Dru Idalla's Origin

Dru Idalla was adopted by the ambitious druid matron Mona of the Circle of the Stars when Dru was an infant.  From her earliest youth, Dru was raised strictly in the austere habits of the star druids among the huge ancient circles of blue standing stones of their ancient secret observatory deep in the druid's sacred primeval old growth forest.  All her life, Dru obediently studied all the rituals, endured perilous pilgrimages, and practiced obscure languages to please her strict and unloving adoptive mother's faith.

Shortly after Dru's 15th birthday, Mona commanded Dru to undergo a midnight ritual during the Summer Solstice.  Mona told Dru the ritual would be an animal sacrifice in service of some visiting Moon Druids, Wildfire Druids, and Swarm Druids.  Dru secretly found animal sacrifices distasteful.  But ever the obedient daughter and acolyte, Dru kept her silence.  Mona excitedly told Dru her whole life and all of her religious devotions had been in preparation for this ritual.  As always, Dru obeyed.  

On the appointed night, Dru laid herself down upon the sacrificial stone alter at the sacred henge in her finest vestments while all of Mona's assistants and other druids of the observatory were positioned along the henge's perimeter.  Her mother stood above her with a gold sickle in one hand and a dagger in the other.  Dru's mother poured a bitter potion in Dru's mouth and bade a group of hideous old women Dru had never seen before to come to the alter.  The leader of this coven stepped forward while speaking a spell of transformation in the Abyssal tongue. 

Dru willed herself to continue laying down upon the alter as she became increasingly terrified of the old crones who called themselves Elizabeth, Bella and Othelia and the sharp weapons her increasingly manic mother was holding near Dru's restrained wrists.

Dru was barely conscious as Mona slit Dru's wrists as the leader of the old crones did the same.  Then there was an alarm and screams of pain and terror as two well-armed strangers stormed the henge.  Oblivious to the strangers' violent assaults and the death cries of her acolytes, Mona helped the ghastly crone press her bleeding wrist against Dru's wrist to quickly intermingle Dru's red blood with the crone's blue-green-black blood.   

As Dru was nearly unconscious, she heard her mother's demand in the Abyssal tongue for the old crone to finally yield the "map to the Great Heaven Stone".  The old crone complied and stated in her unholy tongue that Dru would be a worthy addition to the hag coven.  Mona replied, "Take her quickly.  I have barely tolerated this ugly little brat since I took her from her family 15 years ago.  Kill her and everyone else here for all I care.  I wish only to find the secrets of the Great Heaven Stone".

Mona disowned Dru at that instant as she flung Dru's bleeding wrist to the ground and layed a curse upon Dru to live among the hags upon completion of her decades of transformation.  Then Mona disappeared in a cloud of fog as the last of the druids present died at the hands of the strangers, were slaughtered by the fleeing hags, or had fled.  Some of the druids had been murdered by their brethren after helping the strangers.

In spite of the aid, healing magic, and shelter Dru received in the following months she only gradually recovered her strength.  During this time her skin color changed to light green.  Her eyes changed from blue to green with red pupils.  Her ears became pointy in the manner of the Elves.  Her hair grew dark and regrew instantly if shorn.  And she grew small wooden horns that she can barely conceal under her unruly black hair.

Ten years have elapsed since this tremendous betrayal by the only family she had ever known.  Dru is now aged 25 and she cannot bring herself to trust anyone except her travelling partner, Bern who is the sole survivor among her two rescuers.  She has sworn to somehow repay Bern for saving her at the expense of so many of lives.  She also mourns the loss of the many druids who tried to assist or at least not interfere with the rescuers but were cut down by all sides during the fight.

Dru struggles to hide her increasing bitterness and anger.  More than anything, she seeks a way to avoid becoming one of the hags and wonders why she was chosen to be so cruelly used by her "mother".  Mona and some of her assistants are still somewhere in the wilderness.  But Dru has been unable to find her since that fateful night.