Holy Orders of Morwyn
Because the Morwynites emulate Morwyn in all things, the heads of the healing halls are those most like Morwyn, starting with gender. The Morwynite faith is the only one of the great churches divided along gender lines. Women shape the direction of the faith from its central church, the White Hall of Morwyn’s Hand. There the Supreme Matriarch, the ultimate authority on all matters Morwynite, watches over the faith and sets religious law. There are three holy orders of the healing halls, as with most churches, and two are limited to certain genders.
The matriarchs (clergy), heads of the healing halls, are all women and have four levels of status: the sisters of beneficence, the holy mothers, the high matriarchs, and the Supreme Matriarch. The faithful sons (holy warriors) are all men, live to serve the matriarchs, and have three levels of status: the brothers, the masters, and the fathers. The white hands, now the most numerous of the three holy orders, are educated in eight circles of healing and are divided by the level of education they have completed. Morwynites of any gender may join the white hands.
The average healing hall has three to four sisters of beneficence in residence and one holy mother. There will be as many faithful sons as there are matriarchs, and sometimes one or two extra. Most healing halls have two or three white hands who have achieved a high circle of learning; they reside there to teach others the secrets of the order.
The White Hall of Morwyn’s Hand holds the Supreme Matriarch, six high matriarchs, twelve holy mothers, and twenty-four sisters of beneficence in residence at any one time. At least forty-eight faithful sons, including ten fathers, serve as the Supreme Matriarch’s personal guard.
The Tower of the White Hands nearby houses the heads of that holy order, and has at least sixty white hands in residence at any time, including the white hands of the eighth circle, who head their order.
This yields the strange result of two lawful good churches, which eye each other suspiciously. Yet the churches are quite similar. It is no coincidence that the head of both faiths is called the Supreme Matriarch (or sometimes Patriarch, in the case of the Great Church Saint Hefasten modeled the Great Church after his native Morwynite faith. The Great Church exists to add members, and the Morwynites fear that if they don’t do the same, they will cease to exist. And it is possible. The Morwynite message is one of peace, harmony, charity and love for all; the average person is entirely unprepared to commit his life to the doctrine. Few believe they can live up to the standards of the church and its deity. More importantly, it is a difficult life. Morwynites constantly give of themselves, in spirit and earthly labor. Morwynites hold only those possessions they must have to survive, giving everything else to the healing halls for charitable distribution. While most are happy to give to the Morwynites in return for healing, or when attending a service in thanks for a newborn child or cured illness, that is the extent of their involvement with the healing halls. Since the Morwynites never refuse healing to anyone, there is no real incentive for its beneficiaries do more. Thus, only the purest, most caring souls end up among the Morwynites. There aren’t many such folk. Quite often, the healing halls neighbor or adjoin a foundation of Rontra, as the goddesses are considered to be intrinsically linked. Morwyn looks upon her followers with great affection. As the instigator of the Compact, Morwyn commits to its terms. She sees the healing halls as her best and strongest hope for opposing evil, and making an impact on the mortal world. However, she also sees how the Compact has bound her hands in those same efforts, and is sometimes frustrated by her inability to take direct action in the world. Morwyn’s primary concern with her church is its apparent inability to draw new people to the faith. The entire purpose of the Compact is to promote the works of the gods through mortal agents, yet other gods enjoy greater benefits under its terms, even though it was her initiative. Morwyn finds this profoundly disappointing, yet also believes her worshipers properly represent her beliefs as they work in the healing halls. Morwyn is in direct contact with the Morwynite Supreme Matriarch, and gives her guidance on spiritual matters. The entire faith was founded by a priestess named Tyngelle, in whom Morwyn put her faith long ago to build a lasting church in her honor. The order established by Tyngelle lasts to this day, and Morwyn sees each Supreme Matriarch as a direct descendent of the first, in whom she put her faith. Morwyn never tells her representative exactly how to behave, nor does she dictate the direction the healing halls should take. Morwyn lets her children make their own decisions, but does provide the Supreme Matriarch with advice to pass on to spiritually troubled seekers who come to The White Hall of Morwyn’s Hand. For this reason, these inquisitive, disturbed souls often find what they seek in the Supreme Matriarch’s presence. The head of the Morwynites is incredibly wise, and sometimes speaks with the Queen of Heaven’s voice.
The Healing Halls of Morwyn
The healing halls of Morwyn, as her churches are called, are run by her followers, the Morwynites. Morwynites are enormously popular wherever their healing halls are found, for they cure diseases and heal their hurts. All people love Morwynite healing, but not everyone loves the Morwynites themselves. Many people see them as impossibly holy, even self-righteous. For this reason, healing halls are not as common as they could be. Morwynites receive many donations from their patients and fill massive coffers, but lack common people to staff a healing hall in every major population center. Add to this the somewhat peculiar structure of the healing halls, and you have a church which, despite its popularity, has difficulty spreading its faith. The principal temporal goal of the Morwynite faith is to increase its lay membership, so it can build and staff more healing halls. This goal places Morwynites in direct conflict with The Great Church, which offers healing as well (though as one service of many), and like the Morwynites, wishes to attract devout laity and expand its reach.This yields the strange result of two lawful good churches, which eye each other suspiciously. Yet the churches are quite similar. It is no coincidence that the head of both faiths is called the Supreme Matriarch (or sometimes Patriarch, in the case of the Great Church Saint Hefasten modeled the Great Church after his native Morwynite faith. The Great Church exists to add members, and the Morwynites fear that if they don’t do the same, they will cease to exist. And it is possible. The Morwynite message is one of peace, harmony, charity and love for all; the average person is entirely unprepared to commit his life to the doctrine. Few believe they can live up to the standards of the church and its deity. More importantly, it is a difficult life. Morwynites constantly give of themselves, in spirit and earthly labor. Morwynites hold only those possessions they must have to survive, giving everything else to the healing halls for charitable distribution. While most are happy to give to the Morwynites in return for healing, or when attending a service in thanks for a newborn child or cured illness, that is the extent of their involvement with the healing halls. Since the Morwynites never refuse healing to anyone, there is no real incentive for its beneficiaries do more. Thus, only the purest, most caring souls end up among the Morwynites. There aren’t many such folk. Quite often, the healing halls neighbor or adjoin a foundation of Rontra, as the goddesses are considered to be intrinsically linked. Morwyn looks upon her followers with great affection. As the instigator of the Compact, Morwyn commits to its terms. She sees the healing halls as her best and strongest hope for opposing evil, and making an impact on the mortal world. However, she also sees how the Compact has bound her hands in those same efforts, and is sometimes frustrated by her inability to take direct action in the world. Morwyn’s primary concern with her church is its apparent inability to draw new people to the faith. The entire purpose of the Compact is to promote the works of the gods through mortal agents, yet other gods enjoy greater benefits under its terms, even though it was her initiative. Morwyn finds this profoundly disappointing, yet also believes her worshipers properly represent her beliefs as they work in the healing halls. Morwyn is in direct contact with the Morwynite Supreme Matriarch, and gives her guidance on spiritual matters. The entire faith was founded by a priestess named Tyngelle, in whom Morwyn put her faith long ago to build a lasting church in her honor. The order established by Tyngelle lasts to this day, and Morwyn sees each Supreme Matriarch as a direct descendent of the first, in whom she put her faith. Morwyn never tells her representative exactly how to behave, nor does she dictate the direction the healing halls should take. Morwyn lets her children make their own decisions, but does provide the Supreme Matriarch with advice to pass on to spiritually troubled seekers who come to The White Hall of Morwyn’s Hand. For this reason, these inquisitive, disturbed souls often find what they seek in the Supreme Matriarch’s presence. The head of the Morwynites is incredibly wise, and sometimes speaks with the Queen of Heaven’s voice.
Tenets of Faith
Doctrine
“When I was young and righteous, it seemed to me that the world was a place of abundant goodness, and I asked, ‘Why do men do evil?’ But I am old now, and I have no time to wonder at this anymore. Now I see that evil is everywhere, its path perilously easy to walk. At my age, I wonder why men ever do good, for what rewards do good deeds offer? They are few, and many years in the delivering. No, I will let the young cry out in the streets about the wickedness men do. I will leave it to the righteous to shake evil from men’s souls with hard words and harder steel. I choose to spend my remaining days tending to hearts that are safe for goodness, for good is not easy to find, and harder still to embrace.” —The Final Ruminations of Supreme Matriarch Ana CodhwynThe healing halls are homes to those of truly decent and merciful dispositions. Their residents are neither politically motivated nor cunning plotters who hoard secrets. The faithful of Morwyn are exactly what they appear to be: the most loving, kind people in the world. They value hope and joy over victory and dogmatism. They purge themselves of pride and self-importance, and live to protect, serve, aid teach, and heal a wounded world. In this they try to live out the mystery of Morwyn, who purged herself of the power of fire, given to all the gods, to heal her family. It is easy to see why the Morwynites grow scarce. Most people do not attend their services or join their numbers because they feel they simply are not up to a lifetime of service and personal perfection. For those who are members of the healing halls, either as congregants, clergy, holy warriors, or white hands, the principles of the faith surround a four-word maxim: Charitable, Merciful, Gentle, and Wise. Following this maxim, the Morwynites lend aid to all people and seek out those who are good, or who might be good if lent a hand, to help them spread the four virtues.
Charitable
If it is in your power to aid another, why would you not? In her grace, Morwyn has given a limitless bounty to the children of the earth. If we can aid others, what could dissuade us? Morwyn gave up her fire, the very power of the soul, so the other gods might live; what might the faithful give that could match this, the ultimate act of charity? For this reason, Morwynites do not demand money for their healing unless there is a good reason (see Wisdom, below) and they gravitate toward areas where the needy congregate. This doctrine stymies the church’s recruitment efforts, as there is nothing to be gained for oneself by joining, except a sense of peace. One does not attend a healing hall to make political connections or business deals.Merciful
If you are wronged, you must forgive. If you have an enemy in your power who is redeemable, you must seek to redeem him, even though your heart tells you it is folly. Redemption is always better than punishment, and sometimes the mere example of mercy is enough to redeem even the hardest heart.For this reason, Morwynites never kill people of one of the five mortal races if they can avoid it. Instead, they work tirelessly to redeem the person in question, offering them chance after chance to better themselves.
Gentle
War is never the first resort or second resort, and not even the third resort. Morwynites believe violence against kin—meaning the mortal races—should be avoided at all costs unless self-defense requires it. Morwynites are not pacifists; they take up arms against evil races, undead, dangerous beasts, and fiends. However, against the redeemable (which they tend to define as any person of one of the five mortal races, though individual Morwynites may believe in redemption for other beings—or rarely, that a group within one of the mortal races, such as dark elves, can’t be redeemed), Morwynites do not raise hands in anger. They fight only if attacked.Wisdom
It should be obvious that the first three parts of the Morwynite maxim could result in a group of people who are easily exploited, but Morwyn is the goddess of wisdom and her followers are no fools. They are not being taken advantage of when they give freely.For example, a Sister of Beneficence might regularly heal a man who has money, but pretends he does not, and who does not donate to the church. She does not do so naively, and eventually makes it clear to the man, when he least expects it, she knows exactly what he is up to. It is this doctrine that keeps the faithful from doing things that are clearly foolish.
A Morwynite shopkeeper does not give up his shop simply because someone else needs it, but believes he does the most good by owning a successful business and donating his surplus to the healing halls. While the Morwynites are thought foolish by those who would exploit them, they in fact hold to the hope they can save such people through good deeds.
Worship
Morwynite Prayers
The life of a Morwynite is understandably difficult. People disappoint them all the time, and their hopes are often shattered by the petty wickedness of common folk. In their most trying times, the Morwynites utter the following invocation.“Holy Mother, heed my prayer.
Lend me your wisdom,
So that I might see clearly;
Give me your patience,
That I might bear what I see.”
Priesthood
Saints
The Supreme Matriarch of the Morwynites delivers the roll of saints and martyrs every seven years from the great healing hall where she resides. Those named are henceforth referred to as “Saint,” regardless of whether they are included on the roll for having been beatified or martyred. A saint is someone who has done great work in the name of Morwyn, such as retrieving an artifact, saving an entire people, standing in the way of some profoundly evil plot. It must be a work of enormous importance, and must be done in Morwyn’s name. It is possible to be sainted in one’s lifetime, and some of the most powerful adventuring Morwynites have been named saints. A saint is introduced as “Saint” and his name, so Amno would be introduced as “Saint Amno,” overriding all other church titles. A martyr is someone who has been killed specifically for her faith by forces opposed to Morwyn. A Morwynite matriarch murdered by Asmodean cultists, her body desecrated, would be declared a martyr if her sad tale reached the ears of the Supreme Matriarch. An adventuring faithful son killed by an ooze would not be martyred, even if he was on a very important quest for the healing halls.
Type
Religious, Holy Order
Demonym
Morwynites
Subsidiary Organizations
Deities
Divines
Related Myths
