Concerning Logging, Druids, and the Gaea

[Fayne]

*The following was posted in every town on posters bordered with hand-drawn sketches with a woodland theme, meant to grab attention*

Hello, people of the Lost Lands. I wanted to reach everyone with this information, and I determined finally that this was the best way to do that.

You see, I know that a lot of you have been getting annoyed, upset, or even downright angry at Udemi who have been asking loggers and hunters to move to new areas, and threatening those who don't do so. While I agree that threats should perhaps come less easily, I do wish to explain the reasoning behind out actions, which I'm sure may seem quite rash to those who don't share our abilities.

Most of us do not threaten people lightly. We're not out looking to cause a fight or spill blood. We are actually quite friendly, most of us, and don't wish to kill or harm anyone. However, when someone blatantly ignores our request for them to move on, for some of us you are attacking an entity which is dear to us, and to all of us you are causing us pain and suffering.

Perhaps this is best explained in an analogy. Say you're out camping or hunting or whatever, and you and a friend are tending the fire. Well, say they are just carelessly tossing wood into the pile, and they cause hot embers to fly up into your face. Most likely they aren't going to cause you any serious harm, but it's going to hurt, and you're going to ask them to stop. That is essentially what we are doing when we ask you to move on. You likely didn't mean to hurt us. Maybe you weren't even being careless, maybe you were trying to be careful.

However, if you ignore our plea, that is like that friend, after having been asked to stop and be more careful, then pulling out a stick or branch that is burning on one end and poking at you with it. This time they know they could and very likely will cause you pain, but they don't care. And this would make you angry. Maybe you might try to reason with them to get them to stop, but most of you are probably going to become forceful or even violent at that point.

So, I hope that clears things up a bit for people. I know the inability to feel the effects logging and hunting causes us is frustrating, and makes it hard to understand these things, and trust me, even we don't understand it. Everyone has their own theories as to what it is, the most popular belief being that the Gaea is a spiritual entity that is signaling its pain or frustration, all the way to the more scientific of us simply feeling the pain of too many or too sensitive of a connection to the plants and animals of the world, kinda like nerve endings getting damaged. Perhaps we'll never know the real reasons for sure, or why it seems unpredictable as when or where they might happen. All that I ask is that the people Arad try to understand our situation, just as you might be understanding toward a monk or templar being unable to do something because it is against their code or whatever.

I wish you all a good day, good health, and good luck, and may you all have newfound respect for the wildlife and those who are more sensitive to it, druids.

-Fayne