TEXT: Living Greyhawk 
   
   
   
  Sunndi  
   
   
  Meta-Organization 
   
  1 
  The Order of the Emerald Oak 
  V 1.0, February 2003 
   
  The Order of the Emerald Oak is a mysterious organization of druids and a rare ranger, cleric of Obad-
  Hai and even a wizard or two. Few people outside this group know of its existence and most of those 
  who do are members of Obad-Hai’s clergy or druids. Even fewer know the agenda of this group 
  besides protecting the woods of the world and Sunndi in particular. What is clear though, is that this 
  druidic circle has mastered strange magic, which gives them mastery over the elements and the 
  plants. 
   
  What follows below in this document is known to only a few and most -if not all- of the PCs 
  within Sunndi do not know the information provided within this document. Even though a player might 
  know it, try to keep it out of the game unless you play an actual member. Remember though, that 
  leaders of this druidic circle even keep things secret from their members, so not everything within this 
  document might be true or complete. 
  History 
  Nobody really knows how far back the roots of the Order of the Emerald go since in ancient days it 
  was known under another now forgotten name. In those days the group focussed on research on the 
  elements and included a lot more arcane spell casters then now a days. As a group focussed solely 
  on research, they rarely made the headlines, though their topic of research did force them to come out 
  a lot more then the typical researcher of magic. They would have remained unappealing and small, 
  where it not for the fact that in the year CY 253 a member, the wizard Targandor acted against the 
  interest of the druids of Menowood. Another member, the young halfling Yaromir learned of 
  Targandor’s vile plot and he took it upon himself to warn the people of Menowood. Yaromir managed 
  to foil Targandor’s plans and as a result earn the friendship of the druids of Menowood. This friendship 
  opened a whole new door for research into the elements, since druids are true masters of the 
  elements. The door opened up both ways though and slowly but most assuredly the druids became 
  the dominant force within the group until not many decades after that event it became what it is today. 
  Most of the previous arcane members never even realized their organization did not exist anymore. 
  Now the group functions as the eyes and ears of the druids of Menowood as well as group of people 
  who know a lot about the elements and plants and who keep themselves well informed to help them 
  reach their own goals. 
  Organisation 
  The Order of the Emerald Oak is organized like most druidic circles. There is no clear hierarchy within 
  the lower ranks of the circle, but in general greater respect and responsibility is given to those with a 
  higher mastery over the elements and greater feeling with nature. There is one Great Druid who is the 
  official leader, though she will only rarely use her rank. The Great Druid is at least a 14
  th level spell 
  caster. Below the Great Druid are the Arch Druids, the direct assistants of the great druid. These four 
  people each have a specific responsibility within the Circle and they are more involved with the day-to-
  day affairs. There is the Arch Druid of Water, responsible for teaching and diplomacy, an Arch Druid of 
  Fire, responsible for anything that involves fighting, an Arch Druid of Air, responsible for information 
  gathering and research and an Arch Druid of the Earth, the judge of the Circle. An arch druid is at 
  least a 12
  th lvl spell caster. The Arch Druids are the members most seen and spoken with by lower 
  ranked members and outsiders. These positions are a full time affair and PC members can never 
  become either an arch druid or the great druid unless they retire and become NPCs. 
   
  The current great druid is the reclusive elven lady Hamea Oaktree, a level 6 druid/level 8 
  Verdant Lord. She wanders through Rieuwood and is difficult to find even for members of this group. 
  The current arch druids are the dwarf male Kerran (earth), the human male Verivar (air), the human 
  female Talana (fire) and the halfling female Janni (water). 
   
  When a new member joins the Order, it is expected she will buy a hoop earring bearing a 
  green hoop, which functions as a pearl of power (1
  st level) and a way to identify fellow members. 
  People are expected to pay for the expanses of crafting this item. 
  
  Living Greyhawk 
   
   
   
  Sunndi  
   
   
  Meta-Organization 
   
  2 
  Goals 
  The Order of the Emerald Oak has one obvious goal to gather new knowledge and information on 
  what goes on in the world in general and the region around Menowood in specific. This information is 
  shared between all members, but what exactly is done with this information besides sharing it with 
  other members is not really known even to the members. Though to them it is a public secret that this 
  information is given to the Grand Druid of Menowood. What this Grand Druid actually does with this 
  information is truly unknown, since the Order has never asked their members to act in particular way 
  yet. 
   
  The Order of the Emerald Oak does not ask much of its members, except that they attend a 
  special meeting each equinox of the year to attend the special rituals and festivities. This time is also 
  used to exchange information between members and to learn new things. Once a year an individual 
  member also has a meeting with each of the Arch Druids during which the member reports what he 
  has done and learned that year. The rest of the year the member is free to do as he like, though of 
  course, he should still uphold the ideals of a druid. Of course, while the organisation does not demand 
  much from its members, nor does it provide much besides training. There are two things though a 
  member should realize. For one he is a member for life. If he ever wants to leave, he will either 
  undergo a secret magical ritual that removes all knowledge on the Circles secrets (removing the ability 
  to use any of the spells and feats provided through this organisation). If the member refuses this, he 
  will be hunted down and killed. Secondly, he should not share what he knows with none-members, nor 
  should he discuss the existence, goals and rituals of the Order with anybody. If he breaks this edict, 
  he and those who he informed will be killed or in case of a minor breach (or when the knowledge was 
  provided to others to help the Order and there was no other way to reach that) the one who learned 
  the information will be placed under the same oath of secrecy as a regular member (or the information 
  will be removed). 
   
  A member of the Order is free to join any other group as long as she remains true to the ideals 
  of druids and keeps her membership to the Order a secret. 
  Members of the Order of the Emerald Oak 
  Entry requirements to become a member  
  - 
  A prospecting member must be true neutral, lawful neutral or chaotic neutral. 
  - 
  A prospecting member must worship Obid-Hai or nature and adhere to the ideals of the druid. 
  - 
  A prospecting member must swear an oath of secrecy and loyalty. If she ever leaves the 
  organization she will be hunted down and killed by members of this group. 
  - 
  A prospecting member should buy a pearl of power through the Order, which functions as a 
  method to recognize members (people already possessing a pearl of power through other means 
  can exchange that pearl on a 1 for 1 basis). 
   
  Yearly requirements 
  - 
  A member must spend 5 TU per year joining the equinox meetings and the private meeting with 
  the arch druids once a year. 
  - 
  A member must write a small report and send it to the triad on any regional and meta-regional he 
  has played. 
   
  Benefits for a member: 
  - 
  Access to the following feats from the builder books: 
  o Masters of the Wild: Create Infusion. Plant Control, Plant Defiance.  
  o Tome and Blood: Energy Substitution 
  - 
  Access to the following items: 
  o DMG:  dark wood shield and a pearl of power (1
  st-level) 
  - 
  Access to enhancing a dark wood shield to +1 and +2 
  - 
  Access to the following spells from the builder books: 
  o Masters of the Wild: Beget Bogun, Body of the Sun, Bottle of Smoke, Briar Web, 
  Camouflage, Cloak of the Sea, Cloudwalkers, Creeping Cold, Druid Grove, Fire Eyes, 
  Forestfold, Greater Call Lightning, Greater Creeping Cold, Green Blockade, Invulnerability 
  to Elements, Might of the Oak, Nature’s Avatar, Persistence of the Waves, Protection from 
  All Elements, Sandblast, Speed of the Wind, Standing Wave, Thunderswarm, Waterball, 
  Wood Wose. 
  - 
  The following core prestige classes are of particular interest to the Order: (T&B) Elemental Savant 
  and (MotW) Verdant Lord. 
  
SOURCE: textdata/thevault/Living Greyhawk/Metaorg Material/Sunndi/The Emerald Oak.pdf