The Children of Winter
Druidic Sect: Preservers of the Natural Cycle of Death and Decay
Primary Location: The Gloaming (dark region of the Towering Wood); spreading outward Membership: ~1,100 (majority human; many non-druids; significant soldiers and Cyran refugees)
Symbol: Gnawed bone
"We, the Children of Winter, preserve the natural cycle of life and death. Disease and decay cull the weak and strengthen the whole."
Overview
The Children of Winter hold a theology that the rest of Khorvaire finds terrifying. Death, disease, and decay are not aberrations. They are vital, necessary, and sacred. The natural cycle requires culling. Without it, the weak persist, the world grows crowded, and the pressure builds until something catastrophic occurs.
The Children believe a great cleansing is coming — a world-winter that will clear the slate and allow nature to begin again on a blank canvas. Most believe this winter is imminent. A smaller, more patient faction led by the druid Frost argues it may still be centuries away, and that forcing it prematurely does more harm; this moderate position is the distinct minority.
The Children battle undead — not because undead represent death, but because undead interrupt the cycle. A zombie does not decompose or return to the earth. It is a corruption of natural death, not an expression of it. The same principle governs their view of healing magic: restoring someone the world has culled interferes with nature's judgment.
The Day of Mourning has intensified their activity. Some believe it is the beginning of the winter they awaited. Cyran refugees who have seen civilisational collapse firsthand are among their most fervent converts.
Practices and Rites
Initiation is designed to kill weak candidates — and only that. The prospect is stripped of all gear, kept awake for twenty-four hours amid drinking and dancing, then sent exhausted into the wilderness to cross the Gloaming's concentric rings. Many do not emerge.
The Bringing of Winter on the solstice is the most solemn ceremony: macabre chants, dances to invoke the spirits of death, and ritual combat to the death — the favoured time for leadership challenges.
The Plaguebird quest is among the most notorious duties: a member volunteers to contract a deadly disease and travel into population centres to spread it. This almost certainly kills the bearer.
Individual packs maintain distinctive ritual marks — typically a gnawed bone left at the site of an operation.
Membership and Hierarchy
No formal hierarchy above the pack level. Leaders serve until successfully challenged. The winter solstice is the traditional time for such challenges. The sect includes an unusually large number of warlocks and very few restrictions on dark magic. Those expelled from packs face being turned out without gear into the wild; most die.
Sacred Locations
The Gloaming — a region of the Towering Wood with strong ties to Mabar, filled with undead and malevolent creatures. The sect patrols its borders to keep out intruders. The deepest heart is a dark mystery even the Children fear to breach.