Deru + Weid

Druid, or deru-weid, is a composite word inclusive of both male and female forms, although either can take the other's role theoretically.

Weid refers to being 'fae', the ability to see things no ordinary person can. The art is akin to shamanism, and includes diverse disciplines such as, the study of 'oracle' or divining the future ; augury, dowsing.
 

Weid Noi

The future Seer, comes into her destiny when Won Long passes on. She is destined to become one of the greatest Seers of all time.
 

Lo Si

Lo Si, The Seer's husband, ignores his wife's barbed tongue, and does as he pleases.
 

The Art of Seeing

Seer's use personal prescience, and the powers of the Ancestor’s machine, to divine the true meanings of times past and future. Most cannot see the present, although Won Long does occasionally.

Undeniably, she knows impossible things about the future, but this leads her to conflict professionally with Jack.

This comes to a head an hour before the birth of Ræm, and signifies the point where real power is handed over to her daughter Weid Noi.
 

The Eye of The Seer

Of importance later, is that the Ring of The Second, is in fact not a ring at all, but the stone used by The Seer.

This is a ball of rock about four inches in diameter, that resembles a tigers eye, no matter how it is observed. It is akin to a crystal ball, but Won Long is destined never to realise its true power.
 

Introduction
Won Long comes from a long line of Seers, all hailing from one small branch of their family tree; the one gifted with 'sight', as in fae.

From an early age, she was gifted with prescience, the ability to know what was about to happen, and in time to take evasive and preemptive action. Therefore, she seldom suffered the falls, grazes, and bruises that other kids suffered. This should be considered a curse, because she never learned how to fall gracefully, and with minimum trauma.

Even as an adolescent, she found Seeing very easy, and quickly mastered the art to a higher standard than her teacher.

She was totally dedicated to perfecting the art of Seeing, and so self-confident, so haughty, she did not see the fall coming; the Empress demanded she marry the oaf Lo Si, whom she considered of little worth. That their subsequent marriage was a disaster waiting to happen, was seemingly pre-ordained.
 

About Won Long
Her name comes from Mainland Cantonese, meaning: won a [rice] bowl, and long meaning dragon. The Second know of the dragon as a mystical beast that flies, as a conceptual meaning this implies she is the embodiment of beneficial dragon supplying food for the people.

Regards marriage, she was technically betrothed to the Emperor at age sixteen, but her life was dedicated to Seeing, the ruse being simply a point of law. When she was twenty-one, she was ordered to marry Lo Si, someone she hardly new, let alone loved. It was a marriage of power, the Empress considering their pairing would be propitious.

She never appeared to like men, and was considered a loner, a trait passed on in full to her daughter. Neither was she ever interested in affairs of the bedroom, and banned Lo Si to sleep in another room because of his snoring and smell of beer, plus other intolerance's like his passing of wind.

She waited a few years for an auspicious omen, before agreeing to conceive their child. The event was likely the consummation of their marriage, although this is never revealed. Nevertheless, she did her duty, producing the gifted next Seer, Weid Noi at their first attempt. It would be fair to say she tolerated her husband, and love of a kind eventually flowered between them, though seldom of the physical kind.

Won Long is the oldest person on the island, and also a contrary person, but quite different from Da Phai Nai. She is dedicated to her work, and her work ethic, and has little time for those who enjoy life to the full; her husband especially. She has never forgiven Lo Si for fathering a child with Da Phai Nai, and has a blind spot amounting to insulting behaviour in that regard.

Won Long is Jien Noi's grandmother's youngest sister, the grandmother being Empress. Her calling from a very tender age was Seeing, a natural prescience she displayed as a young child. She grew to become one of the most powerful Seers for several generations, and was held in high regard.

Won Long is also a scarred individual, because after dedicating her life to the art of Seeing, she learned of the full repercussions of her much younger self. When they were very young, Sar Tan was already in training to become the next Seer, and although slightly talented in the arts, she was much worse than Won Long.

One day, the then Seer sent Won Long on an errand, she refused, threw a tantrum, and would not budge; perhaps her inner self had already perceived the omens? In the end, Sar Tan agreed to go instead, and was found wandering aimlessly many days later, disheveled, and she had lost the art of Seeing. We later learn that Sar Tan was cloned during those missing days, by the Great Ogre.

Coincidentally, it was during those days that the Shaman visited the then Seer. Won Long was awed by the physical presence of someone all thought to be a mythological being. Before leaving, the Shaman took her for a short walk in the woods, and spoke weirdly; Won Long tried many times, but never could recall the words spoken to her, as anything more than feelings.

From that day on, Won Long became the Seer Elect, and later, Seer in her own right. She immediately made a significant difference to the Islander's lives, predicting rains, or no rain for Harvest, thus ensuring the populace had enough, or more than enough to eat.

During this time, the existing Gatekeeper died unexpectedly, and Won Long stood in for her until Jien Noi was of age; supporting the trainee Gatekeeper to learn the rest of her skills. Later, Won Long foresaw the coming of The Guardian, something the old Empress, Jien Noi's mother, could never allow; this was the influence of Sar Tan. The Seer was banished, a rare occurrence, and this turned her psyche even more belligerent.
 

Death of the Old Gatekeeper
The previous Gatekeeper was a dedicated and likeable woman who shared use of the device with Won Long on a casual rota basis. Their times often overlapped. During downtime they both used the Halfway House, and one day Sar Tan saw the Seer there. The girl told the Seer about Lo Si meeting Da Phai Nai, and livid, Won Long stormed back to the device, and dismissed the Gatekeeper for downtime.

The Gatekeeper went to the Halfway House, but along the way, heard the sound of a girl crying out for help.Not revealed in the text, or to the Second, was that the girl was Sar Tan, and she was dangling precariously from a cliff. The then Gatekeeper rescued her, but the child used a distraction, and pushed the Gatekeeper to her death on the rocks far below.
 

Stats

Sex: Female.
Born: 1969.
Eyes: Amber; a genetic defect also sallowing her skin pigmentation, and made worse by her cooking over sulphur laden volcanic vents.
Hair: White/grey.
Height: 4'10".
Marital status: Married.
Children: Weid Noi.
 

Dress

Full woven grass bodice and ankle-length long skirt. Sandals made of natural materials.
 

Jewellery

Various pendants and bangles.
 

Languages

Second, a little Ancestor.
 

Powers

The Ring of The Knowing Eye, normally called ‘The Eye of the Seer’.

This is the only Ring of Power that is not a ring, but a round stone, similar to a Tiger's Eye.

It was gifted by Oma's second, and given not to the leader of the Tribe, as was normal, but to the Seer. Oma expected others of their race to arrive from outer space; the Seer to keep watch.
 

12 + 1

The Ancestors revere the number thirteen. It is made up of two numbers, twelve and one.

Regards the Thirteen Rings of Power, twelve are rings, and one is a 'ring of solid stone'; the Eye of The Seer.
 

Weid Noi

Won Long's daughter trained from an early age to become the next Seer.

She was very talented and when adolescent, progressed quickly through the training program, and by her late teens, had already moved on to much more advanced instruction.

Much of this time she shared with Jien Noi; her mother also standing in for, and training the next Gatekeeper. An unusual, sisterly  bond developed between them.
 

Implications

With no Guardian for 10,000 years, and for another ten years, no Gatekeeper, the Island lay open to indirect attack. This allowed Sar Tan to create the 'anomaly'.