The Order of the Hallowed Garden

Requirements: Wyrd 2+, Politics 3+, Socialize 3+

Origin tales:


 * 1) Over a period of several years, the slaves toiled, secretly inserting themselves into a local freehold as they prepared the nearby area for their master's approach. As time went on, however, they grew increasingly distraught over their plans. Without discussing their plans with one another, each began to secretly sabotage the project. Instead of forming a land friendly to the Keepers, they forged it as a trap to destroy him. When the day came for him to come, each of them launched a sneak attack simultaneously, prepared to die fighting the monster, only to be surprised and encouraged by each others' treachery. At the end of the furious battle, their Keeper was destroyed, and the former slaves agreed to use the gifts they had learned to create new safe havens for mortals and changelings alike.
 * 2) The first Gardener was an Autumn Courtier who lived to cultivate strange goblin fruit. They tirelessly to bring life to the little plants and one day their work was rewarded with a group of mushrooms. They brought some spores to Earth by accident one day and came back to find Faerie Circles growing. Wherever they grew, people became obsessed with the strangest things. She fled back to her Hollow and learned to control the mushrooms, but by then an entire town was under their sway. She took the first of the mushrooms and forged them into a small circle around her hand and then used the Wyrd and Sympathy to command the rest. While the mushrooms grow no more, their power still lingers in the world of humans and so the Gardeners work to control them rather than let them float aimlessly.

Legends:


 * 1) A strange sickness swept across the land. Madness, Dancing until exhaustion, sleeping and then resuming the process. A lowly Telluric arrives in the city after hearing of the plight. He sets up shop here and begins laying his claim to the city, reinforcing the regularity of patterns, of waking up at dawn, eating breakfast, working, and returning home. Slowly the Wyrd cultivated and spread these thoughts amongst the garden, returning it to normalcy and flushing out those that were influencing the people into this madness.
 * 2) A people can be gardened so that only the best survive or it can be weeded to make other plants grow better. Once there was a Hunterheart who saw their people being besieged. They planted the seeds in the enemy army, to become obsessed with the idea of personal survival above all else. When the Hunterheart led their true people to battle, the enemy fled, for fighting risked death.

What We Do in the Shadows:

In modern times, the mission of the Hallowed Garden continues. Their nature is to reform and change populated areas, making new "gardens" in which certain ideas can grow and flourish, and preventing dangerous ideas from taking root. As a rule, the order prefers to work to create quiet, peaceful communities -- places where those who have suffered can rest, and find new things to live for. They are architects of urban renewal and change, careful guardians of whatever ideals they believe in.

There are those who mistake the Gardeners for simple philosophers, but this order was formed in violence and death, and the keepers of the Hallowed Garden know that action is required to make their desires a reality. They form neighborhood watches, look after their fellow citizens, and do whatever needs to be done when their new friends are threatened. They stand on the front lines, leading by example, and their purpose and activities are clearly visible. The Gardeners are not secret benefactors -- they are proud of what they are, and inspire others to follow in their footsteps.

On the other hand, the Gardeners are an intensely political group. They have the power to change society to match their ideals, and not everyone agrees with those goals. In plenty of freeholds, there are running rivalries between a congregation of Gardeners and any number of other forces that have different ideas about what the world should look like.

Mask & Mein:

Generally speaking, Gardeners prefer to dress for the situation, rather than for their own preferences. With that in mind, they fall into two categories -- the ones who want to stand out as the best of that situation, and the ones who want to blend in as part of the crowd. The former are as fashionable as they can be, whether they are wearing Court finery, immaculate business suits, or gang colors. The latter are much simpler, wearing clothing as close to the average of those around them as possible.

Whatever their clothing, there is always one sign that the order cannot, and rarely tries to, hide. Over time, the fingers of a Gardener are gradually stained green, as though she had been working with plants in the recent past and hadn't had time to clean. As her Wyrd climbs, this becomes noticeable even in the mortal world. Gloves can cover this sign, but most of the order's members are proud of their affiliations, and don't care to conceal who they are from their fellow Lost.

Bequeathal:

Joining the order is a deceptively simple task, but a long one. To become a member of the Gardeners, a character simply has to express admiration for the work that they do, and offer to lend help as it is needed. Unless the offerer is dramatically at odds with what the local order thinks is appropriate, such help will always be accepted. The admirer will be asked to do favors and work for the communities that the Gardeners oversee, and will receive favors in return -- the arrangement tends to be a casual one, at this stage. This also gives the order a chance to see their prospective target in action, and his decisions and methods will be carefully, but subtly, scrutinized. Most of the time, the situation never progresses past this point; there are many people that the Gardeners consider to be skilled or virtuous enough to be allies, but not enough to be members.

If someone does meet their exacting standards, one of the Gardeners will approach them and suggest the possibility of their alliance drawing closer. Even at this stage, not everyone accepts -- some are content to remain simply allies, not wanting to devote their lives to the principles of the order. If they do not wish to proceed, the order generally appears to shrug philosophically and resume their original agreements. In fact, however, they will usually begin to work behind the scenes to persuade their new target that he would be able to work with them, and would be happy to do so. Various forms of manipulations, subtle bribes, and even the occasional creation of a problem the target might be able to solve much better as a member are attempted, but only if they can't be traced back to the order, and won't cause actual harm.

When the target finally sees that her destiny is aligned with the Hallowed Garden, and agrees to join the group, all of the existing Gardeners in the freehold gather to welcome their newest member to the fold. After an elaborate and formal dinner, the newest member swears his oaths to the order, and the others warmly welcome him as one of them.

Token: The Faerie Ring [1-5]
 * This token looks to be made of Copper and appears quite old, usually green. The band is shaped to look like one or many mushrooms wound together. Upon activation the ring comes to life, the mushrooms shed their metallic exterior and spring to action. The mushrooms change seasonally. Amanita may represent Summer, Buttoncap may represent fall, Shiitake may be winter and so on and so forth.


 * The character must define a rule for the area. An area can be any zone not exceeding a radius of (Token Rating x 200) yards. The rule can be anything that can be summed up in a simple sentence, such as “Cannot threaten another”, “No stealing from another”, or “must refer to all carbonated beverages as soda”. Whenever someone within the area breaks the rule, they suffer a -2 to all social checks and a -1 to all physical and mental checks, which ends when they leave the area. All others will know subconsciously the other person has broken the rule and will react negatively.


 * Catch: The Purpose of the “Garden” is to return to a hunter/gatherer lifestyle.


 * Drawback: Any attempt to sway politics or any such movements outside your “Garden” suffer a -2 penalty to all checks for as long as you maintain the “Garden.”

Blessings
 * [1] This blessing lets the changeling regain 1 Glamour whenever she regains Willpower through her Needle in direct pursuit of her role. She may spend the Glamour immediately on anything she likes or store it in her heraldry token for later use. The token can store up to her Wyrd in Glamour. If she can neither spend nor store it, it’s lost. All stored Glamour empties at the end of the story.
 * [1] Choose one of the following specialties: Politics (Laws, Local Politics, Scandal), Socialize (Political Fundraisers) or Empathy (Calming). The chosen speciality also gains exceptional on three successes instead of five.
 * [1] Additional Thread.
 * [1] Sage Advice: Gain the Inspiring Merit. If you already possess the Inspiring Merit, refund the XP as per Sanctity of Merits. (Conditional)
 * [1] Blessing of the Tulips: Gain a bonus to all Socialize rolls equal to your Wyrd/2 (round down). (Conditional)

Touchstone: A farmer/gardener

Clarity Curse: Clarity attacks suffered while disregarding the needs of your freehold add damage dice equal to ranks invested in this Merit.

WP: Once per scene, gain a Willpower when you put the needs of yourself before others.