Church of the Huntmaster

Official Church of Gregaia, The Huntmaster

Mythology & Lore

In the beginning, when the world was fresh and new from its inception, the three Primordial Gods were the first born among all the Divines, having sprung forth from the dying body of their father, the Progenitor God Atlas. These three Primordial Gods, having come into being before all other life in the Planescape, were special beyond compare.
Moradin, The youngest of brother gods, was given domain of the Ground, Law, and all that lays on and beneath the earth.
Bahamut, the second eldest of the three brother gods, sprung forth and took domain of Sky, Morality, and Justness.
And finally, the last of the three brother gods, he who came first and he who ruled above all his brothers, was given the divine right to rule over Water, Life, and Creation itself.
In time, as the now forgotten Eldest of the Primordials sculpted Reality and the Planes on the anvil of creation, he soon turned his attention back to the Material Plane and using his mighty hammer, sculpted and pounded the natural world into existence as he carved great forests with his chisels, carved mighty rivers and deep oceans with his fingers and hands, and painted a glorious natural world to go alongside the rocky ground and airy sky. As he finished sculpting this natural world, it is said that as breathed life into it to grant it color, he watched as the rocks and wood scraps animated and became all the creatures of the forest that filled the ancient world with noise and vibrancy.
Looking upon this vast world he had given life to, the Eldest Primordial knew that he would need a pair of twin guardians to watch over this world of natural bounty, to serve as the watchers of all the animals and creatures that called such places their home...and, using his mighty tools, carved out two humanoid shapes in his very own image out of wood, dirt, water, and clay to serve as his children, and watchers of nature.
Once he finished carving them, it is said he breathed divine life into this carvings, one becoming a man, tall and lithe with pointed ears who was so innately in tune with primordial nature that his very mood could cause trees to wither, grow, or twist and bend, and a woman, taller, darker, and with similarly pointed ears who was also innately tuned in to nature, but who was to serve as the lawful warden to the man's chaotic whimsy...one to bring order to the chaos of the natural world. These two, it is spoken, were the twin deities that formed The Elven Pantheon, Gregaia, Lord of the Wild and his wife, who's original name has been lost to time but is now known as Oa'chai, The Gloam-Eyed Queen

Divine Origins

The Church of the Huntmaster can trace its roots all the way back to the beginning of time, when Gregaia, Lord of the Wild and his wife, the Elven deity of Lawful nature who in time would become Oa'chai, The Gloam-Eyed Queen. Back in the days of yore, the two Deities were a couple, and together represented and formed the perfect balance that all nature lived in...chaos and wild anarchy balanced by natural laws and a unique brand of order.
Back in the ancient times as Gregaia walked the primordial world it is taught that he was yet innocent to the ways of the world, and was then a manifestation of the pure, untouched, and unspoiled nature that existed back in those times. His mood was whimsical and tricksy, and he walked the planes with a delightful ardor that caused him to bring activity, chaos, and untamed wildness wherever he went. Though his wife was created to be his direct opposite, it is said he accepted her gladly as his counterpart, and though the two argued Gregaia's gleeful, whimsical mirth was more than enough to defuse any arguments the pair had in their shared governance of nature.
However, as the eons wore on and Gregaia continued his merry work bringing nature and wilderness to the Planes and playing warden to the forests and natural places, keeping them safe from the burgeoning races that had only just begun to form cultures of their own, he had failed to notice or realize just how far his wife had fallen into her fury and anger at his chaotic actions.
As he represented wilderness untamed and wilds primordial, his very nature made it hard for the mirthful nature warden to notice minutae...for much like nature or the Fey, he had always found it hard to care about small details or the passing of time.
It was in this way, as he walked the planes, that the first life began to follow in his footsteps...tending to the trees as he did, hunting the animals as he did, sharing his campfires and laughing at his gleeful stories...in this way, the first of Gregaia's Companions were born and began to follow him and his way of life. As these "Companions" were born and walked the land, they soon carried their nature-oriented philosophies to all who would listen and began to emulate the ways of The Huntmaster himself...and it is in this way that The Huntmaster's faith is said to have taken root.
As his first Companions shared his campfires and laughed alongside him, it is taught that the first leaves he took from the trees to stoke the fire for his new friends were burned with his stories, his teachings, and his ways within the campfire. Taking these leaves and folding them into bindings, his Companions created the Greenleaf Commandments...said to be a complete record of nature, how to care for it, and all the stories gathered by the faith and even Gregaia himself throughout the eons.

Cosmological Views

The Church of the Huntmaster believes that as the world was birthed from the sacrifice of the first and greatest Overdeity, Atlas, their God was born alongside his mate, the goddess who would in time come to be known as Oa'chai, in the most ancient age...and while the Eldest Primordial sculpted Reality and all within it he left the two Elven deities in charge of the natural world.
During the waning days of the primordial times when all was fresh and life was new, it is taught that as Gregaia and his wife went about their solemn duty caring for nature while simultaneously enforcing order upon it and defining its boundaries and limits, though his wife's passion for her sacred duty had all but faded...with the death of the third primordial who had created them, the two fell into a bleak depression that was reflected in the wilting of leaves and the stagnancy of nature itself...though soon, Gregaia moved on and rejoiced for the life that still was, and is the wont of nature.
However, his wife held onto her bitterness and her anger, and in time began to grow more and more disillusioned with her husband and this job she had been given as Nature's Lawkeeper...and though the Nature Gods were lonesome and rarely interacted with their other Deific Brethren, Gregaia was contacted by Bahamut and his godly brothers with warnings that his wife plotted against him.
Yet, he dismissed these notions as the misunderstandings of his brothers and went about his life...and it was not until his wife's anger reached a boiling point and, in a moment of fate, she turned Gregaia's own creations and faithful against him and led them in a crusade to kill and usurp him did he truly know the meaning of betrayal, and of loss.
His wife, having committed the first act of betrayal in all the Planes, waged a bloody war against Gregaia for control over nature that is said to have raged for time untold, the two coming to blows each time but unable to come to a conclusion as Gregaia wept for his wife, believing her to be misbegotten or tricked or even worse corrupted(Perhaps at the hands of Vvaal, The Bound Obliterator)...and it was not until his wife slew his firstborn son who was to become Gregaia's first godly child did he experience anger. In that moment, it is said, Nature learned how to anger, how to strike against those who harmed it, and most importantly - forever destroyed the open borders the Material had enjoyed with The First World, the Feywild.
With the help of his brother and sister gods as well as his creations and faithful who would yet follow him, Gregaia fought back the machinations of his wife and in time succeeded in driving her and all who followed her into the World Below far beneath the natural world...thus becoming the sole god of Nature.
Now alone in his duties and bereft of companionship, Gregaia fell into a dark, solitary depression that would not lift for eons, and some say has not completely lifted even now...such that it is said that the forests of the Planes lost their vibrancy and splendor compared to those of The First World.
Trees and plants, once capable of thought and laughter, fell silent and still, the grass sang no longer, and the world was dull and quiet in the aftermath of Gregaia's solitude...only the Feywild is said to have retained a fraction of its true vibrancy in Gregaia's morose solitude.

Tenets of Faith

Speak for the wild. Speak for nature and its beasts in the ways and places it cannot defend itself, and defend it from exploitation and wanton consumption.

Mind and Body as One. Self-Perfection is the ultimate goal of all creatures - strive for the betterment of your physical and spiritual self at every opportunity.

Walk the land and learn its secrets. Walk the land, learn its tales and myths, and never let a good story go untold. Preserve the cultures of the world through the tales you weave.

All who wander are kin. Protect the roads and pathways of the world, and look out for those who travel upon them. Save a seat around the fire for any who seek rest on the road.

Enlightenment through experience. Travel, Roam, Experience the world in all its beauty, and never turn down a new experience or opportunity - true enlightenment will come to deliver you from worldly tethers only when you have immersed yourself fully within it.

Ethics

No matter the form the clergy or that his faith may take, the faithful of Gregaia believe heavily in returning the favor for all they take or for all gifts or things they receive. They believe that taking a life in a hunt without returning in some way to the forest or nature is the mark of sin and of disrespect for that which provided for you. In this way, the faithful are notoriously good at repaying all debts they accrue...even ones only perceived by them for minor things such as a simple gift of encouragement.
Often, amidst the clergy and the countless druidic circles, moots, and gatherings of his faithful the issue of how actively nature is to be defended is ever-present. Many more neutral Druids and Clergy believe heavily in returning all wrongs done to the forest in kind, while more goodly clergy generally prefer trying to teach all who transgress upon nature of the right way to do so, and how to respect and venerate the natural world.
The more evil clergy often preach preemptive strikes against civilization or those who encroach upon nature to prevent attacks from happening in the first place.

Worship

Gregaia is worshiped wherever nature is feared or held in high esteem, where bards are populous or where stories are told and shared freely and anywhere life exists in solitude. Most bards and storytellers pay homage to him, at least in passing, praying for inspiration and good tales to tell, and his clergy is expected to bless new crops during the planting season.
Temples of Gregaia are always open to the sky and often contain some sort of pool or open water at the heart. They usually contain trees, plants, or bushes of some kind and often appear in out-of-the-way places and are typically built using only slightly worked local materials, such as driftwood and unquarried stone. Services and occasions vary from temple to temple, though most ceremonies involve offerings, prayers, and chanting.
While it is rare to see a temple to Gregaia outside of nature in any meaningful fashion, the clergy does have presences in cities closely tied to nature or those in which they wish to maintain a presence in. Often, they can be found in out-of-the-way cities in a small capacity as protectors of the city's natural life, and worship Gregaia by upholding the cycle of nature that exists within these cities.
Prayer to The Huntmaster is commonly done through careful prayer, spoken in whispers while on the hunt or while tending to trees or gardens, or even spoken to trees themselves for those closely tied to nature.
For bards, storytellers, and travelers worship is often given in the stories they tell around the campfire, the tales they weave in bardic halls, and in the strings of the instruments used to spread stories and tales.
Often, wood, bark, mushrooms, or other loose natural items are arranged into circles or places above doorways by the faithful, both to signify their faith and to ask the blessing of Gregaia himself to protect their location or doorway marked.

Priesthood

Priests of Gregaia are rugged folk and many are hermits. Men are expected to have long beards and women long hair. Seaweed, natural items, and strands of white cloth are often braided into the hair of the faithful. Formal raiment is usually long robes of grass-green, storm-grey, or sky blue color, decorated with bark or pearls.
Often these priests and faithful of Gregaia travel the land, wandering in solitude and hunting, farming, and gathering along the way...always as they rest for the night around their campfires do they prepare two extra seats: One for the Huntmaster himself and one for any guests that may pass in their travels. Those among the faithful who live solitary and stationary lifestyles within forests or other places of nature are often very welcoming to those in need of assistance and always have extra seats around their tent or place of rest for them.
Clergy of the Huntmaster are often avid storytellers, and many enjoy telling, recounting, and even listening to and finding new stories to collect and collate so that they may honor The Huntsmaster and and give him praise. In this way, as the faithful spreads out, collects stories, and persists in their eternal duty as the wardens of the natural world do they slowly rise in status within the ranks of the faithful and become more prominent and powerful. Over the years as they gather stories and experiences in the service of The Huntmaster are the Priests of Gregaia gradually promoted and given more status.
The ranks of the faithful are wild and diverse, but a common rule within the ranks of the faithful is that older and more experienced members rise naturally to the top, with an emphasis placed on experience, wisdom, and acceptance of solitude and the cycle rather than physical or magical power.
The clergy are distinguished by the decorations in their hair or on their clothing or armor, which tend to become more fanciful, bedecked, and nature-infused than lower-ranking members.
Often, the higher members of the clergy are either priests of large temples in cities close to nature, heads or members of druid circles, or members of forest-based temples or powerful hunters, druids, or simple faithful.

Granted Divine Powers

The favor of The Huntmaster can take shape in many countless ways, but most common is the rapid or even nigh-instant growth of plant life or other natural life in the presence of those who earn his favor or attention, while his displeasure is conversely displayed most commonly by the wilting of plants and natural life in the target's presence.
Otherwise, Gregaia often grants an increased affinity with nature to those who earn his favor through either the ability to step into plants and trees and travel rapidly, increased druidic power(for the druids of his faith), or simply a green thumb.
Sometimes, his blessing can take the form of an increased affinity with animals, and even sometimes a gift of an animal companion.

Political Influence & Intrigue

Moreso than any other faith of the Major Gods of Ea, Gregaia's clergy are the most distant from the world of Politics and Intrigue, as they are almost universally the direct antithesis of the ways of nature.
However, the clergy isn't always unfamiliar with the concepts of either due to the occasional bout of Inter-Druidic Circle Politics and the great moots held every year in the forests of the world where conclaves are held and decisions are made.
His followers can be well-spoken and savvy of Politics and how to navigate a social situation delicately, but rarely care to use these abilities to get involved in Politics due to a frequent lack of benefit for nature and the viciousness that transpires within these systems, which goes against the cyclic beliefs they hold which would normally demand them repay kindness with kindness, not with betrayal or scheming.

Always have a seat around the fire.

Type

Religious, Organised Religion

Alternative Names

The Companions of Green, The Companions, The Greenwardens

Demonym

Gaian

Divines

• Gregaia, Lord of the Wild

Controlled Territories

• The Primordial Wilds

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