A land inaccurately known as the “Kingdom of Druids” due to the close relationship of its inhabitants with trees. While the land is called Autun, its inhabitants call themselves the Auduns. Their near and distant neighbors do not truly understand the Audun nation and have thus simplified their identity, equating them with Druids or Drúvids, whose traditions are well known through travelers’ tales and folklore. However, the Auduns are something slightly different. In truth, they do not even belong to the human races, though in the twilight of dusk, one might easily mistake an Audun for a human. They undoubtedly count some of the Dryad lineages among their ancestors, but the details of their origin remain largely shrouded in mystery.

The Auduns resemble humans, but their skin has a pale green tint, and their eyes are somewhat larger than human eyes, possessing a graceful almond shape. Their hair is significantly thicker and more abundant than that of humans, forming a veritable deluge that falls far down their backs. From the waist down, their bodies are covered in fine, dense fur that thins during the summer and thickens through the winter. Without a closer look, it is easy to assume they are wearing “furry trousers.” Otherwise, the Auduns do not use clothing at all. From the waist up, their bodies are often tattooed with aesthetic ornaments, and many of them—similar to certain Drúvids—live in symbiosis with climbing plants, which then form their “scale armor” and also serve as part of their nutrient source. A common sight is an Audun basking in the sun, overgrown with ivy. Besides numerous groves and solitary trees, Autun also possesses vast pastures where herds of giant horned Aurochs graze, whose milk provides, among other things, sustenance for the Auduns.

In the land of Autun, there are no cities or houses; the Auduns live in dwellings within the crowns of trees, or in tree hollows that have likewise evolved in symbiosis with them. It is hard to say whether the Auduns bred the trees to have wide, hollow trunks, or whether the trees bred the Auduns to care for them since they live within them. The Auduns have a very hostile relationship, especially toward fire, and their entire culture functions without it. Lighting a fire is considered a sin. The Auduns claim to be the only witnesses to the original paradise and that all other races and nations fell into sin because they began to use fire, which signifies nothing other than the beginning of pain and the violation of the world. The Auduns worship a variety of local spirits and immensely respect their trees and all birds and beasts; however, the highest reverence is reserved for a mysterious deity named the Lord of the Garden, whose mystery the Audun sages vigilantly guard.

The land of the Auduns is a beautiful corner of the world, full of wild, flowering floodplains and great, tended trees. In every season, Autun has much to show, but especially in autumn, when the trees clothe themselves in all the colors of the rainbow (yes, including lapis lazuli, turquoise, and crimson), the landscape is like a magical apparition. In autumn, crowds of young poets and poetesses always migrate to the land like migratory birds in an attempt to gain the right inspiration for a new collection of poetry (cynical critics claim the migration of poets is more likely due to the fact that a certain kind of psychoactive fruit ripens in Autun in the fall). The Auduns are prepared for this kind of tourism, and the migrating poets thus serve as intermediaries with the outside world—in exchange for their stay and hospitality, they bring the locals the few things from the outer world that the Auduns need and appreciate.

As for relations with surrounding nations, the Auduns have the closest relationship with the neighboring High Elves of the great forest realm, of which they are essentially a protectorate from a military standpoint. The Auduns are satisfied with this arrangement because the Elves fulfill their part of the bargain: they do not interfere in the internal affairs of Autun and protect them against external aggression. Not that the Auduns could not defend themselves effectively if attacked—the Aurochs, animals with which the Auduns are in symbiosis, are bovines as large as elephants, and their enraged herd can break through even the firmest military line. The Auduns themselves have stronger and sturdier bodies than humans and command many natural spells that, especially within the borders of their land, can cause great damage to raiders. On the other hand, neither the Aurochs nor the Auduns are many in number, and they could not stop a larger army. The power of the great Elven kingdom thus makes Autun a very safe land, with which neighbors certainly do not want to start any trouble.