3 replies to this topic

[Bookwyrme]

In the current version of Hublepot, Jaheira and Hublepot have a sharp exchange about farming--Jaheira maintaining that it disturbs the balance & Hublepot maintaining that people need to eat.

My question is, would this happen? Does being a druid & follower of Silvanus automatically mean opposing farming? I thought that would be more the territory of the Shadow Druids.

Anyone know how this would work? My (very) limited research suggests that Silvanus & Chauntea are on good terms, but I'm not very familiar with FR lore.

[NiGHTMARE]

Silvanus and Chauntea are indeed on good terms. However, the same isn't always true of their worshippers.

[Bookwyrme]

Thanks.

Do you know what areas tend to provoke the differences between them?

[Lemernis]

I'm trying my hand at writing a NPC Cleric-Thief of Chauntea, here are my notes on Chauntea:

Chauntea

* greater deity, known as the "Great Mother"
* NG "benefactor" temperment; benevolent, loving goddess
* welcomes both genders and all races to worship her
* very popular deity among farmers and the underclasses (servants, peasants, laborers)
* Chauntea supports a healthy marriage of civilization and wilderness, emphasizing conscientious stewardship of Nature; Chauntea values adaptation, compromise, humility, and patience
* one of the eldest deities, created in a battle between Shar and Selune; assisted and favored thereafter by Selune and Mystra; originally known by the name of "Jannath" (still worshipped by that name in Moonshaes)
* opposed to all Evil deities, and their destructiveness, maliciously harmful behavior, etc.
* Talona, whose diseases infest crops, and Talos, whose storms ravage farmers' fields, are particularly inimical to Chauntea
* most friendly with Lathander, with whom she has at times been intimate
* home plane is Elysium

Chauntean Clergy:

* two types of priest: Pastorals (usually clerics), who assist farmers, and "True Shapers" (usually druids), who preserve the wilderness; these two types of priest are philosophically at odds
* Certain more militant sects among the Silvanic druids such as the Shadow Druids regard Chauntea's support of civilization as an affront, they are opposed to the dogma of Pastoral clerics; the militant Silvanic druids (just certain sects? Shadow Druids only?) are aligned with Chauntean "True Shaper" druids in their opposition to Chauntean Pastorals
* females vastly outnumber males in the clergy
* church has no central authority; clergy tend to be highly individualistic
* clerics tend to wear brown robes
* pray for spells at sundown
* industrious, hardworking; priests also farm and garden in addition to performing clerical duties
* appreciate beauty and meditation
* instruct congregants on proper methods of planting, identification of plant and animal diseases, and herblore
* strong emphasis on fertility; Greengrass is celebrated as a kind of orgy (similar to the Greek "Bacchanalia" or Roman "Saturnalia")
* at the start of the harvest Chauntean priests hold a perrenial ceremony, during which they read "High Prayers of the Harvest"
* a form of "Holy Communion" is often used as a rite of passage for the clergy
* many priests perform marriages and act as midwives for human and animal births
* newlywedded couples are encouraged to consumate their marriage in a freshly tilled field

Ethos

* wanton destruction is antithetical to the cycle of life
* nourish at least one living thing every day
* eschew fire

Hope that helps!