Hulek Sacred Grove, Hot Spring Bathhouse.
Anyone who came to Hulek Sacred Grove would have been astonished by the changes over the past month or so-not because they were so earth-shattering, but because the druids had compromised and adapted so quickly. In less than a month after conquering Hulek Forest, Aaron had personally intervened several times to resolve the grove's corruption. He had welcomed back Halsin, the guardian who had served before the last one, while erasing the marks left by the previous guardian, Daba-Thorn.
The Sacred Grove had soon accepted Aaron's comprehensive renovations. Aaron had left the core area enclosed by the standing stones untouched and granted almost every request made by the few remaining moderate druids. Not only had he provided funding, but he had also agreed to their demand that the forest not be overdeveloped. The arable land cleared in Hulek Forest amounted to less than one-twentieth of its total area, a degree of development the druids found entirely acceptable.
Many people would have wanted to know: what standards did druids use to judge the exploitation of nature?
The answer was simple: there were no specific standards.
Moderate, middle-ground, and extremist druids each had their own measure of acceptable development. An analogy was the only way to explain it.
If a hunter entered the forest in winter, killed a deer to feed his family, and used its hide to make some clothes to get through the cold, the vast majority of druids would approve. Druids themselves also had to hunt and farm to fill their bellies.
If a hunter went into the forest several times during winter and killed seven or eight deer, feeding his family with the meat while selling the surplus meat and hides in town to supplement the household income and give them a