PDA

View Full Version : DM Help Naming Druid Factions



dantiesilva
2020-09-09, 08:43 AM
So in my homebrew world I have a Kingdom called Redwood Haven and when it was first founded it was known for (obviously) its massive redwood forest. Over time however the Lords of Haven came into power (Merchant ruling class that make all the rules) and on a large scale began deforesting and focused their entire economy on lumber and lumber like products. Due to their greed massive amounts of the land began to be deforested and with a desert as its neighbor the land became barren and slowly began becoming part of the desert itself.

After centuries of trying to stop this individually and peacefully the five druid clans of the kingdom have come together, calling themselves the Emerald Host, to put an end to the Lords of Haven and hopefully restore balance to the natural order of Redwood Haven before their land becomes just another part of the desert completely.

The idea lousy came from Ebberon with their different factions in the Eldeen Reaches (misspelled?). So I was hoping I could come to you all and get some much needed help with naming the five different factions.

LN Faction - This faction believes in the natural order of things and are not against helping the people learn to properly farm, take care of livstock, and plant trees after they cut them down. This is the least violent of the groups and was the hardest to get to agree to help the others.

N Faction - This faction sees the unbalance that has been caused by the deforestation of the land. They are mostly found where the desert is starting to take over, trying to stop its advance and undue the damage that has been done. They are just as likely to attack you as help you with the only difference being the situation in which you find them in and are more interested in restoring the land even if it means people must die to do so. This way the animals can return that have fled or become endangered. This group was the one that started the Emerald Host seeing the need for them all to work together to achieve their goals.

CN Faction The second most destructive faction only topped by the NE faction, this group has no problem razing a village down for its crimes against nature if they refuse to heed their warnings. When humanity crouches to deep into nature or strikes down a place they consider holy their justice is swift and absolute. Most farmers blame this group when their livestock go missing, though this is in truth only half true as they only steal from those who harm the animals. While this group is radical, they can be reasoned with, believing in Might makes right and so if challenged and bested they will stand down.

NG Faction: This group is new and has tried a different approach from the others. They have taken to being guides for people, bringing them on hunts (for the most injured or hurt animals) or escorting merchants through dangerous parts of the land this way they don't kill everything in their path. While they understand the need for the resources the Kingdom uses they also see that at the rate they are going their will be none left within the next century and have joined the other groups to try and mediate between the kingdom and druid circles. This group also builds their dwellings in and around nature instead of cutting down trees they will instead build their homes inside of a tree.

NE Faction: The most violent faction of the five, many outcropping villages have been completely destroyed without a single word of warning. This group sees the people of this land as a disease and sickness to the forest and unless stopped will destroy what they love as such they have no qualm getting rid of the disease as a priest would. Most of their recruitment comes from the survivors that they capture as prisoners that are still young enough to see the change they are trying to make and easily molded to their cause while the rest become fertilizer for the plants.

These are only lose ideas of the five groups and are able to be changed however I wanted to give a rough idea of each to help with the naming process. Thank you everyone who suggests a name and takes the time out of their busy day to help me.

Duke of Urrel
2020-09-09, 11:02 AM
In plain English, the five factions seem like this to me.

NN – the Stability or Conservative faction
CN – the Vengeance faction
LN – the Commerce faction
NG – the Harmony faction
NE – the Abolition or Annihilation faction

Palanan
2020-09-09, 01:58 PM
Here’s what I think they would each call themselves:

LN - Caretakers

TN - Rebirth

CN - Emerald Lords

NG - Greenspeakers

NE - Healing Scourge

dantiesilva
2020-09-09, 11:23 PM
In plain English, the five factions seem like this to me.

NN – the Stability or Conservative faction
CN – the Vengeance faction
LN – the Commerce faction
NG – the Harmony faction
NE – the Abolition or Annihilation faction

Sounds about right


Here’s what I think they would each call themselves:

LN - Caretakers

TN - Rebirth

CN - Emerald Lords

NG - Greenspeakers

NE - Healing Scourge

I like the ideas thought thinking perhaps putting "The circle" in front or Rebirth. Love the Healing Scourge (as they are loosely based off of the children of winter). Just going to wait and see if anyone else has any suggestions. Thank you though as many of these are really good.

H_H_F_F
2020-09-10, 06:42 AM
After centuries of trying to stop this individually and peacefully the five druid clans of the kingdom have come together, calling themselves the Emerald Host, to put an end to the Lords of Haven and hopefully restore balance to the natural order of Redwood Haven before their land becomes just another part of the desert completely.




There's a lot here that I wouldn't do, but to each their own, and I'm sure you and your players will have a lot of fun. However, I would recommend reconsidering the history described in this paragraph. The CN and NE factions went about trying to peacefully solve things for generations?

To conserve the general idea, I would go with those clans having fought bloody wars against the lords of Haven for generations. They have become weaker and weaker over time, but have managed to conserve a lot of forest. Meanwhile, the other factions went around making agreements and treaties and such, always giving up more and more land in exchange for peace and a promise to leave their remaining lands alone - until one final treachery broke the camel's back, and the 3 clans agreed to try the CN and NE approach, and accepted their leadership "for the greater good."

I would definitely look at the history of the native American Indian wars for inspiration if you're going that route.

As for names: I'm actually not the biggest fan of the options suggested so far. You described these factions as clans, not as political parties. Clans and Peoples are almost always named after either a mythological ancestor or their homeland, if their name originates from their culture. The other options is usually just the word for "People". I would go wit simpler and less meaningful names, or with names originating from an outside culture. If you still wish to go with meaningful and self-descriptive names, those that have been offered sound good.

Palanan
2020-09-10, 07:46 AM
Originally Posted by H_H_F_F
You described these factions as clans, not as political parties.

The OP only uses “clan” once, and he’s using the term interchangeably with “circle.” Factions by definition are political affiliations rather than kinship groups, and the OP describes the factions based on their philosophy and actions, not on their genealogy.

Given this, I would say the names provided so far seem appropriate to factions which identify themselves according to their worldview and how they act upon it, as opposed to kinship groups united by common descent.


Originally Posted by H_H_F_F
Clans and Peoples are almost always named after either a mythological ancestor or their homeland, if their name originates from their culture.

Clans are quite often named after significant animals, plants and elements of their local environment, rather than their collective ethonym. This (https://www.cliffdwellingsmuseum.com/history/the-anasazi/digging-deeper-into-the-anasazi/clans-tribes/) shows the difference between clan and tribal names for some of the native peoples of the American Southwest.

dantiesilva
2020-09-10, 09:24 AM
There's a lot here that I wouldn't do, but to each their own, and I'm sure you and your players will have a lot of fun. However, I would recommend reconsidering the history described in this paragraph. The CN and NE factions went about trying to peacefully solve things for generations?

To conserve the general idea, I would go with those clans having fought bloody wars against the lords of Haven for generations. They have become weaker and weaker over time, but have managed to conserve a lot of forest. Meanwhile, the other factions went around making agreements and treaties and such, always giving up more and more land in exchange for peace and a promise to leave their remaining lands alone - until one final treachery broke the camel's back, and the 3 clans agreed to try the CN and NE approach, and accepted their leadership "for the greater good."

The CN and NE factions/Clans/circles/groups were not always so violent. Even in Ebberon the children of winter kept to themselves until the day of mourning happened. With these two groups being closer to might makes right they would be less inclined to intervene unless the balance was in danger for the fact that if the other circles could not stop the Lords of Haven from cutting down the forest then they had the right to do it. Them agreeing to join would come AFTER the Lords of Haven tried going into their lands and taking their own things and while they kept winning battles they saw themselves losing the war.

https://i.imgur.com/BGAQvLS.png

https://i.imgur.com/V9sFNu0.png

I have provided a world map as well as a cut out version of Redwood Haven where each hex represents a Day of travel to give you an idea. The NE druids would actually be on that little outlet on the bottom that is outside the borders of Redwood Haven and thus only got involved when their land became attacked. CN would be closer to Basswood, but high up in the mountain range being able to look down upon all the destruction caused by Redwood Haven.

As for naming They are opposing the current ruling class and trying to overthrow it/stop it form damaging the land further by their very nature that would be a political party (Thus the Emerald Host) even if they don't wish to be. The individual Druid groups would not be all blood related and family oriented, it is possible some may be, however like most organizations recruitment happens for those who are interested in the ideals not because you are a blood relative. So while Native American history is rather important and will no doubt be useful as a tool for the Future of the game world (The Lords of Haven trying to bribe the less violent groups by offering said treaties) at the current timeline I would say it is not there yet. The players playing a key part in either the survival of the old ruling class, helping the druids, or Choosing to try and bridge the gap between the two groups will be part of the excitement and tension of the main story arc.