Dryad Dance

Father of Oaks—Silvanus.

He was the only deity without a clearly defined alignment, and the most uncompromising champion of nature's balance.

Though he had stopped the catastrophe brought on by the Arcane Empire's destruction, few races knew much about his deeds. His actions in the past had been too extreme, too likely to provoke the hostility of civilized peoples. The Father of Oaks cared only for the natural world as a whole. He treated every race alike, and his followers could be good or evil so long as they leaned toward the Neutral Alignment. His view of the world differed from everyone else's; even most deities clashed sharply with his values.

For now.

What remained of the Father of Oaks' influence was largely confined to druids, Treants, Dryads, and similar beings. Even before his fall, when he possessed the power of a Greater Divinity and his Church reached every corner of the Material Plane, he had found little acceptance within the civilizations of other races. Humans, Elves, Dwarves, Orcs—none could develop and expand their civilizations without damaging nature. Only the Mother of the Earth's comparatively gentle teachings, and the agricultural growth she represented, had gained any foothold among them.

And so, though the Father of Oaks had saved the world, its people gradually forgot him.

Perhaps he had never needed their gratitude. Maintaining nature's balance was his duty, and sacrificing himself to protect it was simply the fulfillment of that duty.

To be honest, Soren's methods and worldview clashed violently with the Father of Oaks'.

But that did nothing to diminish his respect for him.

The Father of Oaks truly was a great elder. Across the long ages, he had repeatedly cleaned up the messes left by the Gods' struggles. The Material Plane had suffered countless disasters, several on the