Church of Chauntea

The Church of Chauntea was the primary religious organization of the followers of the deity Chauntea, the Great Mother.

Dogma
"Let no day pass in which you have not helped a living thing flourish..."

- Dogma of Chauntea

Beliefs
Faithfuls believed that Chauntea was as old as the world itself. They saw her as one that gave life to natural creatures and plants, and that gifted humanoid races with the secrets of agriculture.

Land owners and farmers hit with unproductive harvests visited her clerics for divine suggestions. If at any time plague or drought struck the crops, farmers looked to the goddess, since they hoped she would save the harvest due to her love of nature.

It was believed that money donated to a temple of the church would return to the giver tenfold.

Attitudes
Practitioners of the Chauntean faith cared about the fertility of the earth, the growing and reaping of plants, and the eternal cycle of life. They often shared food with strangers and people in need, freely sharing the bounty of the land.

Considering destruction and leveling without rebuilding as a disgrace, the faithful avoided using fire and planted a seed of a small plant at least once per tenday. They made to always till their wastes back into agricultural soil, in order to support new life.

Members of the clergy were quiet and patient, emulating the qualities they saw in their goddess. They were known for their wisdom, and for their willingness to help with agricultural work, taking a hands-on approach especially when farmers were ill of injured.

Research
Priests of the faith had a mission to learn as much as possible about plants,including topics such as horticulture, plant types and diseases, and general folk knowledge regarding flora.

Teaching
Members of the clergy shared their knowledge with clergymen and laypeople alike. They encouraged civilized folks to enrich the land using methods such as replanting, composting, and irrigation.

Agriculture
On their travels members of the church planted trees, removed weeds hampering crops, and prepared the land to receive crops. They burned diseased plants as well as the corpse of plague-ridden animals in order to prevent contamination, and were always watching such blazes extremely carefully.

Seed banks
The faithful of Chauntea were encouraged to donate any extra seed their plants yielded to temples, so the seeds could be redistributed to those in need.

Clergy
People of all races joined the church, and many were females. They were united in their profound love for the land, the balance of nature, and the beauty of plants. Most were gardeners or farmers by trade, an well-versed in the ways of herbalism and agriculture. Clerics usually tended to the faithful in civilized areas, such as towns and cities, while druids handled more rural areas.

Internal allegiances
While cordial, relations between clerics and druids were sometimes difficult: druids considered themselves the "true clerics of Chauntea", and saw city clerics as upstarts; while clerics viewed druids as a thing of the past, still useful in wild lands but destined to be replaced by a more professional and organized clergy.

Monks always allied themselves to the leader of a temple or druidic circle, whereas mystics and shamans were fiercely independent, reporting to their goddess directly.

Titles

 * Titles (in ascending order of rank)
 * Close One &bull; Watchful Brother / Sister of the Earth &bull; Trueseed &bull; Harvestmaster / Harvestmistress &bull; High Harvestmaster / High Harvestmistress &bull; Onum

Orders
The clergy of Chauntea was known to have no affiliated military of knightly orders.


 * The Sisters of the House: an all-female order of priestesses who tended to the Harvest House in Amn.

Rituals
"See to the fertility of the earth, but let the human womb see to its own..."

- Dogma of Chauntea

Prayers
As much as possible, members of the church strived to pray on freshly tilled ground, in a farmland, or in a garden. Wells and watering places were also considered acceptable praying locations.


 * Practitioners began their day by whispered thanks to Chauntea for continuously supporting life.
 * At the end of the day, Chaunteans prayed to the setting sun. They believed it was the medium used by their goddess to send her powers.
 * Prayers were also offered whenever something was planted, or when worshipers were moved by the beauty of surrounding nature.

Ceremonies

 * Chaunteans believed that spending their wedding night in a freshly tilled field guaranteed a fertile marriage.

Holidays

 * Greengrass was a hedonistic fertility festival, during which lots of food and drinks were consumed.
 * The High Prayers of the Harvest were solemn celebrations of Chauntea's bounty, held at the time a community harvested its crops. While the date wasn't strictly defined, it usually happened around Highharvestide.

Bases
"Protect trees and plants, and save their seeds so that what is destroyed can de replaced..."

- Dogma of Chauntea

Large temples often doubled as granaries, and places of worship as seed-storage&mdash;ensuring the prosperity of the nearby communities. While a couple very large temples existed, most were of a modest size.

Despite the existence of temples and shrines, it was common for services to be provided in open fields or druid groves.

Temples

 * Goldenfields, also known as the "Granary of the North", was a gigantic walled abbey hosting thousands of faithful. It was located near Waterdeep.
 * The Abbey of the Golden Sheaf, in Mistledale.
 * Many large temples shared a similar name, the "Bounty of the Goddess". Notably, such temples could be found in Archenbridge and Voonlar.
 * Similarly many temples were called "Harvest Houses", such as the ones in Daggerford or Amn. The latter was known for its ornate gardens maintained by an all-female sisterhood.

Known Shrines & Other Places of Worship

 * The Glade of Life, located at the source of the Unicorn Run, was considered sacred by the worshipers of Chauntea. They believed that every natural races had left the womb of their goddess and appeared on Toril in this location. The glade was also sacred to the followers of Shiallia, Mielikki, Eldath and Lurue.

Ceremonial Garb
High ranking priests usually wore white or sun-colored robes, with trimmings of deep forest green. They used smooth, natural-looking staves&mdash;which were sometimes enchanted with purifying or growth-enhancing spells.

Dress and Armor
Adventuring chaunteans usually wore simple clothes, such as undecorated robes, cloaks, or tunics and trousers. They favored earthly tones such as green and brown, except for mystics who sometimes relied on more colorful fabrics such as bright greens and yellows. High ranking druids wore a belt laced with golden threads, or similarly precious decorations.

Chauntean Magic

 * Clerics, mystics and shamans following Chauntea were immune to poisonous plants and mushrooms.
 * Although clerics could access most elemental spheres normally, they were barred from using fire spells.

History
"Nurture, tend, and plant wherever possible..."

- Dogma of Chauntea