"Okay, I'll bite, what on Gaia's green earth are you doing?" Cal pinched the bridge of his nose when he found Seamus.
After getting done with his first meeting with his parents Cal needed some fresh air. He had heard that Seamus was seen running around town chasing a creature of some kind. He hadn't gotten the full story but sometime this afternoon he had recruited Naomi to his cause and they were on the fringes of the forest constructing something.
Whatever that something was, it had a lot of sharpened sticks.
"Master!" Seamus was so absorbed in his project that he hadn't even noticed Cal approaching. He let go of something and the branch he was bending smacked him in the face. On a nearby stump Naomi had a knife and a half-sharpened stick. She also had the word 'oops' on her lips.
"I can explain!" Seamus panicked.
"I certainly hope that you can." Cal tapped his foot.
Seamus stammered as he tried to explain how a weasel stole the seed he was given and how he had chased it all day with no results and now he was building a trap for it.
"Seamus, do you know what a druid does?" Cal pinched his nose again.
"Heal people?" Seamus asked unsure of the answer.
Cal sighed. "I guess I can't really expect you to understand perfectly since we've been on a ship this entire time." Cal cupped his hands over his mouth and shouted. "Caw-Caw!"
"Druids 'Caw-caw'?" Seamus quirked an eyebrow.
"Shut up and pay attention," Cal snapped his fingers and vines overgrew all of his traps, effectively reclaiming them.
Seamus's shoulders sagged when he saw all his hard work go to waste. But by the tone of Cal's voice he wasn't goofing around.
Cal held out his arm and a small creature landed on his forearms. It was the size of a housecat with wings and the head of a bird. Cal smiled. "At least some things here are still the same."
The creature cawed, and Cal's smile disappeared. "He didn't..." Cal pinched his nose. "Seamus, this is a micro-griffon, they are indigenous to this island. And they are not 'filthy rotten vultures,' among the Avian they are actually some of the best groomed. Cabin boy you are a druid now, I don't know how you used to do things, but you can't run through the forests screaming profanities at everything in sight."
"But that weasel-"
"That 'Weasel' is a Raiju and the servant of the guardian god of the forest. HE is the equivalent of a Sylvan knight in Calphian. Not only do I highly doubt you could catch him with one 'those' but if you harmed him I'd have to punish you." Cal's cold eyes told Seamus everything he needed to know, and he was glad Cal had stopped him when he did.
"I'm sorry master."
"Don't apologize to me. That said, you will be apologizing." Cal pulled out a tarot card, when he put a little magic into it his equipment changed. His clothes changed to the tattered earthy robes. "Hmm... I can't afford to wear any of my familiar masks and I can't go without one..." Cal pulled out a plain wooden mask he held it out to the Micro griffin. "You want to go on an adventure?"
The griffin cawed.
"I got a bunch of seed in my pocket... yes it's a bribe... three and I made them all top tier. One is a divine rank and two are clan leaders with human form... well I can try, but I have to survive first... oh you are going to make me blush... I'll introduce you to them when we get the chance but none of them are here... Well one is here... but she's busy... okay chill... no, I mean calm down... you can even help knock some sense into my apprentice... Awesome welcome to the family." Cal held an entire conversation with the griffin as if he were talking to himself.
At the end of his conversation the griffin pecked the wooden mask once. An eye hole fell out as if it had been carved and a blue feathered flourish lightly traced itself around the eye to match the griffon's plumage in design. The bird portion of the griffon was several shades of white and brown and looked very similar to a song sparrow. Another unique feature it sported was a sharp fin of feathers at the end of its tail.
"Ah the Eye of Finding, a perfect boon for your illusionary abilities." Cal put the mask on and dug a handful of seed from one of his pockets. "And here is that bribe I promised."
"The Eye of finding?" Seamus asked.
Cal held up the mask. "Druidry isn't just healing people. We already went over this. Druids each wear an emblem of their field of study. Druids who ally themselves with the spirits in order to summon many animal allies, they grow antlers." He ran his fingers along his head. "I'd have some myself if I hadn't specialized so thoroughly in Familiar companions. It grants me the ability to shapeshift into the same species as my Familiar when I raise ranks. But this is the contract." He showed Seamus the mask. "When you bond so closely with a companion, you take on each other's strengths and weaknesses. The mask is the physical manifestation of the gifts we receive from our companions while their changes are more obvious. The most obvious change is usually their growth in size, and if you raise one to a high enough tier they can even gain the ability [Human Shape]. Plant based druids will often grow plants on the clothes or even graft with them to share mana. They can even shapeshift and grow into gnarly tree monsters or imbue plant-life with enough magic to animate them."
Cal swatted Seamus on the head with his mask. "Druids live symbiotically with nature, so yes we do more than just heal."
Cal swatted him again. "If you don't think there is power in nature, then I dare you to challenge a mother bear in her den, stop a coursing river with naught but your bare hand, move a mountain with the sole of your boot, or calm a storm with a whistle."
Cal swatted him again. "Yes, the animals are important. As mortals we are incredibly self-absorbed and that stops us from directly gaining Gaia's power. In order to tap into that amazing power, we need a conduit. Someone or something to act as a bridge to Gaia. A piece of her in order to guide us in the fold while we guide them through life."
"How do you know exactly what I'm about to say?" Seamus rubbed his head. "And why are you acting all high and mighty? I never see you use your Druid powers in combat." He pouted.
"Rule number one, never reveal all of your secrets. And do you know how much Health and magic I have? How do you think I took your poisoned arrow straight to the heart without flinching? Druidry isn't always as showy as piracy, but it's kept me alive. What trump card is scarier than the one you can't see?" Cal put the mask back on his face.
"Do you have any showy Druid powers?" Seamus asked.
Cal put a finger over his mask where his lips would be. "I don't know, do it?" He spun on his heels. For a brief instant Seamus's breath caught in his throat as a pair of giant white wings growing out of Cal's back flapped once. He blinked and they were gone.
"Come on Naomi, you too." Cal waved his hand at her.
Naomi had tried to sneak away when Cal turned around toward the forest. Her entire body sagged with apprehension after he called to her and she followed Cal and Seamus into the depths of the forest. She was still sore from the last time she went into a forest with Cal.
They walked for an hour before the griffon cawed.
As they walked through the forest, animals began to congregate around them.
"Master, are you doing this?" Seamus asked looking around.
"Probably, and they are not happy with you." Cal sighed. "You know if I went out of my way to piss them off I wouldn't be able to do this much damage in a single afternoon. How did you manage to nit-pick every single creature in the forest in one way or another? That and you insulted the cultivated flora. Haven't you ever heard of the saying 'stop and smell the roses'? You really are some kind of idiot. An observant idiot. Are these sword withdrawals, or are you just always this cranky when you think no one is looking?"
Seamus wanted to say something and then Cal suddenly stopped and pointed at a random plant. "This is not smelly feet root, this is giggling saffron and has the ability to cure minor illnesses just by chewing on one of its leaves." He pointed at some fungi on a tree. "These are not dirty groin plates, they are Banstanfa a rare fungus that eat diseases in the tree keeping them healthy, conversely it makes both a potent poison and salve for stiff muscles."
A red fox with talons for front paws and wings attached to their forelegs. "Those are not flea bitten mongrel cesspools, they are Enfields, they are really not happy with you. Since you impugned their honor."
Several hummingbirds flew around Cal.
"Let me guess, those hate me too?" Seamus sighed.
"No, these ones just think you are amusing. They enjoyed watching the Raiju play pranks on you." Cal giggled. "You could say they are your fans. They like the faces you make when you are frustrated and in pain."
Seamus stubbed his toe and yelped in pain.
"Ya just like that." Cal laughed.