Faction symbol/insignia: Blooming rose over grain
Tend to be of humble origin, or are people from the mid to high echelons whose felt the need to step back.
The Greenwardens revere The Heartmender, cherishing her teachings on agriculture, empathy, perseverance, growth, healing, hope, and life. Known throughout Marcandria as wise healers and counselors, they are committed to lives of simplicity and service, finding profound fulfillment in aiding others.
Believing that fulfillment comes from the act of giving, the Greenwardens hold that assistance should be offered freely, without expectation of reward. This ethos is evident in their commitment to providing medical aid and healing at no charge, especially to those unable to afford care. Withholding aid when capable of helping is anathema to them, reflecting a profound disdain for selfishness. By extending their support universally, they strive to embody Fiori's nurturing spirit, ensuring no one is deprived of care due to lack of wealth or status.
The Greenwardens advocate for relentless personal growth, viewing stagnation as contrary to The Heartmender's cycle of renewal and growth. They encourage everyone to strive toward self-betterment, not just for personal gain but as a moral duty to enhance the collective well-being. However, this pursuit often leads to an overly critical view of those who seem content with their current circumstances or those who prioritize stability, labeling them as lacking ambition or spiritual depth.
Living under the pressure to embody Fiori’s virtues perfectly, Greenwardens often feel compelled to present themselves as paragons of growth and resilience. While they aim to serve as beacons of hope, many internally struggle with doubt and personal setbacks. Admitting these difficulties is taboo, risking their spiritual authority and the hope they inspire. With The Heartmender's signs often subtle and open to interpretation, some Greenwardens use public perception of their deeds as a proxy for divine favor, equating their popularity with spiritual approval. Despite their firm belief in persevering through challenges for long-term benefits, they too face moments of seeming impossibility, just like everyone else.
The Greenwardens revere the Great Mother as a maternal figure who blesses the land with fertility and guides her followers with patience and wisdom. At life's end, they believe The Heartmender guides the soul to the afterlife, underscoring her role throughout life’s cycle.
The Greenwardens believe The Heartmender communicates through nature, particularly during rituals involving the planting of various seeds in common pots. They interpret Fiori’s will based on which seeds germinate and how they grow, reinforcing values of patience and contemplation. Beyond these rituals, they discern Fiori’s guidance through natural responses—observing which plants bloom or wilt during prayer to gage divine insights. This deep connection with nature serves as their primary medium for divine communication.
While prioritizing essential healing services, the Greenwardens also cultivate and sell quality-of-life remedies like skincare and vitality treatments to fund their operations. This practice, though profitable, sometimes diverts resources from basic care, posing a challenge in balancing lucrative endeavors with their mission of healing and nurturing. Struggles not to become addicted to the comforts and luxuries that can be afforded by the revenue from non-essential remedies are common among them.
Fiori's Tenants:
The Greenwardens are dedicated to fostering the health and well-being of Marcandrians, with the aspiration that every member of their community may thrive. Through their efforts, they not only seek to enhance the lives of others but also to find fulfillment in their own lives. As devotees of the Heartmender, their mission extends to expanding her worship and influence, and safeguarding the values She cherishes.
All endeavors of the Greenwardens aim to nurture and protect that which is dear to the Heartmender. Given that the Heartmender often receives less attention from the upper echelons of Marcandrian society—except by those who have directly benefited from the Greenwardens' healing and medical services—the Greenwardens are also committed to raising her profile and importance within these circles.
Each Greenwarden operates independently, without a central governing authority. However, when multiple Greenwardens share a temple or are located in temples close to each other, they often establish agreements regarding collaboration and responsibilities. In these cases, Greenwardens who cohabitate within the same temple typically maintain private sections for their personal endeavors, both in the temple and the gardens, while also cooperating in communal areas. They commonly delineate responsibilities and select specific remedies and ointments to specialize in, ensuring they do not compete with one another. They provide counsel to each other, leveraging diverse expertise to enhance the quality and efficacy of their services. Greenwardens tend to cooperate in the making of high-demand services and essential medicines—especially those provided free of charge as part of their commitment to the Heartmender’s teachings.
As each Greenwarden is considered a sovereign entity, there are no hierarchical ranks beyond the title of Greenwarden. Greenwardens may mentor one or more apprentices, who retain the title of apprentice as long as they remain under tutelage. The process of becoming an apprentice is straightforward and begins when a Greenwarden recognizes potential in an individual and extends an invitation to them. If accepted, the individual becomes an apprentice, learning under the guidance of the Greenwarden. The transition from apprentice to a recognized Greenwarden occurs when the individual leaves their mentor’s tutelage and establishes their own practice. This transition is based on community recognition of the apprentice’s skills and capabilities, affirming their readiness to operate independently. The traditions and practices of the Greenwardens are as such passed down from mentor to student, resulting in a diverse range of priorities and methods among them.
Greenwarden temples are typically more modest than those of the Joybringers or the Meranzeum, yet feature extensive gardens. It is common for several temples to exist within a single settlement, sometimes even sharing a large, communal garden. Temples are often established by noble families to attract Greenwardens, thereby enhancing the services available in their domain. Alternatively, Greenwardens might repurpose abandoned buildings, particularly those with ample space to cultivate their expansive gardens.
Financially, each Greenwarden is responsible for their own affairs, although those sharing a temple may arrange to manage finances collectively. Nobles and occasionally the Meranzeum provide funding for specific services, such as during health crises, recognizing the essential services Greenwardens provide to the community.
Ranks:
The most notable and impactful role of the Greenwardens within Marcandrian society is their function as healers and doctors. Those endowed with divine gifts use their abilities to heal and cure, though even these gifted individuals rely heavily on medicinal ointments and remedies prepared from plants cultivated in their temple gardens. These gardens are expansive, hosting a myriad of plant species used in various alchemical processes to create medicinal compounds. Greenwarden principles dictate that essential medicines be provided free of charge to anyone in need. A Greenwarden who refuses treatment over payment issues faces ostracism from both their peers and Marcandrian society at large. Producing these medicines requires careful balancing, as resources are finite and the complexity of remedies varies. Thus, not all requests for treatment can be fulfilled, especially for labor-intensive compounds. A Greenwarden may end up in a position where they have to deny supplying a resource-intensive medicine due to having to prioritize simpler medicines that more people will be in need of.
In addition to essential medicines, Greenwardens cultivate plants for non-essential remedies such as skin treatments, vitality tonics, sleep aids, and pain relievers. The sale of these products helps fund their operations and cover costs for necessary but unproducible materials like beeswax, animal fats, alcohol, salts, and clay, as well as basic necessities like food and clothing. The production of these non-essential remedies often competes with the creation of medicinal ones, creating a challenging balance as Greenwardens strive to fulfill their healing mission without succumbing to the temptation of unnecessary luxuries.
Greenwardens also dedicate themselves to continuous research in herbalism and medicine, seeking to discover new or improve existing remedies through study, mentorship, and experimentation. They utilize texts from the Meranzeum’s archives, collaborate with peers, and experiment with new plant combinations and alchemical techniques.
Actively involved in agriculture and nature conservation, Greenwardens are invaluable to Marcandrian farmers facing crop or livestock issues. They offer guidance on crop rotations, companion planting with natural pest repellents like garlic or marigolds, and other sustainable farming practices. Their expertise comes from a mix of teachings and experience, together with the guidance they discern from the Heartmender in the crops and animals. Greenwardens will pray and perform rituals in the fields shortly after sowing, beseeching the Heartmender for healthy growth and a bountiful harvest. Greenwardens also serve as counselors, offering advice and wisdom to small communities, particularly those less fortunate.
Moreover, Greenwardens serve as environmental stewards. They often task themselves with cleaning up waterways, planting saplings, and restoring natural habitats in the region they operate, while opposing practices that harm or exploit the land. They actively lobby against destructive activities like excessive logging without replanting, often becoming a thorn in the side of those who engage in such practices. However, attempts at forceful intervention are rare and reserved for extreme cases of environmental exploitation.
Greenwardens also perform ritual services, including weddings and funeral ceremonies, often in collaboration with Marcandria’s other major clergies or independently for those who cannot afford the more lavish ceremonies that comes with involving the Joybringers and the Meranzeum. Their services are particularly valued by the lower classes, who appreciate the modest yet meaningful ceremonies the Greenwardens can provide. A tradition for weddings involving the Greenwardens is for the newly wedded couple to spend their first night together in either a crop field or flower field, a tradition which is more commonly followed by lower class newlyweds than upper class ones. It is believed that the Heartmender will bless the newlyweds with a fertile union as they spend the first night in the field. Greenwardens typically participate in funeral services, as the Heartmender is seen as the one who'll at the end of your life's cycle, to guide you to the afterlife.
Greenwardens spend considerable time in prayer and meditation within fields or lush gardens, seeking deeper connections with the Heartmender and looking for signs in the responses of plants. Greenwardens believe the Heartmender communes through crops and flowers, discernible from which plants bloom or wilt during their prayers and meditation. How close a bond a Greenwarden has with the Heartmender is often equated to how well versed they are at desiphering these puzzles
The Greenwardens also conduct rituals of prayer involving planting a number of different seeds in the same pot, often together with someone whose come to them seeking the Heartemender's guidance. The person will pray for guidance as they plant the seeds, with the Grenwarden tending to the seeds while waiting for them to sprout. The patterns in which these seeds germinate and grow are interpreted as messages from the Heartmender, offering slow but profound insights that the Greenwardens believe are meant to encourage patience and contemplation among her followers.
Greenwardens often identify potential apprentices through their interactions, inviting those who show promise to learn their ways. The Greenwarden will teach the apprentice about the Heartmender, the different rituals and ceremonies the Greenwardens conduct, how to look for and discern Her guidance in the plants around one, how to cultivate different medicinal plants, and the processes they go through to turn raw materials into medicinal compounds. An apprentice will often remain with their mentor for a time even after they've been taught everything there is to know, assisting their mentor's endeavors. After an apprenticeship, when an individual is ready to operate independently, they leave to establish their own practice, often seeking small rural communities that lack a Greenwarden's presence.
Joybringer temples are expansive and ornate, standing out prominently within the cityscape. They are usually situated in the bustling, affluent areas of settlements to facilitate easy engagement with the local populace. The considerable size of these temples accommodates a variety of functions: residential quarters, administrative offices, spaces for artistic practices and services, potentially expansive bathhouse complexes, and areas designated for religious rites and ceremonies. The scope and variety of these services can differ significantly from one temple to another.
The architecture of Joybringer temples is designed to inspire awe and beauty. Every surface is meticulously crafted to be visually stunning, with walls that are intricately adorned and often painted to complement the art displayed throughout the premises. The furniture is both lavish and luxurious, ensuring utmost comfort. Rooms and corridors are thematically designed, each aiming to evoke specific feelings of awe and joy in those who enter. Reflective surfaces, such as mirrors, are frequently incorporated into the design, aligning with the belief that Lady Firehair communicates through altered reflections.
All temples feature dedicated ritual and ceremonial areas equipped with large mirrors and shallow indoor pools, illuminated by natural light from above or by candlelight. During ceremonies, Joybringers dance barefoot in these pools, singing prayers and observing their reflections in both the mirrors and water. According to their beliefs, Lady Firehair may alter these reflections to provide guidance, creating independent movements and visions in the water that the Joybringers interpret. For larger gatherings, the temple’s bathhouses are also used to accommodate these sacred rites.
Greenwardens too fractured to have any real influence. Connection people have with the Greenwardens tend to be more on an individual level. Specific Greenwardens may be very well liked in a community, mostly with farmers, lower cast people, and those who have needed their aid. However, since each Greenwarden basically only has the authority of themselves, plus whoever likes them enough to support their stance, they tend to have very little impact on Marcandrian politics etc. The very nature of how the Greenwardens operate is counterproductive to gaining influence in society.
No faction-wide influence since there are no structure in it. What influence the Greenwardens have is instead based on what influence each has as an individual. Greenwardens are often well respected among the communities they serve, which typically mean the those of the lower castes. They often end up in the role of speaking on behalf of small rural communities, voicing their concerns to the local lord or other governing entity. Multiple Greenwardens may decide to work together to increase how much sway they have in a matter both deem important, though never in Marcandrian history have enough Greenwardens pooled together to have a significant influence on the nationwide scale. Should that ever happen though, where they'd all band together and speak with one voice, then they'd have a substantial influence due the sheer amount of peasant and rural inhabitants they'd have at their back.
The Greenwardens have very good relations with the common people of Marcandria, particularly those who live outside the major settlements. They often have trouble getting respect from the upper classes of Marcandria, who have a different view on life than that of the Greenwardens. Most other factions aligned with the Marcandrian state respect the Greenwardens, but often note that the lifestyle of the Greenwardens are "not for them". The relationship between Greenwardens and merchants or nobles can be quite strained if the merchant or noble deals in industry that harms nature or endangers people. Examples of these are major deforestations, dangerous mining operations, over-hunting, and so on.
Most underground factions, such as black markets or smugglers, have little against the Greenwardens. However, Greenwardens view themselves as enemies of factions that create death or suffering.
Due to not having a centralized leadership, the Greenwardens have little direct influence on the conflict. Their power instead comes indirectly from potentially being able to influence the opinions of the common citizens, potentially acting as a sort of representative for small communities, which could potentially force a noble in a territory to switch stance on the conflict.
The general viewpoint of the Greenwardens is that the whole ordeal should be resolved quickly and peacefully, and that the nobility should stop redirecting such a huge amount of resources towards this conflict. Instead, they say these resources should be directed to restoring the safety and stability within these nobles' lands.
The succession conflict has thus started to create a schism between the Greenwardens and the different noble families, that continues to widen as the schism widens.