The Hidden Village
Druids and keepers of ancestral knowledge, far from the Kingdom's reach. Not automatic allies.
The Hidden Village sits away from the Kingdom’s authority and keeps older company: Druids, ancestral records, and the memory of how the three Communions were practised before they were broken.
It is not a generic woodland settlement. Its history runs closer to the realm’s oldest secrets than any other living community, and it knows it.
Its people are not obliged to help you simply because you carry a Holy Relief. Trust is earned, tested, and sometimes refused. The Old Man’s judgement governs what you may learn; his daughters govern what you may ask; and his son, who serves the Kingdom, is the unsolved part of the family.
The village opposes the Cult. Whether it becomes your teacher, your enemy, or a force in the final act depends on how you treat it.