The umbrella term “druid” encompasses a variety of beliefs, from the nature-centered perspective of Celtic druids to the heavily shamanic viewpoint of wild druids to the esoteric mumblings of English druids. The commonality between the beliefs is the invocation of spirits tied to particular locations and the desire of the druid to work with those spirits to gain a measure of control over what happens in that spot. The Celtic druid may believe in a spirit that predates the existence of humanity, while English druids believe the spirits were shaped by the places and by the humans living there, but in operative terms that is a minor distinction—both believe the spirit is important, and both want the spirit on their side.

There is a strong arcane side to druids as they attempt find the true spirit of the land. Anyone can summon a spirit (well, not anyone, but you know what we mean), but invoking the true spirit of a place is more difficult. Especially since spirits can be tricky beings and may claim to be the spirit of a place without being the real thing. So druids often delve into the history of a spot, looking for clues that may help them uncover the true spirit at the base of that location.

While druids have a great respect for the land, that attitude often is limited to their piece of land. They can be very territorial, working hard to protect their chosen lands while unleashing fury on spots they believe may be a threat to them. They are highly conscious background counts, mana ebbs, ley lines, and other astral phenomena, since they know how those elements can affect the defense of their territory. Many of them are quite proactive in aspecting the mana of their favored area toward their tradition, giving them a very useful advantage.

Conjurers are common among druids, as are practitioners of ritual magic. Druid rituals can be long, formal, and involved, but the results of this are often spells of sweeping, transformative power. Druid adepts are more rare, but they can still be found, ready to fiercely defend the area they have chosen—or that they believe has chosen them. Druids often avoid head-on fights, instead preferring to use their knowledge of the land and nature to hide them and give them the chance to strike out when they can do the most damage.

Ryanne Winter met a spirit she refers to as the guardian of the Bitterroot Forest of the Sioux Nation in 2064. She has communed with this spirit for over a decade, growing more eccentric as she resists the attempts of the Sioux government to drive her out. They are unhappy with her because she regularly defends the Forest agains neighboring territories, mainly by sniping at any hostile-looking creature that gets in her range, including Sioux law enforcement. Obtaining a private sit-down with her won’t be easy, and she might not be entirely intelligible, but she’d certainly have a lot to say about building a relationship with the spirit of a particular place.