Fellowship of the Purple Staff

The Fellowship of the Purple Staff was a group of like-minded priests and other faithful who united in the, to settle the area of the Gulthmere Forest and other lands north of Turmish and turn it into a civilized theocracy they called the "Holy Realm".

Organization
By the mid-1370s DR, the Fellowship of the Purple Staff was made up of followers of Chauntea, Helm, Selûne, Lathander, Sune, and Nobanion—primarily clerics and paladins. There were also a few wizards that supported the group. The Fellowship believed that establishment of the Holy Realm was ordained by their deities and that they were carrying out divine will. The vast majority of the members were human, but elves, half-elves, and dwarves were also represented. Almost all non-evil inhabitants of the region were welcome to the Fellowship, as long as they were willing to work hard and had something to contribute.

Activities
The Holy Realm was envisioned to be a scattering of temple-farms isolated by the old-growth trees of Gulthmere, connected by roads built by their wizard allies. They planned on sustainable areas for harvesting timber and expected to eventually export lumber, animal pelts, ore from the nearby Orsraun Mountains, wooden items, armor, tools, and clothing.

Tactics
The Fellowship regularly sent scouting parties into the forest, looking for suitable settlement sites and noting any problem areas. They often hired bands of adventurers to banish pirate camps and to hunt down evil or dangerous monsters.

Base of Operations
By the end of the, the Fellowship had founded three hamlets with a total population of 900 souls in the northeastern section of the forest, connected them with roads, and surrounded them with fortifications. The roads also connected to those that led to Telpir and Amry on the Dragon Coast. Their main area of concentrated effort was the portion of the forest east of Cedarsproke.

Relationships
Most of the members of the Fellowship were worshipers of Chauntea, Helm, Lathander, Nobanioin, Selûne, or Sune, and therefore the group had cordial relations with the churches of those deities. Some members were also members of various orders within these churches, such as the Field Guardians of Chauntea and the Vigilant Eyes of the God of Helm, and could request aid from them when necessary. In the 1370s, the organization was reaching out to the Harpers as a like-minded group that understood the balance between nature and civilization. The Church of Silvanus withheld judgment and watched carefully to see where the Fellowship drew the line between nature and civilization.

Enemies of the Fellowship included the anti-civilization People of the Black Blood, who wanted to turn the settlers into lycanthropes and live a tribal life of subsistence, and any pirates inconvenienced by interference from groups hired by the Fellowship. The followers of antagonistic deities such as Bane, Malar, Shar, and Talos also did not want to see the Holy Realm established, but, as of the early 1370s, none of these groups had formed any significant organized opposition.

Members
"Fellows" of the Purple Staff are respected throughout the Holy Realm and are often assigned different tasks depending on their particular skills. Clerics for example, with their zone of truth and geas spells, are often used in the administration of justice. Knowledgeable rangers are often used as scouts and guides while wizards can often be found using their spells in a particularly unique fashion to facilitate and accelerate work projects.

History
The Fellowship is a fairly new organization, being founded by a few clergymen of Chauntea, Helm and Selûne in 1368 DR. Soon after their ranks were bolstered by the local faithful of Lathander and Sune, as well as attracting the followers of Lord Firemane as allies in 1372 DR. By the end of the year the Fellowship had established several hamlets within their region of influence in addition to building several roads. They are well on their way to creating a major trading partner within the souther region of the Sea of Fallen Stars. Striking from the forest and the western settlement of Cedarspoke the Fellowship has successfully sought out to slay evil creatures and generally bring settlements of civilization to an uncivilized land.