Chauntea
Great Mother (a.k.a. Earth Mother / Goddess of Grain and Harvest)
Chauntea is the goddess of all things growing, especially of things cultivated by mortal hands.
She rarely appears to mortals and is not interested in providing any special spectacles. She prefers small and quiet gifts. Chauntea is especially revered among the people of farmers, gardeners and all those who live from the fruits of nature. Worshiped by farmers, gardeners, land slaves, and anyone who makes a living from the land, Chauntea is considered by most mortals to be an essential part of the natural cycle of life.
Wealthy landowners and common farmers alike come to the resident cleric of the Earth Mother to seek advice on when to harvest the next harvest or plant the next season's seeds. When bad weather or disease results in barren and contaminated fields, farmers turn their gaze and prayers to Chauntea, hoping her attention will save the seasonal crop.
Those who destroy the harvest for nefarious purposes have much to fear from the servants of Chauntea, who take their role as rural protectors very seriously. Cheauntea's clerics and druids pray for their spells at sunset. The clergy have few structured holidays and instead direct the faithful to give thanks to Chauntea at every sunrise and at every moment when the natural beauty of the world fills them with joy.
A long-standing tradition within the church states that a newlywed couple should spend their first night together in a freshly tilled field to ensure a fruitful union. Fertility plays an important role in Chauntean beliefs, and hedonistic celebrations encourage excessive drinking, eating, dancing, and uninhibited behavior.
Members of The Great Mother's clergy divide themselves into two factions of approximately equal size. Those priests who look after the farmers and agricultural workers in the cities, towns and villages call themselves the Rural Ones, while those from the wilder, older sects who model themselves after the wilderness itself with a touch of arrogance call themselves the True Designers.
Members of both sects do not recognize any central authority - they belong to a very individual faith. Chauntea has defined doctrines in which general values and taboos are delineated. However, how this code is adopted by each cleric himself and his congregation is a matter of personal interpretation. The Church welcomes members of all peoples, although women far outnumber men, perhaps because the liturgies are peppered with references to fertility, motherhood and femininity. Clerics and druids of Chauntea often also act as farmers or gardeners, and rural people often hold positions of great respect in their rural communities. They were often born in small villages or farms, and most came to the church through an appreciation of natural beauty, a sense of peace when standing in a tilled field under the light of the midsummer sun. They don't hesitate to roll up their sleeves and help local residents at harvest time, keep farming families healthy and provide another pair of active hands for even the hardest and menial jobs.
Like their deity, most who serve Chauntea are patient and calm, difficult to anger, and prefer passive diplomacy to open conflict. Surprisingly, several major cities display temples to The Great Mother; usually large, multi-windowed buildings that also serve as granaries or impressive public gardens.
In the countryside, most ceremonies are held under the light of the sun or moon, with clergy performing special services in their homes, small shrines, stables, or haylofts. In such places, the clerics and druids of Chauntea instruct those gathered, in the correct methods of planting, detecting plant and animal diseases, and herbalism. A large number hold weddings and serve as midwives at human and animal births. They preach respect for the natural world and emphasize the plan of replanting, careful irrigation and crop rotation to ensure that the earth is not exploited. However, aggressive Druids of Silvanus scoff at these teachings and claim that agriculture itself is an insult to nature. It allows more people to live in a given area than it can support in the long term and therefore promotes overpopulation and destruction of the surrounding area, despite the best intentions of rural people. They claim that over time, Chauntea agriculture, with its altered river flows, drained wetlands and emphasis on supporting cities, will cause irreparable damage to the balance of nature. Although the rural people shrug it off, such regressive treatment caused great uproar among the True Shapers. A number of the early Chaunteans have converted to Silvanus in recent centuries, leading to an even colder relationship between the two churches, even among moderate members.
She rarely appears to mortals and is not interested in providing any special spectacles. She prefers small and quiet gifts. Chauntea is especially revered among the people of farmers, gardeners and all those who live from the fruits of nature. Worshiped by farmers, gardeners, land slaves, and anyone who makes a living from the land, Chauntea is considered by most mortals to be an essential part of the natural cycle of life.
Wealthy landowners and common farmers alike come to the resident cleric of the Earth Mother to seek advice on when to harvest the next harvest or plant the next season's seeds. When bad weather or disease results in barren and contaminated fields, farmers turn their gaze and prayers to Chauntea, hoping her attention will save the seasonal crop.
Those who destroy the harvest for nefarious purposes have much to fear from the servants of Chauntea, who take their role as rural protectors very seriously. Cheauntea's clerics and druids pray for their spells at sunset. The clergy have few structured holidays and instead direct the faithful to give thanks to Chauntea at every sunrise and at every moment when the natural beauty of the world fills them with joy.
A long-standing tradition within the church states that a newlywed couple should spend their first night together in a freshly tilled field to ensure a fruitful union. Fertility plays an important role in Chauntean beliefs, and hedonistic celebrations encourage excessive drinking, eating, dancing, and uninhibited behavior.
Members of The Great Mother's clergy divide themselves into two factions of approximately equal size. Those priests who look after the farmers and agricultural workers in the cities, towns and villages call themselves the Rural Ones, while those from the wilder, older sects who model themselves after the wilderness itself with a touch of arrogance call themselves the True Designers.
Members of both sects do not recognize any central authority - they belong to a very individual faith. Chauntea has defined doctrines in which general values and taboos are delineated. However, how this code is adopted by each cleric himself and his congregation is a matter of personal interpretation. The Church welcomes members of all peoples, although women far outnumber men, perhaps because the liturgies are peppered with references to fertility, motherhood and femininity. Clerics and druids of Chauntea often also act as farmers or gardeners, and rural people often hold positions of great respect in their rural communities. They were often born in small villages or farms, and most came to the church through an appreciation of natural beauty, a sense of peace when standing in a tilled field under the light of the midsummer sun. They don't hesitate to roll up their sleeves and help local residents at harvest time, keep farming families healthy and provide another pair of active hands for even the hardest and menial jobs.
Like their deity, most who serve Chauntea are patient and calm, difficult to anger, and prefer passive diplomacy to open conflict. Surprisingly, several major cities display temples to The Great Mother; usually large, multi-windowed buildings that also serve as granaries or impressive public gardens.
In the countryside, most ceremonies are held under the light of the sun or moon, with clergy performing special services in their homes, small shrines, stables, or haylofts. In such places, the clerics and druids of Chauntea instruct those gathered, in the correct methods of planting, detecting plant and animal diseases, and herbalism. A large number hold weddings and serve as midwives at human and animal births. They preach respect for the natural world and emphasize the plan of replanting, careful irrigation and crop rotation to ensure that the earth is not exploited. However, aggressive Druids of Silvanus scoff at these teachings and claim that agriculture itself is an insult to nature. It allows more people to live in a given area than it can support in the long term and therefore promotes overpopulation and destruction of the surrounding area, despite the best intentions of rural people. They claim that over time, Chauntea agriculture, with its altered river flows, drained wetlands and emphasis on supporting cities, will cause irreparable damage to the balance of nature. Although the rural people shrug it off, such regressive treatment caused great uproar among the True Shapers. A number of the early Chaunteans have converted to Silvanus in recent centuries, leading to an even colder relationship between the two churches, even among moderate members.
Divine Domains
Life
Tenets of Faith
Growth and harvest are part of the eternal cycle and the most natural part of life.
Destruction without cause and leveling something without rebuilding are sins.
Don't let a day go by without helping some living being thrive.
Nurture, tend and plant whenever possible.
Protect trees and plants, protect their seeds, so that everything that is destroyed can also grow again.
Take care of the fertility of the earth, but let the fertile people take care of themselves.
Put out fires.
Plant one plant or seed at least every ten days.
Divine Classification
Goddess
Alignment
Neutral Good
Children
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