First off, I'd like to state that I am merely an observer here. I am a
citizen of Aalen and have no interest in the politics of the outside
world. I wander the rest of Sapience purely on a merchant capacity. But
I have been monitoring the news boards and can hardly restrain myself
from making comments and pointing out the idiocy on both sides, as you
are all being very silly.

Now I don't follow Haerne, or any deity for that matter, but I grew up
in the forest and a very old Druid oversaw much of my youthful
education. If this doesn't qualify me to comment, then I apologize.

One thing that stood out for me was this comment-Destruction is part of
nature.. provided it is carefully planned. I find it very arrogant that
a sentient being assumes that he or she has the right to determine when
and where anything should take place in Nature. You don't get to plan
when things die, when landslides happen, when volcanoes erupt. You need
to get over yourself. Nature is beyond sentient beings. It is also, I
might add, extremely arrogant of a sentient being to assume that they
are more important than Nature or that they have some control over it.
If there were no Nature, there would be no you. If there were no you,
Nature would go on quite unperturbed. Nature if far bigger than any
sentient being and you, my friends, are insignificant. Yes, even Duiran,
or whatever it is, will fade into nothingness and be swallowed up by
Nature one day.

I have been to Tasur'ke on several occasions, though I admit my visits
have become less frequent of late as it has been overcrowded with thugs
from both sides, and I'd hate to smudge my garments or break a nail
fighting them off. In my many travels, I have not once passed through a
forestal grove on my way there. There is a trade road there, already
established through the forest. There is no need to tear up any trees to
build another. If the forest takes over the village, and the road and
such needs to be rebuilt, then the forest takes damage. Sounds like a
lot of biting off your nose to spite your face.

So the forest is invading a village. Well, these things happen. I highly
doubt the citizens of the village are as inconvenienced as one would
think. Wild animals rarely attack unless they are hungry, and then, they
much prefer to eat their natural prey than sentient beings. Let's face
it, with all the crap we feed ourselves, we're not very tasty. As I walk
around, in fact, I see little difference in the way the villagers carry
out their normal lives. The forest in no way inhibits the divers from
collecting their pearls, and, provided the trade road remains intact,
trade should not be affected either. What is affecting trade, is the
recent influx of sociopaths to the area, looking to kill anyone who
looks at them cross-eyed. The piked heads all about the village are much
more disturbing then a few vines and trees and pretty snakes that anyone
with half a brain wouldn't bother. In Nature, most often, the more
beautiful a thing is, the more deadly it is.

As far as Duiran abusing their power or not, I don't really care. But
think about this. The area of the forest is much larger than any city.
As it should be. Anyone who is enemied from a city can easily avoid it,
it's comparatively small, enclosed, etc. The forest is all over the
place. You can accidentally step into it when you're not paying
attention on the highway, you have to go through it to leave the Cave
and I, personally, wander through the forest on several of my own daily
trade routes. Now I can see if someone harms the forest, they shouldn't
be in it, that goes without saying. But certainly people who are no
danger to the forest whatsoever, do not deserve to live this way. It
would be quite inconvenient to say the least. Defenses are just that,
defenses. If you are using them offensively or to bully people, who are
no danger to the forest, you are abusing your power. It's really quite
that simple. Whether you are or not, I can't say and nor do I care, as
long as you don't bother me.

As for how the Druids and Sentinels use their skills, that's really
their own business and I don't have the right to comment any more than
anyone else does. But nobody has to sell anybody anything. It is not the
duty of the forestals to make sure all the city folk have lots of herbs
to play with. Making threats is so counterproductive it's laughable.
Never made any sense to me. All this political silliness really makes me
glad I have quiet Aalen to go home to.

Penned by my hand on the 22nd of Variach, in the year 71 MA.