and I beg all in Achaea to help us in this worthy task. Put aside your oppositions and your fers(fears) and assist us to extrcate Gaia from thos final bonds which tie Her. her 'corruptions' have been cleansed, She is that which was meant to Be. At least, if you cannot find it in your hearts to help us, please, I beg, do not hinder us. The task set before us by the Gods is hard indeed, alone as we are and beset by enmities of our own creation.

Foegive me...
Forgive US...
and please, help us

Penned by my hand on the 10th of Phaestian, in the year 212 AF.