Cernunnos

Cernunnos

forest guardian

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Occasionally seen in the forest on foggy mornings, Cernunnos is more myth than dragon. Rumors abound that he is a ghost, a dryad, a half-god, and countless other things. It is said that he enforces the rules of the hunt and exacts revenge on those who kill an animal without needing to, wound an animal due to negligence, wound an animal without finishing it off (or at least making every attempt), or wound/kill a young animal or a mother with babies. The manner of his form of justice is often debated, and it is said that he kills the offending hunter, chases the hunter off and exiles them from their clan and the forest, wounds them and leaves them to die, turns them into a deer or a tree or something else using deity-level magic, or simply scares them half to death. Nobody much cares to find out if any of these rumors are correct.

Cernunnos has lived longer than anyone can remember, and his magical abilities are beyond any ordinary mage. Despite his unusually large size, he moves through the trees inaudibly and almost invisibly, quickly appearing wherever he needs to be, and according to rumor he can see and hear all that goes on in the forest no matter where he is. He is also able to control and animate plants, trees, and plant material for defense. He can direct flailing vines and creeping undergrowth to fight and hinder the path of invaders, and cause the dense litter on the forest floor to shift and turn and get unwanted travelers lost. He also animates natural constructs, large beasts made from trees, leaves, branches, and the like that serve as defenders and warriors. There are tales in the clan of entire armies of botanical boars skewering rogue hunters on wooden tusks and trampling anyone who poses a threat.


"We've been searching for answers in a distant place
We've discovered lost wisdom in a long forgotten age
We are heathens re-born
Sons and daughters of valour and lore
We are the haunters of woods, glens, lochs and shores

Our blood runs through the veins of this sacred earth
We are bound to this ancient land

Like rampant lions we'll roar and break free from these chains
We will never surrender to this age of degeneracy
With pride as our weapon and honour as our shield
We will never be enslaved, we shall never yield!"

-Saor, Children of the Mist