The Joybringers act as the official Marcandrian clergy for Callera. She is a goddess of art, beauty, love, joy, passion, and revelry, with the message that one should seek a fulfilling life, and to find a joyous life through passions and artistry. The Joybringers seek to spread and nurture the worship of Callera and her values.
The Joybringers are a loose organization, one in which each temple act independently, keeping only the minimum organizational hierarchy necessary to function. The Joybringers tend to be heavily involved in Marcandrian festivities and revelry, and are often the ones who both plan, organize, and run public events in Marcandria; be that on their own accord or on behalf of either nobles or other influential entities. The Joybringers are passionate and free spirited individuals, all deeply engulfed in artistry, who seek to both teach and show the people how to achieve a fulfilling life, filled with ones joys and passions. While the Meranzeum aids people's financial wellbeing, and the Greenwardens see to their physical health, the Joybringers seek to heal people's souls and to elevate what it should mean and feel to be Marcandrian.
The Joybringers are most present in the larger population centers in Marcandria, tending to stay in areas with a lot of culture and opportunities to engage with the people. Their massive temples often stand among the most exquisite and luxurious buildings in the cities they're in. The Joybringers do have some presence in the more rural regions of Marcandria as well, though this tends to only consist of one or a few individuals whose decided to put the inhabitants there “under their wings”.
The Joybringers tend to avoid bickering or politics between nobles or other factions. So long as neither side seeks to hamper the Joybringers endeavors, they see little reason to get involved. Rather, they see staying out of such conflict as a way to avoid alienating either side, and as a way to potentially act as a bridge between the opposing sides. They tend to have little they can offer by themselves if drawn into conflict. However, due to their charismatic nature and deep involvement in both the populace and leadership, they can have a lot of influence when it comes to swaying public opinion.
Faction symbol/insignia: Callera's visage with her fiery hair, often worn as a pendant.
The Joybringers tend to be very eccentric and outgoing people, who not only live by Lady Firehair's teachings, but who has an irresistible urge to exude and share it with all others. Its members tend to come from the middle-to-upper classes within Marcandria. Lower class citizens are not turned away, though because the Joybringers tend situate their temples in the finer areas of settlements, most who are in close vicinity to them tend to be from the middle or upper classes. Those of lower class thus tend to have less opportunity to involve themselves with them. Lower class citizens also tend to have fewer possibilities when it comes to pursuing and developing their artistic skills, which means there's a gap in the reality of them and the Joybringers who tend to be engulfed in it.
The Joybringers are all artists, be that as musicians, painters, singers, sculptures, stylists, poets, dancers, theatre performers, or otherwise. They act as organizers, mentors, and guides in all things artistry and revelry. They are often employed by nobles to teach their children etiquette, artistic literature, and to help them develop their artistic skills. Many burdened by guilt or tragedy also seek out the Joybringers in hopes of regaining their joy of life, with it not being too uncommon for those who have been helped through such hardships ending up as Joybringers themselves.
Some, though not all, Joybringers have divine powers gifted upon them by Lady Firehair. Those who lead temples often tend to have such gifts, though it is by means mandatory. The Joybringers tend to place much more emphasis on the strength of one's character than the power one has been given. Though, Lady Firehair's favor nonetheless tends to be strongly correlated with the strength of one's character, meaning the two are often one and the same within the Joybringers.
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“Art enables us to find ourselves and lose ourselves at the same time. It is the journey of a free soul. Use it to find meaning in your life. use it to help move past the hardship. Let it heal you. Let it show you the greatness and wonders that is life.”
The Joybringers are devoted worshippers of Lady Firehair, and as such, hold a firm belief in her tenants. They are very outspoken in their belief that all lives should be filled with beauty, love, and passion; and that life should be experienced full off happiness and joy. They wish to exult in life, and have an urge to spread and share the joyous wonders of life with the rest of society. They hold the view that you can only reach the epitome of happiness, joy, and love, if you are surrounded by it; and for that to happen, all around you must also be filled with happiness, joy, and love. This is why the Joybringers always seek to create festivities and events for the populace to partake in, and why they wish to be involved in the planning of events initiated by others.
They have a deep respect and desire for those who try following their heart or passion. They will be ones who will nudge a overstricken youth into making their move, or encourage an artist to create what their heart tells them. They believe, and preach, that one should learn to let go of one's worries and regrets, and not be afraid to leap brazenly towards their dreams. A confession of love never made will always be worse than a one made but rejected. Art made to reflect your own soul will always bring more fulfillment than that made to please others. One should follow what one's own heart desires, without worry of what others will think of it.
The Joybringers believe that to be happy, you must first and foremost love who you are. You should always seek to become who you want to be. This is why they teach the art of personal presentation and self-expression, guiding individuals in discovering their inner beauty and expressing it outwardly through grooming, attire, personal styling, and etiquette. This view can also make the Joybringers appear vain, and they can have a hard time understanding those who do not use their appearance to reflect who they are.
The Joybringers are all artists in some form. They believe that if you feel lost, or are burdened with hardships you do not know how to solve, then you can find answers through art. Be it art you make yourself, or art by others that you experience--art is something where you can lose yourself, and in doing so let go off your worries and hardships, and find your true self again in. Engulfing yourself in art, be it paintings, sculptures, music, dance, theatre, or otherwise, will put your soul free, so that you may truly experience the greatness and wonders that is life.
An artist who is able to do bring out??? is revered by the Joybringers
This is why they teach the art of personal presentation and self-expression, guiding individuals in discovering their inner beauty and expressing it outwardly through grooming, attire, and personal styling.
They strongly believe, and will preach, that you should let go of your regrets and worries, and instead leap brazenly
Art, Beauty, Love, Joy, Passion, and Revelry
FOR MERANZI DOGMA: (Commerce) Through commerce there is wealth; through wealth, prosperity.
Find peace and fulfillment in your passion. Let it heal old wounds, and allow you to move on from whatever past hardship still haunts you. Find yourself in its art. Find your joy in art.
When life has hit you hard, others can reach out a hand to help you, but it is always up to you to grab on to the help they offer. When times gets tough, pursue your passion, so that it may alleviate the pain and bring joy to your life, so that you can move forward.
Want everyone to live a good life, one that they find fulfilling and that they enjoy living.
“Art enables us to find ourselves and lose ourselves at the same time. It is the journey of a free soul. Use it to find meaning in your life, to move past the hardships of your past. Let it heal you. Let it show you the greatness and wonders that is life.”
"Art enables us to find ourselves and lose ourselves at the same time." - Thomas Merton
"Art is the journey of a free soul." - Alev Oguz
"Art is not what you see, but what you make others see." - Edgar Degas
The Meranzeum are followers of the goddess Meranzi, and as such are followers of her dogma. They believe trade and commerce provides the best road to both personal and societal enrichment, and that both the sharing of wealth and investment in others will seed future success both for themselves and for society as a whole. Investing in a better educated populace is in their view one of the best way of investing in the future of Marcandrian society. The Meranzeum are firm believers in fair trade and fair exchanges, and will return any favor they receive with something they consider of equal worth. They are ardently against illicit deals and people who outright cheat others, viewing it as harmful for long-term business. However, a little underhandedness is acceptable, as this is in their view just part the maneuvering that takes place when doing business. It is important though to not upset people one want as future business partners.
The Meranzeum hold a very deep meritocratic view. They view those who are successful — especially those who create their own success — favorably. On the flip side, they view those who fall down the social rankings as incompetent and weak-willed. Those who inherit wealth or status, including nobility, are only viewed favorably by the Meranzeum once they've proven that they are deserving of the position they've inherited. Those who are truly driven, and truly competent are viewed most favorably and are of extreme interest, with the Meranzeum actively seeking out such individuals to nurture and partner up with them.
The Meranzeum hold a primarily neutral stance when it comes to the bickering between other people and factions, believing those who ultimately come out on top to be those who ultimately deserved to come out on top. The Meranzeum only breaks their neutrality when one party clearly goes against the interest of the Meranzeum or the interest of their goddess Meranzi.
The Meranzeum also have a special belief related to the golden colored irises that some people receive. These bright gold colored eyes holds a special place in the Meranzeum's beliefs, as this is considered to be a sign that the individual has received Meranzi's personal favor. All high-ranking members of the Meranzeum, as well as some lower-ranking ones, have these bright gold colored eyes. Most members who have this gift received it at some point in their lives, with it being extremely rare for an individual to be born with this gift. The Meranzeum takes in and nurtures any children they discover with Meranzi's Gift, believing Meranzi to have a grand purpose for them.
These golden eyes are often referred to as Meranzi's Gift, and is believed to be a sign of them having gained Meranzi's favor. Those that have these eyes are commonly referred to as Goldeneyes. Having this gift is a requirement for holding one of the higher positions within the Meranzeum.
Spread and nurture the worship of Callera.
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Keyowrds: jovial, whimsical
a rather loose and informal organization where temples operate mostly independently from one another.
Members: Clerics, bards, artists, musicians, performers (dance, theatre, etc), entertainers, festival/party planners, “beauty salon thingy”.