Rontras Holy Orders

The Rontran foundations have no centralized hierarchy. Each is independently managed by its senior member, though some foundations in one kingdom or geographic area might form a council. Even without a central authority, each member knows where they stand in the religion. There are three holy orders within the Rontran church: the sowers (clergy), wardens (holy warriors), and gleaners. Sowers have three levels of status: prelates, grand prelates, and elders of the faith. Wardens and gleaners do not have such formal ranks. Sowers run the foundations, and are considered the authorities in any matter concerning the Rontran faith.
A typical foundation hosts at least five prelates and one grand prelate. In fact, a foundation cannot be established without a grand prelate. Larger foundations have three or four wardens in residence. Gleaners are almost never found in foundations, and are instead inhabit shrines found in the remote wilderness.

Sowers of Rontra

The sowers are the clerics of the Rontran faith. Their name comes from farming, not because they are all farmers, but as a reference to what they do: plant the seed of Rontra’s wisdom and goodness in the hearts and minds of all they meet. Just as a farmer cannot make a seed grow by himself, so are the sowers unable to make this seed of peace take root. It is up to people to nourish their own moral strength. Most sowers reside in foundations, ministering to Rontra’s worshipers. There are those in the order who eschew connection to any establishment, seeing the earth as their ministry. These wandering sowers are usually quite popular, for they heal the sick and the maimed, and always seem to show up just when they’re needed most. Although the Rontran faith has no higher order that that of the sowers, they need not work at a foundation, but most do because it’s the best way to study, and perform Rontra’s works. Many small farming villages across the land benefit from Rontran foundations’ charity. They often build small shrines to the Earth Mother in outlying communities, stationing prelates at these shrines for periods up to five years. Ideally, the prelates train acolytes to take over their ministries once they move on to other duties.
Wherever a sower is stationed, whatever his duty, the order sees his function as offering all people, common and high, a helping hand and advice to help them accept their varied places in the world and be at peace. Sowers sometimes speak in what seem like riddles, to avoid telling people what to do. They shun confrontations when dealing with people who are good of heart, but when faced with evil, particularly unnatural and fiendish forces, sowers become implacable foes.
Most sowers are lawful good and, like Rontra, believe there must be an order to everything in nature, including peoples’ lives, for the world to be at peace. They desire the happiness from all people, high and low, and work within the established order to promote it. While they oppose tyranny, they see nothing wrong with a system of peasant farmers and wealthy landowners. In fact, they convince those who want to rebel against this established order that they must accept their place in life. This is one of the cores of their belief: accept who and what you are, and you will find unbounded joy.
They espouse moral good in other ways, though, and oppose efforts oppress the people or steal from them. The neutral good sowers are more ambivalent about established social orders. They see many cases where change can improve lives. However, they continue to adhere to the basic tenets of the faith, and do not command good-hearted people to change their lives, preferring to advise. Many neutral good sowers are wanderers, less interested in the foundations than their counterparts. They seek out the world’s most dangerous areas, where they can do good deeds.
Oddities among the brethren, lawful neutral sowers seek and obey authority almost compulsively. They create hierarchies where none exist. Most sowers with this outlook believe the flaw in mortal reasoning is easily found—and it’s their dissatisfaction with order. If everyone accepted their place unconditionally and performed their role properly, the world would function perfectly and peacefully. Lawful neutral sowers try to guide those who have fallen out of their place back into it, and wage personal crusades against forces outside the natural order, such as the undead.


Prelates
Initiate sowers are named prelates, a title they bear for the first many years of their careers. The Rontrans hold that all prelates are equal. Once admitted into the order, they can go where they believe Rontra wants them—unless commanded directly not to by the grand prelate of the foundation. The foundations have lawful good tendencies, however, and most prelates obey even implied instructions even they’re not strictly required to. A prelate is addressed as “brother” or “sister,” and introduced by full title.

Grand Prelates
The only person in a foundation empowered to command others is its grand prelate. When a foundation loses its grand prelate through death or departure, or when a new foundation is established, all the local prelates gather for a great council to name a new grand prelate. All voices are equal in these councils, called moots, regardless of age or experience. Prelates run the moots in a very orderly fashion, with every attendant getting a chance to debate the matter before them. Thus, moots can take as long as a month before these prelates agree unanimously on the identity of the new grand prelate. Grand prelates are undisputedly in charge of the foundations and, since there is no higher authority, they become the area’s arbiter of religious law. Prelates obey the grand prelate from their foundation, even if they don’t want to.
A foundation must have a grand prelate to be considered a foundation—otherwise it is a shrine. If a grand prelate cannot be decided on, the foundation is reduced to a shrine and put under the authority of the nearest foundation with a grand prelate. Grand prelates are addressed as “mothers” or “fathers,” and introduced by full title.
Elders of the Faith
Whether grand prelate or not, eventually a sower becomes so powerful that all recognize him as an elder of the faith, or “great elder.” These venerable leaders have usually performed great quests or other monumental tasks in the service of Rontra. It is considered odd for great elders to continue to serve as grand prelates if they hold the office. Most give up the position. They travel throughout the land. Visiting foundations, they lend their wisdom and aid when required, harrying the foes weaker members of the faith simply cannot approach. A great elder is addressed as “grandmother,” or “grandfather,” and introduced by full title.
Joining the Sowers
To become a prelate, a person must show a gift of understanding Rontra’s teachings. The faith is complex, with thousands of recorded prayers and three different forms of ministry (farming, treasures of the earth, and fertility). A prelate must understand all of these, and be just as prepared to tend to the spiritual needs of dwarven miners as those of young wives hoping to get with child. Training usually takes five years, though wise candidates have been admitted into the clergy in only two years. A prelate might serve in a foundation, wander, or even run a small shrine. Prelates become clerics upon completing their training and must choose a domain associated with Rontra for the Divine Domain class feature, such as Earth or Nature.

Wardens of Rontra

Wardens are protectors of the earth, guarding the world from those who would abuse her gifts, but primarily from those powers that would pollute or pervert the natural order. While sowers protect and guide the mortal races, wardens seek out and end incursions of unnatural forces such as the undead and fiends such as demons and devils. While they take orders from grand prelates or great elders, wardens tend to be inveterate wanderers on a lifelong mission against evil.
Wardens defend the earth from the depredations of the unnatural. They consider all life sacred, and strive to protect and nurture Rontra’s children. They must always remember the reason for their struggle against the unnatural is to protect innocent life. Any warden who kills without just cause, or defiles the earth and its treasures, immediately loses her standing and is considered fallen. Wardens must never imagine the ends justify the means— they do not for Rontra, so they do not for her servants. In determining what is “unnatural,” the simple rule to follow is this: If it’s good or was born on the Material Plane, it is not “unnatural.” While wardens do not like orcish brutality, they do not wish to eradicate orcs, as they are part of the natural order.
Undead aren’t alive and fiends come from other planes, and thus face the full force of the wardens’ wrath. Wardens do not oppose celestials, because these holy beings do not actively pollute and destroy the natural order. Wardens enjoy the company of any who oppose evil through just means. They are closely tied with Morwynites and other lawful churches, and might ally themselves with other divinely-powered, virtuous individuals from other faiths. They shun the company of those who resort to torture or brutality in the name of what they perceive to be good, or anyone who knowingly commits evil acts. They actively oppose anyone who creates undead, or summons evil beings from other planes.
Joining the Wardens
Rontra sometimes calls people to serve her. When she does, they feel her voice in their bones, and become wardens. Intuition tells wardens their duty to oppose the unnatural forces that inhabit the world, whatever the cost, so many leave behind established trades and lives to heed Rontra’s call. Any warden can name an initiate warden who’s heard the divine summons; this act makes the initiate a paladin.. The induction process and ceremony vary based on the inducting warden and the prospective member’s personality. Many initiates are taken into secluded areas by their sponsors and told tales of Rontra’s splendor for many days, with little to sustain them but conversation’s distractions.
Other wardens lead an entire foundation in prayers for the initiate’s mission, for days on end. There are even wardens who were inducted into the order by being buried in dirt up to their necks, for three days and nights. Regardless of the ceremony, the newly created warden becomes master of her own destiny, and may wander the lands freely on her order’s universal quest to destroy the unnatural. Once initiated, a warden has no other office of rank, is addressed as “sir” or “dame,” and is introduced by full title. Wardens require no training to be considered such, though most are wise enough to seek out martial training. When it is time for wardens to swear their Sacred Oath, they normally swear the Oath of the Ancients. Most wardens are lawful good.

Gleaners of Rontra,

The third holy order of the Rontrans has little to do with the foundations, and its members spends their time in small farming communities. Called the gleaners, they take their name from the poorest of the poor. At harvest time, after the reapers cut the wheat and take it be stored, gleaners come in and pick up the small pieces of grain dropped in the process. They live off these scraps; a more wretched people cannot be found in any countryside. Rontra’s order of gleaners are mendicants, living off what they are given by nearby farmers. They settle on the outskirts of rural communities and ponder the nature of Rontra’s teachings, while protecting the land from evil incursions—natural and unnatural alike.
The order came into existence on the uncivilized fringes of society long ago, when the greatest threat to farmers were roving bandits who raided them for food. The gleaners were warriors inspired by Rontra, who rose from farm communities and drove off bandits in exchange for food. Eventually, they coalesced into an order and now they are respected, if little heard from, members of the faith. It is not an easy mantle to wear. The gleaners have no property or families, and often live rough, without roofs of their own. Eventually, they become tied to the land they protect. While there are certainly traveling gleaners seeking out rural communities in need of aid, by the end of their careers (should they live long enough), they invariably settle in a single region.
Joining the Gleaners
Anyone who has a love for common people, and is prepared to take up arms to defend them and their lands, might make an appropriate gleaner. Fighters, rangers, barbarians, and monks (especially monks who practice the way of the four elements) are all likely to become gleaners, and more than a few rogues have joined as well. It is unheard of for those who require books and other trappings of civilization, like wizards and bards, to become gleaners, as it is a calling that requires poverty. Gleaners do not have titles, and many abandon their names. They are simply called “friend” or “brother” by those they protect. Admission to the order does not require any rite of passage; a person is simply called to serve the order and takes on the mantle of gleaner.

Sower of mother earth

Warden of Rontra

Type

Religious, Holy Order

Gleaner of the Grandmother