The Mad Druid is a major antagonist in Celtic Kings: Rage of War, Return to the Throne scenario. He was an evil and sadistic druid, an ally of Caecilius Metellus, and the supreme leader of the barbarians who followed them and the ruler of Haltr.
Biography[]
The mad druid was the leader of a Gallic village, Haltr, and unlike most druids, he was quite sadistic. He formed an alliance with a conspiring Roman commander, Caecilius Metellus, who killed the governor of the city of Apollonia and usurped his throne, and the Druids and barbarians were paid by him to aid his plans. But the governor's son, Camelius, returned to the city and temporarily joined forces with another conspirator, Tiberius Livius, to kill Metellus and seize the city. The coup was successful, but the priests of the city wanted to elect the young man as the new governor of Apollonia, but it was interrputed. The mad druid launched an attack to avenge the death of his ally and capture the city under his banner, but the attack was not well-organized enough and the barbarians were defeated. Camelius then set off east to find out where the barbarians had come from, but unexpectedly came to a forest where he saw Roman soldiers completely motionless. Suddenly, the druid appeared and gleefully told him that he had cursed the forest so that the Roman soldiers would freeze forever, and that he had used his magic to turn Camelius into a crow and told him that he would now remain a bird forever. Camelius, who had turned into a crow, did not give up and was determined to turn back, but he knew he didn't have much time, so he had to hurry, so he flew north, believing that the solution would be there, where the druid had come from. The bird found the village of Haltr, where it carefully observed everything, then flew on because it noticed an island with a large pillar depicting an eagle. He found a priest and four springs on the island, then landed next to the old man who told him that two of the four springs would kill him, one would do nothing to him, but the fourth would turn him back into a human. He told a riddle, and then the bird successfully found the good spring, from which it drank and thus transformed back into a human, but that was not all that happened.
Camelius was stronger than before, and his personality had also changed, becoming more ruthless, cold-blooded, strategic, and intelligent. He returned to the city of Pannonia, where his soldiers were very happy to saw him, but he began to prepare very carefully to take ruthless revenge on the evil druid and advance in achieving his goals. When he was ready, he set off with a well-equipped and strong army, and when he reached the forest, the druid was very shocked because he saw that the curse had been successfully broken by the young man, and this had also affected the forest, in which the frozen Roman soldiers began to move. The mad druid knew that if this army broke into the village, he and his followers would be defeated, so he ordered some of the warriors, along with Viking lords and Teutonic mercenaries, to launch a crushing counterattack and defeat the Romans outside the walls. This ended in a great defeat, the Romans held out, the soldiers who were able to move again began to build catapults using the trees of the forest, and Camelius' archers began to shoot the Gallic warriors. However, the druid did not want to accept that it was over and fought to the end, ordering almost everyone in the village, except for the children, to take up weapons and launch a massive counterattack. Gallic men and women, armed with swords, spears and bows, launched an attack after the catapults had breached the walls, and for a time it seemed that the Romans would not be able to break through, as the barbarians attacked them in endless numbers. However, the battle was decided by the Roman cavalry captured the Teutonic camp on the hill behind the village, then attacking the village from the rear, while the disciplined infantry increasingly broke through the defenses. Camelius found the mad druid and killed him, and after his death the barbarians still fought, but they began to become increasingly exhausted and eventually everyone with a weapon died and only a few survived the battle, which ended with Camelius capturing the village of Haltr and with it the last allies of Caecilius Metellus were also killed, his legacy was permanently destroyed.
Personality[]
The Mad Druid was a very malicious, sadistic, cruel and evil person. Although he was solely protecting his village and its territory, he enjoyed being cruel to the Romans, laughing and mocking them after cursing them. It is also certain that he was a very persistent and brave person, as despite his old age he endured several cuts and led his village alone, and in the final battle he wanted to hold out until the end and did not give up.