Jade Order

The Magisters of the Jade Order study the Lore of Life, fuelled by the Green Wind of Magic, Ghyran. Agrological Thaumaturgy, roughly translating as “Soil Magic,” was the limited and rather dry term given to the Lore of the Jade Order in the Articles of Imperial Magic. Bear in mind that when the Articles were written, the effects and preference of individual Winds of Magic embraced by the Colleges of Magic had not fully manifested themselves, so the distinction of the arts were sometimes missed in the names given to them. Jade Magic, or Druidism, is concerned with all agriculture, flora, and the flows and seasons of fertility in the countryside and in all natural living creatures (including Humans). It could also be called water magic or earth magic.

Overview
The Druids of the Order of Life are taught to live in natural harmony with the countryside, cultivating it in sustainable way that is as beneficial to the land as it is to those that live off of it. Because these Magisters are so closely tied to floral life throughout the world, their own magical strength tends to wax and wane as the seasons do, being vigorous in Spring, most powerful in Summer, waning over Autumn, and weakest in Winter—although their powers are also said to flourish in rainy weather.

Druidism
“Druid” was the traditional name given to those strange men and women of legend and myth who were said to be the first holy people of Humanity. Some of the oldest folktales in rural parts of the Empire explain that the Old Gods of Taal and Ulric adopted tribes of Men as their own, and the Humans of the Old World gave reverence to the spirits of the land and nature as the “Great Mother.” But this was not a religion like the worship of Ulric or Sigmar, rather it was a profound respect for the Mother as an abstract (not sovereign deity) of the natural forces of the world.

Whether this represents an older understanding of the divine as practiced by the Empire’s ultimate ancestors, or whether it is simply just a different style of worshipping Gods that developed over the millennia, remains unclear. What is certain is that the Druids of ancient times were the keepers of tradition and the seasons, and they custodians of the sanctity of Nature. Druids were said to lead all tribal rituals, which were held within groves of sacred trees or more commonly within great stone circles that the Druids supposedly erected.

Whereas it is possible that these original Druids were more than just legend, they certainly did not erect all the great Waystones and Henges that lie scattered across the Old World, for these were the works of the most ancient Old Ones, the Elves to channel magic out of the Old World and towards the Great Vortex of Ulthuan. Be that as it may, it seems likely magically sensitive Humans might have become aware of the massive amounts of energy coursing through these stones and took them as focal points of the earth’s natural energies—in a sense true and yet off-the-mark.

When Teclis gathered all the petty magickers and hedge wizards he could find within the Empire, he also found scattered and philosophically devolved remnants of the Druidic tradition that remained in the most rural parts of the Empire, having survived countless centuries of persecution and the rise of newer more active faiths. Of these few, not all came willingly, but once Teclis showed them the pure energies of Ghyran, those that had any magical sensitivity at all and a true connection with the seasons and nature, perceived that the purity Teclis was offering them was the ultimate path of their calling. Two-thirds of those Teclis approached went with him.

Within one hundred years of the founding of the Colleges of Magic, sightings of Druids were reported in various rural spots all across the Empire. But though they seemed to fit the description of the legendary Druids of old, these new Druids belonged to the Order of Life and were Magisters of the Green Wind of Magic. And there are rumours that another, far older form of Druidism survives on the misty isle of Albion.

Ghyran’s Magister Druids gather in ancient groves at Henges and intersections of Leylines, promoting the free flow of the energies within the lines, encouraging the nurturing power of Ghyran in areas contaminated by Dark Magic and combating the blights and famines inflicted upon the Empire by the Lord of Decay.

Duties & Contracts
The Magister Druids of the Order of Life do not pursue contracts in the same way as many of the other Colleges. Not only are they unconcerned about such things, they are hardly in a position to pursue them. Although they do have a College building in Altdorf, the Magister Druids of the Order of Life prefer to live and run their affairs from very rural regions and do not possess an identifiable centre where contracts can be brokered.

Fortunately, the College building of the Jade Order is largely self-sufficient, built on the intersections of Leylines particularly heavy with Ghyran, so the Magisters need not spend much money maintaining it. The endowments given to it by Karl Franz (both in his capacity of Emperor and in his more state-centric role of Prince of Altdorf), are enough to cover the expenses of maintaining the guards and any upkeep for the outer wall. The main official duty of the Jade College’s Magister Druids is to ensure the farmlands of the Empire stay fruitful and productive. This is a very important job considering the number of natural and unnatural blights that affect the Empire, especially in the north. Huge swathes of the Old World are contaminated with trace elements of warpstone dust, which can have detrimental long-term effects on the landscape. The Magister Druids are careful to make sure the natural and Aethyric pressures on the countryside remain in a constructive balance.

The main unofficial duty of Ghyran’s Magister Druids (albeit one that ties in with their other duties), is to protect the Leylines that run through Imperial territories and the Henges they meet at, ensuring their energies flow cleanly and quickly. As part of this task, the Magister Druids hold seasonal rituals at the great Henges of Eyvberry, Muttersfeld, Fruchtbarfelsen and numerous other smaller stone circles throughout the Empire to encourage the energy travelling through the Leylines to stay vibrant. But these rituals also serve a dual purpose of drawing out controllable elements of Ghyran from the Leylines and allowing it to disperse throughout the surrounding countryside in a manner that encourages the healthy and abundant growth of plants.

In times of war, word will be sent to the College building in Altdorf and the few Jade Wizards who remain there on a rotational basis will respond. If too few of Ghyran’s Magisters are at the College to serve the needs of the call, then those present will send out magical familiars to others of their Order and even leave secret markings upon Waystones that they may pass while they march, all of which will draw further aid to the campaign as needed. Normally the Jade Wizards’ duties are to ensure the good physical health of soldiers and see that the land provides them with all they need—an army marches upon its stomach, after all. However, the Magister Druids are also said to be able to gather intelligence of enemy movements by listening to the Empire’s waterways and forests.

Source
Warhammer Fantasy RPG 2nd ED -- Realms of Sorcery (pg. 98-100) [[Category:J]]