The potion brewers

Runof - 950s/970s

955 – 978: Grom had sent Runof on a journey to gather knowledge for his collections and ingredients needed for his magic potions. From the village of Dublin, the younger druid trekked to the northwest in search of the desired ingredients. Wood from the forests of Meath, paper from the monks of Kells, the scales of fish from Lough Sheelin, fine white feathers of the geese of Roscommon, a pot of freshwater from the river Suck, and special powders in regional markets from Athlone to Mayo. 

His quest finally brought him to the tranquil shore of Lough Mask, where he had discovered a large lump of wood in the middle of the surrounding forest. He had been unsure of what to use the wood for, but eventually had a bright idea to craft the shape of a boy using a sickle and charcoal. At the last moment, Runof slammed his fists onto the top of the finished sculpture, cracking the wood in two liken and egg. From within the crack, a small child popped out in a black cape, a child whom Runof named Weslyn, his son and successor. 

The druid would camp for a few days by the lake before returning home with Weslyn through two weeks on foot, heading east in a straight line until he reached the coast, then south along the cliffs to Dublin and back inland to his father's cottage in the wilderness. Runof had long been an advocate for the school of Knowledge that his father had started after a suggestion from his son. He ascended to the position of second teacher at the school, teaching philosophy, history, culture, literature, and art to his students be they young, old, fat, thin, short, tall, rich, or poor. He was the one who hired a group of Ostmen to guard the stores of papers and books from thieves, but he had had to pay for their services using a small sack of shining red rubies. As the son of the first teacher, Runof obviously received preferential treatment and access to the school's library.

 He had his own reasons to acquire the knowledge it stored, mainly due to the object hanging around his neck. His amulet contained secrets that were waiting to be revealed in his eyes, so the druid started to dedicate himself to studying spirits, amulets and talismans from the shelves and scrolls of the library for information on the spirit amulet. He wondered if Idia's description of the world within the amulet could have been true, or even worse than even he could have possibly imagined. He found descriptions of monsters and horrific terrors within the pages as accounts of those who were said to have survived the traumatic experience of being trapped inside an amulet, things that only shocked and interested Runof even more with his studies into a dark area of druid magic.