This is specifically for the newly classed, non-guilded forestals out
there. The rest of you are welcome to read, but will probably want to
skip past this post. Recognizing that it is difficult for the
non-guilded to know and understand the various laws and policies of
forestals, as well as other etiquettes involved with the skill of
concoctions, I am posting here to pass on that information to you. This
will benefit all of us who love and respect Nature.

The basics, of course, involve harvesting plants. Oakstone has decreed,
to protect the continuing viability of herbal life, that no one may
harvest a plant below 10. As in most things, you should never use
reflexes to help you harvest. You should carefully harvest the plants,
and keep checking the plant levels with the PLANT command to make sure
you know how far you have gone.

All overharvests must be reported to Oakstone by messaging one of the
Hierophants. The names of the Hierophants are listed in HELP OAKSTONE.
On a FIRST overharvest, the forestal is fined 3000 gp plus 500 gp per
plant overharvested. Thus, if you overharvest ginseng down to 7, you
will pay a fine of 4500 gp. On a SECOND overharvest within 10 years, you
will pay a fine of 5000 gp plus 1000 gp per plant overharvested. On a
THIRD overharvest within 10 years, you will be fined 10000 gp plus 1500
gp per plant overharvest. Most importantly, on that THIRD overharvest,
you will be enemied to Oakstone, thus to all the forests, for a ONE year
period. On a FOURTH overharvest within 10 years, you will be fined 20000
gp plus 2000 gp per plant overharvested. Again, even more important, is
that on the FOURTH overharvest, you will be enemied to Oakstone for a
FIVE year period. It is very painful and deadly for a forestal to be
enemied to the forests.



Druid and Sentinel classes have the metamorphosis skill of INFERNO. This
skill will set the forest or jungle on fire, causing physical harm and
possibly death to adventurers, but most important, it causes destruction
to the forest/jungle. This skill is -never- to be used by a forestal. We
gain our powers and abilities from the powers of Nature, and we must
always respect that gift. Any druid or sentinel caught using Inferno
will be enemied to Oakstone for a period of FIVE years and fined 20000
gp.


Sylvan classes, as well as magi classes, have the skill of HOLOCAUST.
Holocaust blackens and burns the forest or jungle and kills all plant
life therein. Its effect on the forest/jungle is very similar to
extermination. Again, this is a skill -never- to be used in the
forest/jungle by a forestal. The name of the person who used holocaust
is imprinted on the forest/jungle for skilled forestals to detect. Any
sylvan using the Holocaust skill in the forest/jungle will be enemied to
Oakstone for a period of FIVE years and fined 20000 gp per location
affected.


Forestal Etiquette..or Common Courtesy ..... It has long been a policy
of forestals to NOT harvest the groves of another without permission
from that person. Although this is not a law, it is matter of courtesy
to your fellow forestals. Use the PERCEIVE skill as you roam the forests
looking for plants to harvest. That will tell you if the location you
are in has been imprinted by another forestal. Further, as has been
posted earlier, it is very bad form to harvest within the confines of a
Divine Temple, and this includes what remains of Mother Gaia's Temple in
the West Ithmia. This is a matter of respect to the Divine. Many Divine
Orders will enemy someone who has harvested within their temple without
permission, so be careful and know where you are located.


Lastly, we of the Druid Guild, Sentinel Guild, and Sylvan Guild, as well
as many longstanding forestal rogues take our obligations to Nature
seriously and have dedicated ourselves to maintaining Nature for the
benefit of all. We do have a clan, WALKING WITH NATURE, that is a clan
solely for the purpose of organizing patrols for overharvests, fires,
exterminations, holocausts, and the like. I encourage you to consider
joining the clan and taking on a patrol route to help us protect the
forests, mountains, jungles, swamps, and caves that we all need to
survive in these lands. Lirian is the clan head. For membership, you may
contact me, Lirian, Greyda, Loak, Rahum, Misty, Kaiya, Wiigh, Ceten or
Osek.


If you have questions on policies that I have not mentioned here, please
feel free to contact me, Farret, Ainia, or any of the Druid, Sentinel,
or Sylvan Secretaries for help. Good luck, and remember to respect
Nature.


Conor
Guildmaster of the Druid Guild

Penned by my hand on the 22nd of Glacian, in the year 391 AF.