The Church of Eden

## Overview

The Church of Eden, also known as The Druid Order, is the organized faith of the Creator god, Eden. Unlike what the name implies, those of many backgrounds and walks of life can find themselves worshiping The Mother. They are broadly tolerated in all settled societies, and even in non settled and less civilized ones, they enjoy a measure of tolerance that few other faiths enjoy.

## History

The Church of Eden was founded in the earliest times on Aedron, initially worshiped by the more 'naturally inclined' races like the Elves and Fey races, their original works shaped what would become The Druid Order in later eras of time. It was this proto-church which began converting early humans to their faith, and eventually farmers, woodsmen, hermits, and other wild-men took up the faith of 'The First'. Over time, these early humans codified their teachings into a more formal order, creating the first true Druids. Using the ley lines, the scars from the worlds birth, the Druids attuned stone circles. These circles provided a means for fast travel across the world, and soon enough an entire gate network was built, allowing for the Druids to coordinate their operations.

## Structure

Over time the Church became for formally structured, creating various ranks and specific offices for its members to fill. This allowed the organization to function more smoothly, as a clear chain of command focused efforts and prevented every druid from simply pursuing their own goals.

Within the church, there are two primary groups, the members of the Church, and the Druids.

### The Church

Church members come from all walks of life, and serve the faith. They can be those who felt an innate connection to nature, or those who see the beauty of creation everywhere. Church members have no official ranks, though there are typically Church councils that are kept by each conclave of Druids.

Members of the Church account for Fighters, Clerics, Paladins, and faithful from all walks of life, the only requirement for entry is a faith in Eden, and a willingness to advance her cause in the world.

### The Druid Order

True political control within the faith is held by the Druid Order, those members of the faith that follow the path of nature. Druids within the faith are organized and stratified in groups known as 'Circles'. The Order is made of a total of fourteen Circles, lead by a single Grand Druid.

### The Circles

All druids enter the faith formally as 'Initiates of the Fourteenth Circle'. After they begin to understand their powers and connection to the world, they made take on a 'Trial of Advancement' within the Order to join the Thirteenth Circle, and so on. Once a Druid joins the Tenth Circle, they are no longer considered Initiates, and gain the formal title of 'Druid of the Tenth Circle'. Upon reaching the Fifth Circle the Druid is now formally called a 'High Druid of The Fifth Circle'. When a high druid achieves entry to the First Circle, their title changes again, to 'Councilor Of The First Circle'. The Council of the First Circle deals with large scale operations, controlling Litho-gates, overseeing temples and commanding the faith. In order to ascend higher, The Council debates and votes for a single leader, The Grand Druid, to serve out a term (typically one year) as a single point of authority within The Order.

### The Grand Druid

The Grand Druid's role is to coordinate and control all unified efforts of the church, whether that is directing resources, or performing rites and teachings to the faithful. A Grand Druid typically serves for a year or less, making the role one that is often changing, Once the Grand Druid has served out their term, they graduate out of the formal structure of the Order, and take on the rank of Hierophant.

### Hierophant

These enigmatic figures have passed out of the formal structure of the faith, and wield tremendous natural powers. Unlike the rest of the faith, these people are given a free hand to pursue and complete whatever tasks they deem of benefit to the faith as a whole. Due to their advanced powers, they tend to live unnaturally long, and often go into a rejuvenating hibernation-like sleep. though they rarely interact with the more structured Order, in times of emergency a Hierophant can call on the Order for assistance.

### Trials of Advancement

All members of the Order must complete trials to advance from the fourteenth to the first circle. This is a formal issue of challenge to advance from the lower circle to the next higher one. Circles may not be skipped or bypassed, so an initiate of the twelfth circle must challenge an initiate of the eleventh, and so on. These challenges need not be martial or involve any kind of violence. Often times they are tests to show understanding of the natural world, other times they can be demonstrations of taking on the shape of various animals, or a physical challenge like climbing a mountain, or swimming across a river. The exact nature of the trial is determined by whomever is being challenged. Trials can be violent, it is unusual, but not unheard of. Trials by combat, magic duels, shape-shifting fights, all are certainly possible within The Order.

Typically the Tenth, Fifth, and First Circles have the most notoriously difficult trials to pass, usually involving undertaking some kind of task for the faith as a whole.