The Cloister at Cloudberry Vale

Phanae pointed a dessert spoon at Alistair. "Supposedly, the women at the Cloister are very attractive. The water probably enhances their beauty."
"Okay, but they're 'cloistered', aren't they? Meaning they're set apart. Even if I were so inclined, tell me how I would convince one of the faithful to have a night of fun with me?" Alistair took a sip of his coffee and grimaced, it had gone a little cooler than he would have liked. "I would like to have some of that water, though. My mother used to tell me bedtime stories of the divine water of Cloudberry."
"What's stopping you? Rent a wagon and you can be there and back in a week." Phanae ate another spoonful of parfait. "Not like you have anything going on here holding you back."
"I'm feeling a bit attacked." Alistair rolled his eyes. "Anyway, I'm of the opinion that it's a bad look. Etoilean progress is all about rational thought and thoughtful endeavor, right? It seems retrograde for an archmagus to wander to an ancient religious site and drink the magical water. I just want to get some for my mother."

Structure

The Cloister at Cloudberry Vale is a nonhierarchical organization, with each of the women of the Cloister ostensibly equal in voice and vote. Naturally, however, the more senior of the cloistered tend to have more say in how the Cloister is run, with the most senior being known as the Matron. Novitates to the Cloister are not yet admitted to the order and have neither a voice or a vote until their enrobement.

Culture

The Cloister is the last remnant of an ancient order that predates virtually all other organized institutions on Saibh (The Last Mythspeakers being a non-organized group). Novitates are inducted in the order's claimed thousand-year history, and that education along with the Cloister's remote location is an attempt to remove initiates from their former Etoilean context and immerse them into an unchanging content and duty - the preservation of the holy waters of Cloudberry.
Notably, the Cloister is the last remnant of an fully featured religious sect that became prominent for four centuries (roughly 50 to 450), a sect founded on the supposed divine healing powers of the church deacons (in truth merely a side effect of the religion's emphasis on cleanliness and sanitation). Though only the Cloister is left, they continue the traditions and precepts of their original church - to heal the sick, and care for the dying as they pass. The supposed divine waters of Cloudberry are said to be a miracle cure, and the cloistered make use of the water in all of their treatments.

Public Agenda

The Cloister is simultaneously a religious sect, an ancient historical shrine, and a palliative care center for the Principality of Etoile. Young women come to the Cloister if motivated by a desire to heal (and a desire to avoid the extensive schooling required in the Principality's medical apprenticeship programme). Tourists and historians visit the Cloister as a nearly perfectly preserved example of architecture as crafted near the dawn of written history. Those dying from terminal illness, illnesses the Principality are unable to treat, come to the Cloister as a final resort to be healed by the miracle water, or, failing that, to be cared for by the cloistered as they pass on.

Assets

Though their ancient sect owned several such religious retreats across old Saibh, the Cloister is the last, collectively owned by all those cloistered there. The property encompasses both the main church building, a healing ward, a building enclosing the spring of divine water, as well as an expanse of acreage to cover most of the lands of the mountain valley. Individuals within the Cloister, however, surrender the concept of personal property once enrobed as a sister of the order.

History

The sick have undertaken pilgrimages to Cloudberry Vale since time immemorial, with several ancient accounts of the miraculous healing properites of the divine water there. The Cloister itself is remote, far from the ancient trade roads and five day's ride from the nearest settlement, and was left unmolested over the centuries of petty squabbles between local kingdoms. 
Prior to his enthronement as the King of Nasse (and well before his crowning as First Princeps), the Nassean Successor visited the Cloister in his youth, having read stories of the Cloister in his library. Though he is well documented in later years as having open contempt for religion and religious practice, he is said to have spoken fondly of his time at the Cloister, finding it calming and meditative. When The War of Unification came to the area, the King of Nasse bypassed the Cloister completely, returning later only to reassure the Matron of the time that he intended to levy no tax, attack their religion, or otherwise change the Cloister's circumstance.
Though academicians have written many papers thoroughly debunking any supposed healing properties of the divine water (merely observing its excellent taste), locals continue to travel to the Cloister to receive water treatment.

Mythology & Lore

The mythos of the religion of the Cloister is shared with many other early religions, the idea of world-as-mother, and in this case, a Mother devoted to the healing and care of her children of life. Unlike those other religions, the Healing Mother was the only deity actively worshipped by members of the church, a direct challenge to the hugely complex cosmologies of the early houses of worship.
Other than the religion proper, the Cloister is also tasked with tending and protecting the divine water, a spring located in Cloudberry Vale that produces unusually crisp and high quality spring water. The Cloister states that this water is a panacea curative, with exposure, consumption, and immersion all ways to treat virtually any malady known to the Principality. An elaborate set of rituals are conducted in the Cloister with regards to the careful application of the water to the sick.

Founding Date

Prior to written history

Demonym

Cloistered