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History of the Order of the Druids of Chislev
DIR By: Dungeon Master
Date: March 22, 2026, 12:17 am
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[center]History of the Order of the Druids of Chislev
(Information on Merwellyn)
This is all Conjecture and scraps of Information being collected
Vedvedsica was created by Paul B. Thompson and Tonya C. Cook
Merwellyn created by David C. Richardson
This is an Unfinished Work
[/center]
Timeline-
The Age of Dreams
The Age of Dreams is an era of Krynnish history, often
considered the beginning of recorded history, and running from
ca. 9000 PC - 960 PC.
Three time periods collectively form the Age of Dreams: the
Foundation (ca. 9000 PC - 5000 PC), the Time of Light ca. 5000
PC - 2000 PC), and the Time of Knights (ca. 2000 PC - 960 PC).
Foundations
Ogres, elves, and humans establish homes and the beginnings of
civilization. Reorx gathers a select few creative humans and
teaches them his craft. Ogres begin enslaving humans. An ogre
governor named Igraine learns compassion and is declared a
traitor by his race. Igraine and his followers call themselves
the Irda and move to a distant island. The ogre empire descends
to barbarism as human slaves revolt and elven civilization comes
into its own.
The Time of Light
Reorx curses his chosen humans for their arrogance, changing
them into the first gnomes.
The coming of the Graygem
4350 Hiddukel tricked one of these gnomes into stealing the
Graygem from Lunitari. The gnome used the Self-Propelled Lunar
Extension Ladder to pluck the Graygem from Lunitari and began to
return to Krynn. As the gnome was returning, he lost his grip on
the Graygem, and it fell to Krynn. The Graygem went wild,
crisscrossing across the world, bringing chaos and change in its
wake. Mortals, flora, fauna, and animals are all changed. By
4100 PC, Reorx saw the chaos and destruction the Graygem
brought, and tasked his gnomes to search out and capture the
Graygem. The gnomes immediately set out after the Graygem.
Eastern Ansalon
Not much is known about the early life of the one known as
Vedvedsica. Though not even his real name, for our purposes, it
will suffice.
Early on, Vedvedsica took a leadership role even before the
founding of the elven nation of Silvanesti. He was already the
powerful leader of a collective league called the Brown Hoods.
When the elves had the first Sinthal-Elish, Vedvedsica offered
to back Lord Balif for leadership of the elves. He then cast a
spell to show Balif his future, and when Balif saw it, he
quickly backed Silvanos Goldeneye. Vedvedsica was the first high
sage to Lord Balif and the nation of Silvanesti.
League of Brown Hoods was made up of a confederation of spirit
sorcerers, rural clerics, and druids. The League is connected in
mysterious ways to the grey traveler, Gilean, the god of the
book, and his order of Grey Gods.
Spirit Sorcerers, Primal Magicians, and Proto Magic-Users. They
were:
[center]Irkis · Kadalvas · Vatore · Isida · Clilla · Diros ·
Zohas Graeme · The Witch Nikastia Storm · Delen
Fayal Padran · Parys Dayl · Kayn Wytsnall[/center]
Rural Clerics of the Neutral Gods, though mostly of Gilean of
the Book, and his son Zivilyn, the Tree of Life. They were:
[center]Isolde · Loric · Doran · Lysara · Corin · Quiran ·
Camille · Nyajn · Kethya[/center]
Among the first Druids from these early times were among the
most respected from across Ansalon. They were:
[center]Niana · Marieleth · Oisiodh · Tianan · Mordan · Erdian ·
Kyrissach · Sinturo · Noorne[/center]
The League lived on the fringes of elven and human-settled
lands, mostly made up of early elves and early humans,
originally heralding from the outside the wilderness realms of
the elven lands.
It came to be heard from across the land that several of the
druids’ brethren have been accosted, run out of town, and in
some dire cases, they have been burned at the stake. Now,
druidic laws have not been fully laid down, and everyone is just
doing what they think is right. There are some outliers that
greatly abuse offenders, but for the most part, druids have
tried to be helpful to the general populace.
The great thinkers among them sketch out a covenant law to
adhere to. An outline that has been added with Amendments, but
not many, the blueprint of the long training of the initiate,
the druids of nine, the strength of the circles, the duties of
the Archdruids, the Great Druids, the gathering of the Moot, the
Ban, the Challenge, the Grand Druid of Chislev, and the
Hierophant Druids. When they finished, Chislev blessed the
effort, and the effort was passed around in the east and slowly
filtered into the west.
The Removal of the Human Barbarian Tribes (4007 PC)
High Sage Vedvedsica visits the barbarian leader Karada and
shows her what exactly her barbarian hordes were up against in
the Silvanesti. He renders both of them invisible, and together
they travel to Silvanost so he can show her the city and its
people.
The First Dragon War (3900 PC - 3550 PC)
Called the Dragon War by dragons, it was a war that took place
between the Metallic Dragons allied with the elves of Silvanesti
and the Chromatic Dragons allied with ogres and followers of
Takhisis. During the First Dragon War, Silvanos led the defense
against the ogre armies that came against Silvanesti.
The war begins when the elven king Silvanos brings his people to
a forest inhabited by chromatic dragons. The dragons fight the
elves for control of the territory. The three gods of magic
provide the elves with five dragon stones, which capture the
spirits of the first dragons. The dragon stones are buried,
stopping the war, but the other deities punish the gods of magic
for their interference.
While the Metallic Dragons were occupied in the west with the
death of their mentor, the Scion Patersmith, Crematia saw her
chance and had her chromatic dragons and ogre allies attack the
elven outposts in an attempt to throw out the elven invaders.
Silvanos Goldeneye and his lieutenant Balif rallied all the
elves in fighting back.
While the dragons were fighting in the sky, an ogre named
Ironfist led the ogres in attacking the elves led by Silvanos
and Balif. Eventually, leadership would pass to Blacktusk and
then on to his grandson Talonian, who would fight the last
battle of the First Dragon War.
When Aurican (who was a massive gold dragon that fought in the
First and Second Dragon Wars) left his brother to fight against
the hordes of Takhisis, he took with him three sages, Fayal
Padran, Parys Dayl, and Kayn Wytsnall, who were triplets (this
being very rare for elves). Together, the four traveled into the
realms of the gods in some way. There, they met with Solinari,
Lunitari, and Nuitari and were told the way in which to defeat
the chromatic dragons. They taught them how to create dragon
stones, and with them, capture the spirits of the dragons.
The War Turns
Just as the blues were about to attack and slaughter the elves
on the field of battle, Silvanos used the power of the blue
stone to capture the blue dragon spirits. With the threat of the
chromatic dragons gone, the elves were able to slaughter the
ogres.
Vedvedsica’s First Downfall
It is known that Vedvedsica overreached himself, and for that
Balif dismissed him from his service. For his past services,
Silvanos saved his life and was banished to the Valley of the
Blue Sands sometime before the year 3995 PC.
Bloodlines
Allow me to pause here a moment, if you will, for me to be able
to account for a few important lineages from the Druids of the
Brown Hoods. The first is not represented by blood connection,
but knowledge passed down from master to student, and so on. The
student becomes the master, and he teaches a student.
Information is passed down, but it may be that, for some reason,
the information is diluted over time, in some cases, in the
passing of the traditions.
The wise Druidess Oisiodh taught Myrrdian from the time he was a
boy. He was raised to become an Archdruid and sent out into the
world to report back on the goings on across the lands. Myrrdian
became known as a great explorer because he traveled far and
wide, and now he has brought back a tale about a southern wood
where giant forest barbarians erected great stones that they
found in the Eastwall Mountains, and it is said that somehow
they moved them into this forest area. Myrrdian reports the
stones are possibly from an earlier Neolithic endeavor, not from
a settlement, more like a watch post; there are inscriptions
that indicate High Ogre in origin.
No telling how long ago this was done. At the standing stones,
there is a shrine to Chislev, and she has blessed the site to
keep it hidden from the enemy. It was a place of refuge. Some of
the early druids of the wood lived in the winter months in caves
in the nearby Eastwall Mountains. This wood, they named
Merwellyn.
Soon, Silvanos Goldeneye's early call became a demand, and some
of the league joined migration away from the oppressive dictates
of the Emerald Throne, and Myrrdian traveled to the eastern
lands of what would become Balifor and settled and taught
several initiates.
It would be from these descendants of these initiates, who would
go on to be Druids in their own right who’s bloodlines and
teachings would survive the Dragon War, The second Dragon War,
the coming of High Sorcery, and the Greygem, the coming of the
Kender, the Kinslayer Wars, The Third Dragon War, The
Kingpriests, and finally the Cataclysm.
AC: The years After the Cataclysm
From the East
The Age of Despair came, and from those Druid descendants came
Cerlin of Balifor. Cerlin grew up on the tales of Myrrdian and
his travels, but one story always stuck with him. The story of
Merwellyn. He did not even know if it still existed after the
devastation of the Cataclysm. But he means to try. On his way
from the east, he came across a strange sight, a young boy
sitting with a Treant. This boy had wandered into the woods and
become lost and could not find his way home, and was being kept
alive by a Treant's wisdom and stayed with the elder tree, but
winter was coming in a couple of months. The Treant requested
that Cerlin take the boy with him, and Cerlin agreed. They would
get to a place of protection and warmth for the winter before
they set out across the Plains of Dust. One important site
Cerlin wanted to visit was the World Tree of Zivilyn.
They would try to piece together where this forest was, for much
had changed in the cataclysm. At first, when Cerlin heard about
this New Sea, he feared it could have drowned the Wood,
submerging it beneath the waves. Finding the Eastwall Mountains,
they determined that this lonely wood that had been spared, sat
on the very edge of this New Sea, had to be Merwellyn. A part of
the ancient Ergothian highway can be found running north to
south along the eastern edge of the forest. The locals claim the
Forest is home to swarms of ghosts of the wood. Cerlin had tears
in his eyes when the forest and its branches opened to Cerlin
and Kaelan.
Kaelan was terribly frightened of the stories of swarms of
ghosts, but Cerlin was not so sure. Within moments, they found
wind chimes, and the occasional screech of an owl is the only
thing going bump in the night, thus far. They found the standing
stones and the shrine to Chislev that confirmed the tales of
Myrrdian. The spirits of wood finally reveal themselves to the
newcomers after several days. The spirits have determined that
the newcomers are here to protect the forest and accept them as
the guardians of the forest.
In their exploration of the forest, they find that it contains
many exotic and rare plants, some of which are the main
components of magic potions. They met the first living
inhabitence of the forest when they noticed satyrs watching them
from afar. The fey sprites and pixies also keep their distance
until they are sure of the newcomers. Cerlin taught Kaelan the
ways of the Forest, as he was taught. Several times, they are
visited by Brown Hoods, Fingondir Arbagon, and his son Tevarith.
Cerlin died in an unknown incident, but he wanted Kaelan to
succeed him as Guardian of Merwellyn. Tevarith would visit
Kaelan the Hermit, from time to time, for years to come.
[center]···[/center]
The Brown Hood Druidess Noorne taught several initiates, one of
them was Tyana. It is through Tyana’s descendants that Tevarith
(Talidaar’s grandfather) was born. bloodlines and teachings that
would survive the Dragon War, the second Dragon War, the
Kinslayer Wars, when one nation split into two. The descendants
joined with the migration to lands west, ceded to Kith-Kanan
Silvanos, to the forest of Mithranhana
The Third Dragon War, where Darkness almost completely
extinguished the light, the Rise of the Kingpriests, to the Last
Kingpriest.
A moment about the Last Kingpriest, his declaration that
effectively waged a holy war against the Doctrine of Balance,
driven by the belief that any faith other than his own worship
of Paladine was evil, the Knights of the Divine Hammer were a
radical military order established by Beldinas Pilofiro, the
last Kingpriest of Istar, to purge neutral and evil followers,
wizards, and non-human races. The Brown Hood league teetered on
collapse by the Kinslayer Wars; only a few remained of the Druid
Order, the Knights of the Divine Hammer systematically hunted
down clerics of Neutrality, Black Robe mages, and various races
deemed "evil" by the Kingpriest's ever-widening definition. The
Druidic Order of Chislev was brought to the brink of
destruction.
The Cataclysm finally ended the madness
AC: The years After the Cataclysm
Western Ansalon
Tevarith’s (Talidaar’s grandfather) Father was Fingondir
Arbagon, who passed down the teachings of the Brown Hoods and
the ways of the Druids of Chislev. They lived in a small
community of aging druid descendants on the edge of Qualinesti
Tevarith (Talidaar’s grandfather) went on many travels with his
father, Fingondir, across Abanasinia. They worked with towns
trying to rebuild after raids. They tried to bring peace to the
warring Abanasinian tribesmen and were moderately successful for
a time until tempers flared again. Soon, they were brought to
the Circle of Seven tribes of centaurs and were welcomed into
Darken Wood. They were brought to the court of the Forestmaster,
where they sat in council with the other protectors of the
forests.
Tevarith met this intoxicatingly beautiful elven warrior. She
was one of the most skilled fighters he had ever seen, whether
by bow or by sword; she was as lethal as she was beautiful, and
they had many adventures together. Her name was Wydara. After a
few years, Tevarith and Wydara had a son, whom they named
Eldrin. They had many happy years together. Eldrin shows little
to no interest in either parent’s vocation, to the frustration
of his parents.
After his mother Wydara’s sudden death, Eldrin fully rejected
the ways of Tevarith and his teachings and moved to Frenost,
where he began a life integrating himself into Qualinesti
society, though he was not altogether successful. He was able to
secure a wife named Arlyn. Within a couple of years, a daughter
was born to the couple, and they named her Wydara after Eldrin’s
mother.
This story of Eldren and Arlyn leads to this 262 AC A Druid's
Tale: The Story of Talidaar vol. I The World of Elves
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