The Green Wardens

Beetle shrugged, causing the buckles on her breastplate’s straps and the edges of her paudrons to clank together. “The world is a dangerous place. It always has been, and now moreso than any other time in living memory. Monsters we’ve never even heard of or dismissed as legends are coming back, and there’s more of them appearing every day. Everyone knows this forest’s full of creatures, and throughout the ages all sorts of wardens, rangers, and druidic sects have been tasked with keeping this place under control. This time it’s our turn, and if the Green Wardens can’t be the bastion that keeps the forests safe, who can be?”

For as long as written documents have existed to record their existence and likely since long before, groups of courageous individuals have been around, in times of peace and in times of strife, to defend the residents of the Greenweald, sapient and non-sapient alike, from not only the dangers and hardships of the wider world, but from each other and sometimes even themselves. Throughout the ages, these groups have gone by many names, experienced uncountable revisions, and followed numerous ideologies. However, the core of their existence and the very reason for their being has always been the same: to defend the edges of society from the encroachment of those who might do it harm, and to protect the natural world from those who, through their advancement, might damage it. In their current incarnation, they are the Green Wardens. As peacekeepers, they settle conflicts. As diplomats, they serve as trusted intermediaries for those who might otherwise be left voiceless. As scholars, they document what was once unknown. As warriors, they combat those that would do others harm, as police they uphold the law, and as assassins they remove those who cannot be reasoned with, using absolute precision and certainty. Rangers. Druids. Wizards. Soulspeakers, Paladins, and mighty Sorcerers. All those willing to speak with the voices of nature and stand with the weak are welcome. They are the Green Wardens, and they will stand strong.

Structure

Within the Green Wardens, all fully-trained members are of the same rank, and only vary in their specializations and the degree of leadership they decide to adopt. Several individuals can be in charge of the Wardens, or none may be, depending on the situation, and it is common for members to go off on solo missions for months or years at a time, only reporting back occasionally. Typically, though, there will be one leader who everyone reports to, a handful of senior or influential members with nearly as much power, a number of average members, and a couple of recruits or other inexperienced individuals who have chosen to tag along. Informally, those who can attract and keep the largest number of nature spirits bonded to them are seen to have the most leadership potential, but this is not a hard-and-fast rule. As a subgroup of the Rangers of the Greenweald, the overarching organization to which all official rangers in Harvenston belong, the Green Wardens are technically lead by one or more Warden-Commanders, who report to the Captain of the Greenweald, the leader of all rangers in Harvenston.

Public Agenda

The primary goal of the Green Wardens is to maintain peace and stability within the forests of Pulse Sector, and between its many diverse inhabitants. The order also plays a role in the protection and maintenance of the various ecosystems in their area.

Assets

Individual Wardens may be poor or wealthy, but overall the organization puts little stock in material wealth. Multiple permanent and semi-permanent camps exist scattered within Pulse Sector’s forests, containing stockpiles of equipment and areas to train, along with the shelter they provide. While the organization does have access to a set budget provided by the government, once everyone has the materials and training they require this is rarely accessed. Each individual is expected to care for their own equipment and pay for custom upgrades out-of-pocket, although replacements for the standard gear set and to a lesser extent their horses are provided.

History

Ever since the country's founding, there has almost always been at least one organization with goals similar or nearly identical to those of the Green Wardens in operation somewhere on the continent. In nearly all cases, those groups would fall under the jurisdiction of the Rangers of the Greenweald, which is the overarching parent organization uniting all rangers across Harvenston. After the Grey Hunt was disbanded in 1622 and no experienced rangers were willing to refound the order, the apprentice of one of the Grey Hunt's senior members took matters into their own hands and founded the Green Wardens, modelling it after the historical order of the same name.

Religion

While it is somewhat uncommon for members of the order to be of a purely Druidic faith, a belief in and reliance upon the spirits of nature in some capacity is an almost ubiquitous part of being a Green Warden. Members may follow or worship whichever deities they choose, if any at all, although a belief in either druidic or natural gods and spirits is the most common, followed by agnosticism. Overall, religion plays only a minor role within the order, and has almost no concrete power.

“We watch. We serve. We protect.”

Founding Date

1623

Type

Military, Paramilitary/Militia

Alternative Names

Wardens of the Greenweald

Currency

While Green Wardens use all forms of the common currencies used across the continent, some of the more eccentric among their number have taken to using naturally-occurring minerals, smooth pebbles, interesting-looking sticks, and other natural artifacts as a form of semi-improvised currency. Those who are more in touch with the rest of society, however, prefer to use either a more common form of coinage, stone chips, or gemstones, which can be either rough or polished.

Notable Members