Scions of the Green Regent

The Scions of the Green Regent, sometimes called Green Scions and often simply scions, were the loose assemblage of remaining candidates for the role of Green Regent, the Chosen of Mielikki. Though unselected, they were sworn to serve the Green Regent and defend the Delimbiyr Vale.

Initiation
The mantle of Green Regent was passed from person to person in an orderly and peaceful manner, in a ceremony held each Shieldmeet, which was every four years. In the 14 century DR, the simple yet mysterious ceremony was held by the Circle of the Stag, a reclusive order of druids devoted to Mielikki, who arrived in the city of Loudwater in the Grayvale in time for Shieldmeet. All who would volunteer, either as Green Regent or as a Scion, assembled at the Risen Moon Market, in front of the High Lord's Hall. There, they were asked to imbibe a secret concoction known as the Greendraught from a clay cup called the Lady's Chalice. Those whom Mielikki accepted as Scions were marked with her holy symbol upon their brow. But those whom she declined could not keep the Greendraught down and, nauseated, vomited it back up. The Lady of the Forest picked all kinds of people, and sometimes not the most likely or popular. She was even known to pass over her own clerics and rangers and even accept people faithful to other deities, though those she did take were unlikely to ever turn to dark gods like Mask and Shar later.

Afterward, the Scions were to fast for the rest of the day, eating nothing and drinking only water from a flowing stream. They headed north into the High Forest, went their separate ways, and kept vigil through the night. They were permitted to make a small campfire for warmth and light, provided it didn't threaten the forest, of course. Some time in the night, one of the Scions would be chosen in secret circumstances.

The next day, Eleasis 1, the Scions and the new Green Regent, bearing the tell-tale signs, emerged from the forest and began their service to the vale however they willed. The Scions swore an oath to serve the Green Regent and to defend Loudwater and the lands around.

Activities
Despite the name, the reign of the Green Regents was but a symbolic one—they wielded no political powers, commanded no armies, and owned no lands or strongholds. Only the Scions owed them any fealty. The Scions served the Green Regent in their tasks of encouraging people to practice sustainable hunting and logging and defending the Delimbiyr Vale against invasion and devastation and anything else that threatened the Lady of the Forest's dream of making the Delimbiyr Crescent a showcase for a perfect balance between civilization and nature and a sanctuary for her faithful. They generally just tried to do good in the land.

Relationships
The folk of the Grayvale treated the Green Regents and their Scions as if they were royalty. Almost all of them would offer food and shelter and carry out other requests, if reasonable. As a result, they generally had an easier time getting information.

Just as Mielikki communicated with the Green Regents through dreams, the goddess Lurue could communicate with the Scions on Mielikki's behalf to direct their efforts when necessary.

Description
The Scions were marked by the holy symbol of Mielikki, a unicorn's head appearing like a magical glyph, on their forehead. It glowed with an emerald hue and was as bright as a candle but did not dazzle the eyes. While this naturally drew suspicion from those hostile to the faith and to Loudwater, such as the Zhentarim of Llorkh and Orlbar, local legend held that any effort to hide or magically suppress or remove it would invite the disapproval or even anger of Mielikki as well as the misfortune of Beshaba, hampering the Scion for some time.

Early History
The history of the Scions was inextricably tied with that of the Green Regents. The origins of both were lost in the mists of history, though it was thought Mielikki had not begun to choose them before humans of Illusk first settled the Savage Frontier, some time after. Several Green Regents were known to have come from the Kingdom of Athalantar, called the Realm of the Stag, which stood from to.

Following Tethyrian settlement around the Delimbiyr River, these people too were included in Mielikki's dream. Green Regents and Scions were known to be active in Delimbiyran, the Kingdom of Man, which stood from to, and in the Tricrowned Kingdom of Phalorm, of which Delimbiyran was a part and which stood from  to. Though these realms too collapsed in time and civilization in the Delimbiyr Vale divided into various city-states, like Calandor, Loravatha, Scathril and others, the Green Regents and Scions went on defending the forests, Mielikki's dream, and the peoples of the vale.

The Rensha Rule
Though the line of Green Regents had lasted for many centuries, it was interrupted only a few times. The most significant occurred when the Renshas laid claim to most of the Delimbiyr Vale in the Year of the Scourge, 1150 DR. Seeing the Forest Queen's Green Regents and their Scions as threats to their reign, the Renshas banned the selection ceremony and hunted down any that they found. These persecutions continued for several years, before the Green Regents vanished for more than a century. The second lord, Misbah Rensha, ruthlessly crushed the last resistance to the family's rule with the help of the archdevil Baalzebul. The Renshas made Loudwater more prosperous and expanded its connections with the outside world, but at the cost of exploiting the Vale's natural resources and despoiling much of the pristine beauty of the area. Under them, without the Green Regents and Scions to stop them, loggers cleared the forests away from the river and farmers claimed the land for agriculture, while miners strip-mined the mountains, all at a shocking pace, and the wealth flowed down the river and out of the vale.

Finally, in the, Pasuuk Rensha hired a band of talented mercenary hunters to obtain a unicorn's horn. They hunted high and low for weeks, tracked it down, and finally tricked it into teleporting into a trap they'd set at a treacherous bend in the river known as Unicorn Run. Ordered by the company's captain, the newest member, Nanathlor Greysword, stepped forth and raised his sword to slay the unicorn—and hesitated, his heart breaking as he gazed into its eyes. Instead, Nanathlor turned back to his comrades, with sword still raised, and vowed he would not kill such a magnificent beast and that he would defend it against all that would despoil it. Twelve hunters joined him, and together they mutinied against their captain. Afterward, the markings of the Green Regent crawled over Nanathlor's body, his fellows received the unicorn symbol on their foreheads, and the unicorn revealed itself to be the avatar of Mielikki. For their courage, she'd made Nanathlor the new Green Regent and those who stood with him Scions, the first in over a century and a half. Furthermore, she asked Nanathlor and his comrades to liberate the Delimbiyr Vale from the rule of the Renshas.

In what became known as the War of the Returned Regent, Nanathlor and his Scions and followers waged war against Pasuuk Rensha and his diabolical allies. Their victory came two years later at the Battle of Tanglefork. Here, the Green Regent called on Mielikki for aid, and she awakened the trees around the battlefield and set them to attack Pasuuk's forces. Ultimately, Mielikki's servants were victorious and the devils and Pasuuk were all killed in the fighting.

Return of the Regent
With the fall of the Renshas and the end of the War of the Returned Regent, Nanathlor assumed rulership of Loudwater in the. Though Nanathlor soon after ceased to be Green Regent, over a dozen would follow him within his lifetime, and countless more Scions.

In the, the then Green Regent, Kalahar Twohands led the Scions against a great storm elemental known as the Tempest that had been summoned by Talassan priests to devastate Llorkh and Orlbar. After fierce fighting against the cult amidst a thunderstorm atop a mountain in the Greypeaks, they banished the elemental and scattered the cult.

A later Green Regent, Galaer Grasswave and the Scions were engaged in certain vital rituals on Standing Stone Hill to repair Loudwater's magical wards when, on the Night of the Blood Moon in the, Malarite lycanthropes attacked Loudwater. Galaer could not halt nor pause the rituals for wards that might yet protect Loudwater, and so was forced to divide both his attention and his forces, keeping half the available Scions to defend the hill and sending the other half to defend the folk of Loudwater. More than three-quarters of the Scions fell to the lycanthropes in two nights of fighting, but they prevented interruption of the ritual and saved many folk from Malarite depredations.

During the Gray Migrations of the High Forest orcs from late spring of the, onward, Scions of the Green Regent, the Red Fellowship, local paladins, rangers, and even some orcs themselves voluntarily patrolled the roads to keep the peace. The next Green Regent and fresh Scions were chosen on Shieldmeet of that year. But shock after shock came when Stedd Rein, a hero of the Night of the Blood Moon and a favorite to become a Scion or even Green Regent was rejected, then a band of High Forest orcs showed up and the young chieftain Otar drank the Greendraught and was accepted as a Scion. When Otar walked out of the High Forest the next day displaying the marks of the Green Regent, there was horror and outage. The elven nobility were particularly appalled and openly rejected Otar and accused the Circle of the Stag of deceit, even blasphemy, claiming the ceremony had been tainted or sabotaged. A few even doubted the validity of all the Scions, which nearly everyone rejected as ridiculous. Notoriously, family patriarch Halitan Phelaniityr vowed to rectify the situation before the Grayvale became, in his words, a "cesspool of bestial orcish scum." Fearing violence might follow, the orcs, druids, and new Green Regent returned to the High Forest, leaving the Scions leaderless and people in Loudwater angry or afraid or else wondering what Mielikki had in store. With the Green Regent absent, the Scions were left to act independently, setting out to do good works as they would do otherwise.

Known Scions of the Green Regent
The following were Scions of the Green Regent in the late 14 century DR:
 * Isyan Kiy'sisnos, a moon elf bladesinger and Gauntlet of the Western Marches of Loudwater
 * Eldrin Whisperbark, a human farmer
 * Nuial Treestrider, a half-elf bard of Loudwater.
 * Isla Donrig, a bard from the Moonshae Isles