* Restricted: Anti-Druids who are not Insane only
Druidism is concerned with growth, fertility and birth, but decay, corruption and death are part of Nature too. Anti-Druidism is the side of Druidism that uses the Magic of the Dark Side of Nature. For Systems purposes it counts as a Druidic Cult (so no separate Initial Basic Training is required), but it has some significant differences from "normal" Druidism.
The first Anti-Druids to come to the notice of Overworld Druids were those Druids of the North West Forest who were driven Insane by the coming of the Dark Forest, but certain Druidic Cults of the Underworld have practised the Dark Arts of Anti-Druidism for many years.
The Anti-Druidic System works the same way as the Druidic System, except as expressly stated below.
The Nature Spirits whose Magic is Used to perform Anti-Druidic Spells ("Dark Spirits") are either native Spirits of the Dark Forest (such as Dayrds of the Twisted Trees) or ordinary Nature Spirits that have become Insane. An ordinary Nature Spirit will not perform an Anti-Druidic Spell. A Dark Spirit will not perform an ordinary Druidic Spell, but only its Anti-Druidic counterpart using the Anti-Druidic System.
Anti-Druidism uses negative Instress Points, known as Distress Points ("DP"). DP are gaining by appreciating ("Distressing") Discape ("Dc"), which is the inward essential quality of Dark Naturalness present within all the creatures of the Dark Side of Nature. It is a measure of their decay, and an opposite to At in higher creatures.
Dc is calculated in the same way as Inscape, but is expressed as a negative value.
An Anti-Druid's Distress Capability ("DsC") is the same as his Instress Capability, but is expressed as a negative value.
Normal Druids and Insane Druids who are using Anti-Druidism calculate their current IP or DP as a single figure, gaining IP / losing DP as they Instress and losing IP / gaining DP as they Distress. Their current IP/DP are expressed as a single figure, which if positive is IP and if negative is DP. They can therefore only Cast Druidic or Anti-Druidic Spells depending on whether they have positive IP or negative DP.
Specialist Anti-Druids who appreciate the Light and Dark Sides of Nature may Instress and Distress separately and calculate their current IP and DP as separate figures, being able to hold both at the same time. They can therefore Cast both Druidic and Anti-Druidic Spells, provided they have sufficient IP and DP and that appropriate Light or Dark Spirits are available. As Light and Dark Spirits do not normally co-exist in the same Forest, the latter may often be a limiting factor.
The four Anti-Druidic Spell Cycles are the opposites of the four standard Druidic Cycles:
Spells of the Deres Cycle are concerned with all things Dark vegetable (fungi, trees, plants, and their products). Its associated Medium is nettles, and its associated colour is the pallid white of mushrooms that grow without light.
Spells of the Tbiry Cycle are concerned with all things Dark animal (organisms, mammals, reptiles, birds and insects, and their products). Its associated Medium is brambles, and its associated colour is the dark green of bramble leaves.
Spells of the Nainar Cycle are concerned with the command of Elementals of Earth, Water, Air, Fire, Gravity, and the Planes in their interaction with Dark Nature. Its associated Medium is bindweed, and its associated colour is the dark blue of the sky before a storm.
Spells of the Anti-Druid Cycle are concerned with the interaction of Dark Nature with itself, the World, and Higher Beings. Its associated Medium is killer vines, and its associated colour is black.
The four Anti-Druidic Commands are the opposites of the four standard Druidic Commands. They have LL of 2 each or 1 each if the opposite Druidic Command has been learned (and vice-versa). As with Druidic Commands a Dr may not learn an AntiDruidic Command before he has achieved DrL = (Spell L of Command).
For Cultists who have a Druidic Command at a different Level in their Spell Lists, its opposite Anti-Druidic Command is at the same Level.
Anti-Druidic Commands may not be used by non-Cultist Anti-Druids to Cast Cultist Spells, but may be used to Cast appropriate Dark effects opposite to appropriate Cultist Spells.
Nettles are the associated Medium for all Anti-Druidic Spells of the Deres Cycle. They give maximum bonuses when harvested on the Midsummer Caeriad (26 Oscow).
Brambles are the associated Medium for all Anti-Druidic Spells of the Tbiry Cycle. They give maximum bonuses when harvested on the Mid-Autumn Caeriad (12 Garrack).
Bindweed is the associated Medium for all Anti-Druidic Spells of the Nainar Cycle. It gives maximum bonuses when harvested on the Mid-Spring Caeriad (13 Varech).
Killer Vines are the associated Medium for all Anti-Druidic Spells of the Anti-Druidic Cycle. They also have half effect as a Medium for the other Anti-Druidic Spell Cycles. They give maximum bonuses when harvested on the Midwinter Caeriad (26 Yarom, or 25 Yarom in a leap year).
The bonuses for harvesting Druidic Media with a golden sickle and golden bowl are obtained for Anti-Druidic Media by harvesting with a silver sickle and a silver bowl.
Anti-Druidic Media take -1 at each midday of a Full Moon, rather than -1 at each midnight of a New Moon.
Unlike the other Spells, there are no separate Anti-Druidic Counterspells. The Druidic Counterspell and Extendable Counterspell may be Cast as either Druidic or Anti-Druidic Spells, and just count as 1 LL each. They have the same effect, whether Cast Druidically or Anti-Druidically.
The Dark Forest is a Realm of Nightmare and Madness. It therefore has no physical boundaries. The Natural Forests of the Overworld and Underworld do not therefore each have their own equivalent Dark Forests. Their Sacred Circles do however have equivalent Dark Circles, from which the aspect of the Dark Forest may be accessed that represents the Dark Side of each Forest.
The Mystery of the Dark Circles normally only becomes known to Druids at DrL 10. Anti-Druids learn it as part of their initiation into Anti-Druidism, though how much of its subtleties they understand at low level will depend on the sophisitcation of their Cult and their own level of understanding and mysticism.
Places that are strong in the Dark Side of Nature have negative Circs Mods. Negative Circs Mods modify the Instress / Distress Formula in the same way as positive Circs Mods (ignoring any effects of multiplying negatives), but may only be used to boost Distressing. Positive Circs Mods have no effect on Distressing (but may make suitable subjects to Distress harder to find). Negative Circs Mods have no effect on Instressing (but may make suitable subjects to Instress harder to find - so it is hard to Instress in the Dark Forest, for example).
There are no separate Anti-Druidic Cults as such. But certain Cults, particularly in the Underworld, also practice Anti-Druidism and may give access to certain Cultist Anti-Druidic Spells.
Go to Anti-Druidic Spell List (which include links to Spell Specifications)
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© P.R. Wild, 17 November 2012, revised 17 November 2024