13. Gwern's Gesture

Gwern had seen the arch druid, Derwydd Brenin, before but only from a distance. He seemed, somehow, more imposing in the confines of the shelter. Gwern was however offered a dry robe, which he quickly changed into. It was a course, thick fabric but after a while it seemed warm. All the while the druid spoke of their place in society. As Gwern knew Druids only used mysticism as a means to keep society stable. Their only real power was knowledge, how to dispense that knowledge and also how to keep some of it to themselves. Every so often that knowledge was used to strike awe in the general populace.

The local chieftains coexisted with druids in a symbiotic relationship, they were consultants not managers, negotiators not fighters. The druid drew Gwern out of the hut as he eulogised, a certain raven perched on his shoulder. They wandered down a slope to what he could now see was a bridge next to a large wooden tower. The rope structure spanned maybe fifty yards over a combination of stagnant pools and flowing water while the towers footings were deep in the muddy trench. He was instructed to wait by his elder as he went first across the bridge without holding the twine handrails. Gwern's crossing was a bit more nervous but he soon made it to the far bank from where they walked to the stone circle that crested the mound.

The view was staggering. Gwern could see the last few miles of his journey to the north, and then far away Mynedd Fawr. Below was the large estuary, which Gwern now realized was actually the confluence of two rivers with a spit of land between with two beaches. The view then swept anticlockwise across the great peninsular which receded to the west and stopped falling into the sea. Far to the south could be seen the distant shores of the large sweeping bay.

The stone circle had, to Gwern's mind, what was an obvious alignment relating to the equinox . All the stones looked relatively new and some had been yet to be put in place. It was apparent that some areas had been built up and others lowered to create a level surface. The druid explained the construction process, the difficulties of getting the right stones over to the rock using the tower. The site was to be used for only the more important ceremonies relating to midsummer and the harvest.

"What we want from you Gwern is not help in construction of the circle or the shaping of the stones but in the demonstration of druid power. We have some idea of what we want achieve but are at a loss to work out how".

Two hours of crawling underground, wet again, Gwern finally emerged and asked to speak to the craftsman who had designed the tower, a plan how to achieve his task in his mind already. Druid Brenin listened to his request and nodded his approval. He had four full moons to complete his own work.