Green Regent

The Green Regents were the Chosen of Mielikki, the Lady of the Forest. They were the anointed guardians of the Grayvale and her dreams for that land and they guided and inspired the people of the Delimbiyr Crescent.

Duties
In the tales of the Harpers, the whole of the Delimbiyr Crescent was the favored land of the goddess Mielikki. This seemed quite true, for the Forest Queen dreamed of a perfect balance between civilization and nature and sought to make the Delimbiyr Crescent and the Grayvale a showcase for this and a sanctuary for her faithful. To help realize this dream, she chose and empowered the Green Regents to protect and reign over the land and work her will in her stead, similar to how the Magister was the champion of Mystra.

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. Yet their influence on the hearts and minds of the peoples of Loudwater and the Grayvale was great and the results were very real. At the Green Regent's guidance, people took care to preserve the local ecology: they did not overhunt, but conserved animal populations; they took their firewood from deadfall; and cut trees for timber rarely and selectively, and replanted before a forest became too thin. More grandly, the Green Regent was tasked with the protection of the vale, defending it against invasion and devastation and anything else that threatened the Lady of the Forest's dream.

They were aided in these endeavors by the Scions of the Green Regent, the less-successful candidates for the role who'd sworn an oath to serve nonetheless and shared their goals. The rangers, druids, and clerics of Mielikki aided in this task.

As a result of their work, the Grayvale was described by bards as like a luscious garden, that is, a place where the beautiful wilds were carefully shaped and pruned to create an almost magical paradise. The meadows were filled with wild flowers and the forests were the realms of fey and forest creatures, and Loudwater in particular was a garden city surrounded by fertile fields and productive farms, as Mielikki's dream for the vale was reflected here.

Selection
Unlike the Magister and the ugly battles for that title, the mantle of Green Regent was passed from person to person in an orderly and peaceful manner, in a ceremony held each Shieldmeet. Its term was limited to a period of four years—from Shieldmeet to Shieldmeet—unless of course the Regent was killed in the meantime. No one could ever serve for longer than this. In this way, the Forest Queen could have new and varied Chosen as her needs evolved.

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 for the role, 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. Kept safe by the Circle, these were believed to be crucial to the ceremony; without them, there could never be another Green Regent. 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.

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 visited by a wondrous unicorn, which would lead them away and deep into the forest. Where they went and what amazing event transpired there was a secret known to the Green Regents and the goddess herself.

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.

As for the choices themselves, the Lady of the Forest picked all kinds of people, and sometimes not the most likely or popular. She was known to pass over faithful clerics of her church in favor of callous mercenaries, and renowned rangers for humble farmers, milkmaids, and fools, and even folk faithful to other deities, though those she did take were unlikely to ever turn to dark gods like Mask and Shar later. But whatever the surprises and doubts, her choice of Green Regent invariably turned out to be precisely the right one for what lay in store for them. In any case, it seemed that only those who would embrace Mielikki's dream for the Grayvale and dedicate themselves to it would be chosen as Green Regent.

Description
The one who bore the mantle of the Green Regent had telltale markings, in the form of intricate symbols of emerald hue that ran and entwined like ivy all over their body. These would include the holy symbol of Mielikki, a unicorn's head appearing like a magical glyph, upon their forehead. It glowed with an emerald hue and was as bright as a candle but did not dazzle the eyes. Local legend held that any effort to hide or magically suppress or remove it would invite the anger of Mielikki and the misfortune of Beshaba.

At the end of a Green Regent's term, whether through death or passing it to another, the markings turned black and appeared similar to regular tattoos. These stayed with them the rest of their life.

Powers
Mielikki communicated with the Green Regents through dreams. Even after their terms ended, she would contact them in event of an emergency.

Relations
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.

The gods Talos and Malar opposed Mielikki and her dream for the Delimbiyr Crescent and had their cultists work to bring chaos and carnage and attack the Green Regents whenever they could. While the Talassans had worked for widespread destruction several times, most significantly when they summoned the Tempest, the Malarite lycanthropes of the Thicket simply terrorized farmsteads and villages and disrupted the peace Mielikki sought. The Malarites despised the softness and weakness they saw in those who lived under the influence of the Green Regents, and so they enjoyed spreading fear among them.

Early History
The name of the first Green Regent was 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 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 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 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 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. The Green Regent turned High Lord maintained relations with other lands but ended the Renshas' rampant logging and strip-mining, thus restoring the ecology and fertility of the land and in turn leading the vale into a new age of prosperity.

Though Nanathlor soon after ceased to be Green Regent, over a dozen would follow him within his lifetime.

In the, Kalahar Twohands was chosen as Green Regent. In the, Kalahar led the Scions of the Green Regent 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, Kalahar reversed the spell that had summoned the storm elemental, ending its threat. The leaderless cult dispersed and was broken, and Kalahar earned himself the respect of the Delimbiyr Vale. Kalahar retired as Green Regent on Shieldmeet of the.

A philosopher and wizard, Galaer Grasswave was chosen to be Green Regent in the. Galaer and the Scions were engaged in certain vital rituals on Standing Stone Hill to repair the city'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. But on the third night, the Malarites targeted Standing Stone Hill and the Green Regent's ritual. When they overran the city's defenses, they killed Galaer and mounted his head on a stake outside the northeastern earthen ramparts of the city. His cut-short reign meant a Green Regent was absent for three years.

The next Green Regent was chosen on Shieldmeet of the. Stedd Rein, a hero of the Night of the Blood Moon, was considered the favorite to become a Scion or even Green Regent, but he was rejected for both roles, stunning many in town. Shock after shock came when 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 —the Beutaleen'dals claimed it was evidence of the ceremony being tainted or sabotaged, while the Phelaniityrs held it up as proof of the Reins' inherent wickedness, but paradoxically maintained the ceremony had also been sabotaged to admit Otar. 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 just waiting and wondering what Mielikki had in store. Generally, their faith in her was not broken, but, regardless of their acceptance of past Green Regents, they were reminded not even the gods were infallible, after the Northern saying, "While the wise may worship, only fools bow and wait." With the Green Regent absent, the Scions acted independently.

In the months after, rumors flourished, with some claiming Otar and his orcs were in hiding while plotting to attack and sack the city, but others insisted they guarded the city in secret, and still others that he had been murdered by the same anti-orc killer operating around the Red Boar Tavern, who might be a Mielikkian set on "making things right". Otar was, for all intents and purposes, missing.

Scholarship
The Green Regents were praised in many songs known in the area, and their history was documented in several books, yet little of either said anything of how they came to be. The origins of the Green Regent was a much-sought-after and highly valued piece of lore. Hence, the Green Regents and their history were the subject of much research and speculation, not least because much of it had not been written down. The bard Teseryne Truesilver wrote much on the matter and Mikal the Sage was fascinated by everything to do with the Green Regents. Mikal worked to compile a complete and definitive history. A lost and little-known tome entitled The Legacy of the Green Regent seemed the very best resource, including much secret history and three heretofore unknown early Green Regents.

Known Green Regents

 * Nanathlor Greysword, circa 1315 DR, ended the Rensha Rule and restored the Green Regents; later High Lord of Loudwater
 * Kalahar Twohands, 1344–1348, destroyer of the Tempest; later High Lord of Loudwater
 * Galaer Grasswave, 1368–1369, a philosopher-mage slain in the Night of the Blood Moon
 * Otar, 1372–, a High Forest orc, which caused much controversy