9littlebees
2011-09-06, 03:15 PM
One of many children in his childhood home, Hasin's familial responsibility lay in gathering. From a young age, he was sent out every day into the hills around his home, not to return unless bringing edible produce (mushrooms, berries, wild apples, etc) or wood for burning at the very least. He would be beaten mercilessly if he came back empty-handed.
This solitary life in the wilds formed a unique bond with nature. He slowly learned the way of the plants, how to speak to small animals (though not able to understand them yet) and how to read the weather. With time, he slowly built on these abilities, learning to manipulate plants to move, command small animals and even prevent heavy showers from raining on his favourite hiding spot.
One day when he was older, his father beat him for returning home empty-handed, shouting that Hasin was worthless, only good for eating his bread, and in the turmoil and rage in his mind, he reached out and touched minds with the closest animal - a nearby panther. Not realising quite what he was doing, he summoned it to his family's hut, where it promptly mauled his father before being cudgeled to death by his oldest brother. He had shared minds with the panther while it destroyed his father, and by the gods seeing the horror on his face and feeling his life leave his body had felt good.
The oldest brother then picked up command of the household and Hasin's tasks now took on a sinister turn - he and two brothers walked 5 miles every day to the closest town, where they would spend the day thieving and picking pockets. Prefering solitude, Hasin would set out on his own and test his new-found powers over animals. What started as summoning soon turned to shifting.
The most effective, and easiset, form to take on was always a swarm of bees. He found that most people were afraid of them, especially in such large numbers, and it became second nature for him to swarm a shop-keepers stall, cause the shop-keeper to flee, then quickly shift back into his human form crouched out of sight, grab the shopkeeper's stash, then shift back into a swarm and disappear into the air. He was careful to hide his winnings from his brother, always keeping a small quantity to take home, then hiding the rest in the centre of a particularly nasty bramble bush.
Hasin realised that he no longer needed the family who didn't love him and one day he never returned home. He was 15. Since that time, he has wandered far and wide.
One day he overheard talk of someone like him, a druid of great repute who could change into the shape of a tiger. Asking around, he discovered that these "druids" were numerous, and would often adventure the lands making names for themselves.
Suddenly Hasin's life took on purpose. He would show his father that he wasn't worthless! No longer resigned to hiding his abilities for fear of being reviled, he could take relish in unleashing his Primal Swarm. He could become an adventurer and lash out to cause pain and death in this form, something he was careful not to do in the past, lest the pleasure it was sure to bring become too hard to control.
And people would be grateful to him for it, even paying him! But to do this, he would need to find a party, and a quest...
My main issues with this is that as a druid (albeit an evil one), is my desire for fame and fortune justified? The books talk about druids being one with nature, etc, but I am finding this hard to justify in an evil druid build...
Thoughts?
This solitary life in the wilds formed a unique bond with nature. He slowly learned the way of the plants, how to speak to small animals (though not able to understand them yet) and how to read the weather. With time, he slowly built on these abilities, learning to manipulate plants to move, command small animals and even prevent heavy showers from raining on his favourite hiding spot.
One day when he was older, his father beat him for returning home empty-handed, shouting that Hasin was worthless, only good for eating his bread, and in the turmoil and rage in his mind, he reached out and touched minds with the closest animal - a nearby panther. Not realising quite what he was doing, he summoned it to his family's hut, where it promptly mauled his father before being cudgeled to death by his oldest brother. He had shared minds with the panther while it destroyed his father, and by the gods seeing the horror on his face and feeling his life leave his body had felt good.
The oldest brother then picked up command of the household and Hasin's tasks now took on a sinister turn - he and two brothers walked 5 miles every day to the closest town, where they would spend the day thieving and picking pockets. Prefering solitude, Hasin would set out on his own and test his new-found powers over animals. What started as summoning soon turned to shifting.
The most effective, and easiset, form to take on was always a swarm of bees. He found that most people were afraid of them, especially in such large numbers, and it became second nature for him to swarm a shop-keepers stall, cause the shop-keeper to flee, then quickly shift back into his human form crouched out of sight, grab the shopkeeper's stash, then shift back into a swarm and disappear into the air. He was careful to hide his winnings from his brother, always keeping a small quantity to take home, then hiding the rest in the centre of a particularly nasty bramble bush.
Hasin realised that he no longer needed the family who didn't love him and one day he never returned home. He was 15. Since that time, he has wandered far and wide.
One day he overheard talk of someone like him, a druid of great repute who could change into the shape of a tiger. Asking around, he discovered that these "druids" were numerous, and would often adventure the lands making names for themselves.
Suddenly Hasin's life took on purpose. He would show his father that he wasn't worthless! No longer resigned to hiding his abilities for fear of being reviled, he could take relish in unleashing his Primal Swarm. He could become an adventurer and lash out to cause pain and death in this form, something he was careful not to do in the past, lest the pleasure it was sure to bring become too hard to control.
And people would be grateful to him for it, even paying him! But to do this, he would need to find a party, and a quest...
My main issues with this is that as a druid (albeit an evil one), is my desire for fame and fortune justified? The books talk about druids being one with nature, etc, but I am finding this hard to justify in an evil druid build...
Thoughts?