Church of Silvanus

Activities
Urban worshippers of Silvanus were gardeners who tried to create a space of wilderness within the broader city. They also dispensed sweetsap drinks, such as maple syrup, sweetroot brews, and mint teas, in order to attract followers. Clergy of Silvanus preached about the peace and purity of wild lands.

Clergy of Silvanus were expected to protect forests, plant new trees whenever possible, and banish disease. They also were friends of Dryads, and were expected to seek them out and serve them whenever possible. While expected to kill only when necessary, they were fierce enemies of those who would harm the forest with axe or fire. Silvanites should use violence only when the situation or hostile enemy leaves no other option.

The most common activities of Silvanites were counteracting land clearances, brought by extensive farming or overhunting. The underlying cause of these incursions against nature were often population growth and the pressures this brought. Silvanites often tried to slow or redirect such development of civilization in order to protect nature and the sacred Balance. This even led them to sometimes covertly sponsoring brigands, or placing and selectively breeding predators to curtail human expansion. They did this secretly in order to preserve their good reputation with nearby human settlements.

Silvanites aided in wildlife breeding, nursing sick animals, and replanting shrubs and trees.

Rituals
Most rituals to Silvanus take place atop a hill with a stand of ancient oak trees crowning the top. Worship of Silvanus always involves sacrifices, but never blood sacrifice, instead something wooden must be ceremonially broken and buried. Such sacrifices were never burned. Wooden carts, wagons, or chairs were examples of items suitable for sacrifice.

Call of Oak, Ash, and Thorn
In this ritual the supplicant to Silvanus gathers the leaves of Oak, Ash and Thorn trees. The leaves are then floated on still water, and Silvanus is entreated to hear the worshipper's prayer.

Vigil of Silvanus
For more serious concerns, the worshipper of Silvanus can participate in a Vigil. This can be used to converse with a servant of Silvanus', or to receive godly favors or magical powers. The worshipper anoints their body with powder of crushed acorns and mistletoe leaves mixed with either rainwater or springwater. Once anointed, the supplicant must spend the night either lying down upon or in contact with a growing tree. This must take place for most of the night. In addition, some part of the supplicants bare flesh must be held in contact with green, growing moss. These requirements made moss-covered giant trees commonly used for Vigils.

Song of the Trees
The Song of the Trees was one of the more powerful and holy rituals of the Silvanites. It was a droning, repetitive chant that could sound haunting, that would leap from sharp to flat pitch. The power of the ritual would increase the more worshippers who participated. When the ritual was performed, woodland creatures would surround the worshippers and watch in silent witness. The creatures would not prey upon or fear one another, leaving aside their natural instincts. The Song of Trees also healed diseased, scarred, or burned trees. In rare moments of special favor with Silvanus, even fallen or felled trees could be restored.

Dryad Dance
The Dryad Dance was a wild ritual that drew out Dryads and Hamadryads. It involved considerable dancing, piping, and carousing. Dryads and Hamadryads were empowered by the dance for a month, able to to walk far away from their trees as long as the magic from the ritual lasted, although they were unable to use their Charm abilities while far from their trees. Dryads and their trees were revitalized and healed by the ritual. There were even rumors that trysts between humans and dryads during the ritual caused the rapid spread of new oak trees and the birth of new dryads.

Thorncall
A grim ritual, this ceremony allowed thick walls of dangerous thorns to be raised over the body of slain servant of Silvanus, or if such a servant had shed much blood in the vicinity. Sadly, this was the ritual performed the most often by Silvanites. It was used to protect the forest and wild lands from further incursion and despoliation and to protect the Balance. The thick walls of thorns were as permanent and labyrinthine as the Silvanite clergy wished. Worshippers of Silvanus, or servant creatures such as stags, if slain or harmed, could form the basis of the ritual.

Holy Days
While the Silvanites worshipped the Forest Father at all times, they had several holy days.

Night the Forest Walks
This festival could occur at any time of the year. During this festival, when Silvanus is restless, the forests and trees themselves move about. Streams and ravines can change and caves can appear or disappear in the forest. Forest magic is particularly strong and wild, and monsters who live in the forest become very active.

Priestly Vestments
Clothing for the Silvanite church was divided into ceremonial and regular dress. Ceremonial dress for both clerics and druids was a suit of armor made of overlapping leaves. The leaves could be made of metal plates, functioning as scale male, or green-tinted leather, functioning as leather armor. In addition, the Silvanite also wore green breeches and a green shirt. The outfit was completed with a large film featuring wings shaped like oak leave.

In urban areas the standard dress was simplified. A verdigrised-copper pin was worn on the breast of a priest whenever they were not involved in High Ceremonies.

When adventuring, druids and clerics may wear their ceremonial dress, or eschew it in favor of something more inconspicuous. Silvanites could be very practical in their dress, choosing their clothing depending on the situation and mission at hand.

Druids of Silvanus in wilder areas tended to wear a loose brown cloak. These cloaks were dusty and made of old hides. Each day they were adorned with feathers and carefully watered, woven-in clumps of moss. Sightings of druids and priestess of the Forest Father in such clothing has given rise to tales of wild women of the woods in many parts of Faerûn.

Base of Operations
The clergy of Silvanus were spread throughout Faerûn. They were present in large communities, such as Waterdeep, but tended to favor small communities. Druids were the most favored by Silvanus, especially if they lived in wild forests and in harmony with the land.

Major Centers
The main center of worship of Silvanus of Faerûn was Old Oak Dell in the heart of the Forest of Tethir. This was due east of Mosstone. Another major center of worship was Lyon's Oak south of the River Icehilt in Impiltur, which was rising in importance to challenge the supremacy of Old Oak Dell. Yet another major center and contender for the head of the church was the House of Silvanus on Ilighôn in the Vilhon Reach, the home of the Emerald Enclave.

Other Locations
The druidic enclave of Cedarsproke deep in the Gulthmere Forest was founded by druids of Silvanus.

Organization
The church of Silvanus was often called the 'greenleaf priesthood' due to their use of the oakleaf symbol of their deity. There were no knightly orders affiliated with the church of Silvanus.

Dogma
Silvanus works to preserve the Balance of all. Fire is balanced with ice, wild water balanced with drought, and life balanced with death. The clergy of Silvanus tended to see the big picture, thinking about a given particular affected the wider balance of Faerûn. While they tended to not take sides, the clergy of Silvanus were strongly on the side of nature, which they would defend readily. This was in part because they viewed the power of civilization as encroaching on wild spaces, and they sought to balance this by siding with nature. This commitment to Balance made so Silvanites often fought for one side on one day, only to join the opposing side the other day. They always meant to keep the Balance.

Part of the teachings of the church of Silvanus was to study nature. Silvanites were expected to learn from instruction but also make their own observations throughout their lives. The clergy of Silvanus were expected to closely observe and grow to understand the cycles of nature, the interconnection of all the living things of Faerûn, and the great balance upon which all life depended. This would enable the Silvanite clergy to plan for the long term by watching, anticipating, and quietly manipulating the wider world. Careful study and taking the long view would also help the Silvanites avoid making a mistake which would imperial or worsen the Balance. The clergy of Silvanus were very patient and took the long-run view of how to deal with challenges facing them. Greater natural knowledge, patience, and ability to anticipate were the features of a worthy follower of Silvanus. They also made Silvanites a deadly foe, thinking four steps ahead of their opponents.

Relationships
The church had connections to several orders of rangers who served Mielikki. Also, many of the holy groves and forest pool shrines of the church were guarded by the seldom-seen priests of Eldath along with Silvanite clerics and druids.

Relations between the greenleaf priesthood and the Emerald Enclave were complex, with many Silvanites elsewhere in Faerûn thinking the Enclave was too radical. The Church of Silvanus feared that the aggressive and violent actions of the Emerald Enclave could spark a backlash against the Silvanite religion in the future. The Church of Silvanus preferred a slower, more patient, and far-looking approach to dealing with threats to nature and the Balance than the more activist Emerald Enclave.

The greenleaf priesthood also had ties to the Harpers. The Harpers goals to stop the rise of great powers capable of reshaping Faerûn was in harmony with the Silvanite desire to defend nature and the Balance.

History
During a ceremony on Midsummer's Night in the the House of Silvanus was founded on Ilighôn. It was established for powerful druids who could Shapechange to fly over to the island. It also was a way for the greenleaf priesthood to keep an eye on ships traveling through the area.

In the, the Silvanite druids of Ilighôn and Cedarsproke sent a delegation to Alaghôn in Turmish to protest the excessive logging occurring there. The druids asked such lumber operations be ceased, as the forest could not replenish itself as quickly as they were being cut down. The Lord of Turmish, Arton Githsberry promised the druids he would bring the matter to discussion in an open forum, but in truth this was a delaying tactic meant to appease the druids, and no promises were exchanged. The situation had not improved by the, with the rulers of Turmish bickered amongst themselves, and the angry rhetoric of the druids steadily increasing.

The conflict between the rulers of Turmish and the church of Silvanus came to a head in the. The druids of Ilighôn, calling themselves now the Emerald Enclave, entered into open conflict with The Windlass, a conclave of wizards who had come to power in Turmish. The Windlass, desiring to strike the druids in their base at Cedarsproke, ordered a portion of their army to cross the dangerous Orsraun Mountains. On route, the Turmish army was ambushed by the Emerald Enclave and their giant allies. As this was occurring, the Turmish navy sent to attack Ilighôn was destroyed by Water Elementals that rammed the ships into the surrounding treachrous reefs.

Members
Both clerics and druids had a strong base in the church of Silvanus, with clerics in the urban areas and druids in the more wild lands. Silvanus showed favor on both classes, but had a preference for druids. He even had a few shaman worshippers among nomadic and barbarian tribes.