Woolragon, Druid-turned-Poacher
The Poacher
This man has a double life. By day he protects the wildlife from poachers. By night he sometimes poaches himself and smuggles the skins, horns, ect, out of the Park in the back of his Ranger Jeep and blames the deaths on poachers. After all,who would suspect a Ranger of poaching?
From 30 Rangers, the Poacher
Appearance
Woolragon is a slim lithe man of average height, with brown hair, brown eyes and sun- tanned skin. His air of solemnity often leads other to think that he is in his mid 30s when the truth is that this man is only in his early 20s. He keeps to himself as much as possible, shunning contact with others. However, if you get the chance to meet him up close, you might notice the laugh lines at the corner his eyes, evidences of him having once been a care-free young man of cheerful disposition. The more likely scenario, though, is that you would be drawn to his eyes, which has such a haunted wistful expression that your heart will wrench in pity.
History/Background
Woolragon grew up in the druidic community of Green Sanctuary, living a peaceful fulfilling life in contentment. He fell in love with the daughter of his neighbouring villa, Shelia, and married her. His married life was one of pure bliss as husband and wife thought of each other as soul mates.
Everything changed, however, with a forest fire, during which Shelia perished in the attempt to rescue a baby stag. Robbed of his one true love, Woolragon found it too painful to remain in Green Sanctuary and left for Mayaloff, a neighbouring city. Here, he worked as a ranger, continuing to draw upon and use his druidic powers for the good of nature. For a while, all seemed well, with Woolragon growing increasingly accustomed to his city life and appearing to remember less of Green Sanctuary with each passing day.
However, his emotional scars did not go away with time. Lately, Woolragon's tragic past has resurfaced in his dreams and every day he becomes more haunted by such memories. One day, he chanced upon a deer gravely injured by a poacher. Being a druid at heart still, Woolragon's first instinct was to draw on his powers to save the poor creature. However, just when he was about to heal the deer, into his mind flashed the memories of that fateful forest fire. Paralysed by the remembrance, he simply stood by and the deer soon passed away. When he came to, the deer was already lying motionless, and strangely, Woolragon felt gratified. It was from this point onwards that Woolragon developed the compulsion to poach those wildlife that he is meant to protect when the burden of coping with his pain overpowers him in the night.
Special Equipment
None, but he carries a set of bow and arrows.
Roleplaying Notes
PCs might encounter Woolragon during a side quest where they investigate a city mystery- murder, well poisoning, smuggling etc. The PCs might be employed by the town to clear the matter up or one of the band might be mistaken for the perpetrator and the rest of the band has to clear him/her. The PCs might mistake him for the perpetrator when in fact he was only undertaking his poaching activities.
Caveat
While this entry provides a purely fantasy take on the original post (as I myself am an avid fantasy fan), the history of Woolragon can certainly be transposed to a modern setting as the original post has in mind. In such a modern setting, Green Sanctuary can be seen as a small rural community where the residents are essentially environmentalists and have developed substantial knowledge to do with plants and animals (and therefore akin to druids in a fantasy but minus the magical powers). Also, in this alternative setting, instead of not using his druidic powers to heal the deer, he could have simply refrained from applying herbs that he carried around in his ranger's kit that could stop blood flows. Obviously, in this setting, he also doesn't carry around a set of bow and arrows, but rather the ranger's kit mentioned, which stores herbs that could heal wildlife, chemicals for preserving plants etc.
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? Responses (5)
It's an interesting idea, but you've got me a bit confused, since the lead-in mentions a Ranger Jeep (presumably the car) while the rest of it is suggestive of a more medieval/fantasy component.
Also, please provide a link to the 30 you pulled him from.
I agree with your comment as to the possible clash of eras. I acknowledge when I first came up with the idea, I didn't realise the original entry mentioned a Jeep.
As I read over the original entry and thought things out, however, I thought the druid-turned-poacher idea might can go with a more modern era as well as the more medieval setting common to most fantasy themes. In my current entry, I certainly just did the fantasy take in my entry as you pointed out. I think I will add a caveat to explain how this applies to a more modern setting.
Thanks for the comment.
Updated: Added in caveat to address Kassil's comment
I think writing the entire sub in one genre would eliminate the disjunction that Kassil points out. If its modern fantasy, make sure the entire sub reflects that.
Well written, though the dying trying to save the fawn bit at the start feels like Bambi. :P
Really solid and well written piece. It gives quite a bit in just a few lines. Which is good.