The Celial Sisterhood

The crest commonly associated with the Celial Sisterhood, depicting the heart of the First Spore.

## Basic Information

### Coat of Arms

A wooden heart connected a fungus and branch-like structure

### Stronghold

The Citadel Without Walls, located in the Tribes of Shadowfen

## Relationships

### Rivals

Unafiliated

“Nudgers and shovers / In spite of ourselves. / Our kind multiplies: / We shall by morning / Inherit the earth. / Our foot's in the door.”
— Syvlia Plath, Mushrooms

 **The Celial Sisterhood** is an ancient order of seers who possess a great trove of knowledge through their access to The Celium Network. They are centred in the Shadowfen.

## History

The Sisterhood is one of the oldest organisations in Stormbound – none can say how old. As long as there have been roots in the earth and trees in the forests, there has been a Sisterhood.

While, in the time of first memories, a Celial Sister could be found advising every great family in Stormbound, their contemporary influence is limited. Over thousands, possibly millions of years, as the continent’s climate changed and seismic activity reshaped the contours of the land, the Celium Network began to freeze and shrink.

By the time of the Mage Wars, the Sisterhood’s reach stretched only to the southern border of the Winter Pact and the northernmost borders of the Arid Frontier. Their influence in many of the great houses remained strong, but they could not claim the omniscience they had once possessed.

The Mage Wars, however, proved ruinous for this ancient order. As magic began to drain from the land, the Sisterhood found their ancient arts beginning to fail. It was as if the very lifeblood that sustained the branching roots of the Network was drying up. Sporeseers could no longer communicate with their sisters in other kingdoms, new initiates could not connect to the Network, and the Celium Sanctums themselves began to wither and die. Rumour even holds that the heart of the “First Spore” has begun to beat slower and slower with each passing year.

The Sisterhood is desperately seeking to stop the effects of the Diminishing and revitalise Stormbound. But they find themselves increasingly cast adrift in this post-magic world, lacking power, influence, and a Network to guide them. Faced with the prospect of their own annihilation, the Sisterhood must find their place in the new world or fade into the past.

### The Mage Wars

[*Subject to more lore relating to the conflict*]

The Sisterhood did not involve themselves in the early days of the Mage Wars and simply continued their essential work of facilitating communication between the kingdoms. As keepers of memory, they similarly visited battlefields and laid the dead to rest, incorporating the memories of the lost into the great Network.

This non-interference changed, however, in 1104, when a force of constructs from the Ironclad Union launched a successful attack against a Celium Sanctum in the region, managing to bypass the sanctum’s spore defences and uproot the sanctum’s Sporeseer. As a result, the Sisterhood recalled all Sisters to protect the sanctums and Citadel against future attacks. Luckily for the Sisterhood, the war soon ended with the signing of the Avist Treaty – but that would not be the end of their problems.

## Status in Each Kingdom

### Ironclad Union

Before the Mage Wars, the Sisterhood operated freely in the region now controlled by the Ironclad Union. In days of early memory, when the rodent folk of the region still lived underground, the Sisterhood recruited many of its ranks from the region. Existing underground, the rodents were said to have lived alongside the great roots of the Network. Some memories even claim that this proximity allowed the rodents to subconsciously draw on the combined memories of the Sisterhood and aided in the construction of their advanced contraptions.

Unlike other sanctums, the Celium Sanctum of the Ironclad Union, the Bellton Sanctum, existed hundreds of metres below the surface in an underground grotto. The fungal node of the sanctum was said to be a large, mane-like organism that resembled the ancient stalactites surrounding it.

While the Sisterhood worked peacefully alongside the Ironclad Union, in the late days of the Mage Wars, the Sisterhood began to protest the Union’s mining for ingenium crystals, fearing that sections of the Celium Network could be destroyed by mining activity. However, the Network remained intact and the Union avoided any conflict with the Sisterhood.

While the official story varies depending on the teller, in 1247, a force of constructs, unaffected by the Bellton Sanctum’s spore defences, invaded the grotto and physically removed the Sporeseer, Amanita, from the Network.

The Network itself still exists, and Sisters can access the information from the region. However, with sections of the Network destroyed and without a Sporeseeer and sanctum, it is difficult for the Sisterhood to piece together the scattered memories from the Eastern Network.

### Winter Pact

The early memories tell that the Sisterhood once had a large presence in the north before the region froze over. The Sisterhood worked closely with the spirit-like inhabitants of the region, bonding over their shared desire to protect the land and its unique ecosystems, but eons have passed since that time. The Network in the north of Stormbound has been inaccessible to the Sisterhood for many thousands of years. The ways of Wisp Worship and the nature of the Frostlings are now as alien to the Sisterhood as they are to any outside of the Pact.

Some memories claim that the frozen remnants of a sanctum remain deep within the territory of the Pact, but none can be sure. Others claim that the Network in the north is not dead but dormant, waiting for warmth to return or magics powerful enough to wake it.

### The Swarm

Despite the arid nature of the Swarmlands and the surrounding land, the Sisterhood still maintains a connection to the once-pacifist satyrs. The Swarmlands mark the southernmost point of the Celium Network, which stretches as far south as the mountains encircling the Dustbowl.

Before the Mage Wars, the Sisters acted not as advisors to great houses but as messengers between the nomadic satyr herds, facilitating communication and domestic trade throughout the great grass plains. However, the events of the Mage Wars and the creation of Necropolis strained relations between the order and the satyr herds. The Sisters considered – and still hold the belief to this day – the undead of the Swarm to defy the very essence of their order: disturbing the rest of those whose bodies have passed and robbing the Network of memories.

Since the signing of the Avist Treaty, however, the Sisterhood has largely come to accept the presence of the undead. The Triadic Path practised by many satyr and undead in the Swarm aligns closely with the Sisters' beliefs. As such, the Sisters are treated with the greatest respect in the Swarmlands, owing to their Primordial magic and their embodiment of the forces of past, present, and future.

### The Tribes of Shadowfen

The Shadowfen has been the home of the Sisterhood since its inception. From their position deep in the jungles of the Shadowfen, the Sisters have watched tribes, monarchies, and councils rise and fall over generations. Sisters served at the behest of the Royal Line of Oddwen, and even after the fall of the monarchy and the establishment of the Greenheart Council, the Sisters retained a position of influence on the council.

It is here amidst the trees and marshes, the last bastion of magic in Stormbound, that the Sisterhood is strongest. They maintain both their Citadel in the wilds and a sanctum in the capital of Greensgood.

### The Ashland Trust

In a land where so little is permanent, the ancient, ever-permanent Sisterhood struggles to maintain its limited influence.

The order in the Ashlands has always existed apart from their continental Sisters due to the schism between the continental Celium Network and the Ashlands Network. The two split in ages long past, divided by a rising ocean that sundered the land. While the fertile volcanic soil of the archipelago has traditionally proven fruitful for the Network’s propagation, due to the dispersed and volatile nature of the islands, the Ashlands Network always existed as a series of separate paths. Nevertheless, the Sisterhood managed to endure, aligned with the Eldari, who could control and shape the emergence of lava flows to protect their Network.

However, when such secrets were stolen from the Eldari, the Ashlands Sisterhood was all but annihilated, and the Network was destroyed by fire and ash. With the Sisterhood’s power fading due to the Diminishing, they can no longer repair the Network, and only a few scattered traces of the Sisterhood remain on the island.

### The Marine Concordant

[*Pending Marine Concordant Lore*]

The Merfolk of the Marine Concordant are hidden from the watchful eyes of the Sisterhood. Despite the endeavours of Sisters past, the Celium Network ends at the coasts of the continent, unable to survive beneath the great oceans that surround Stormbound. Some early memories speak of the great reefs as the ancient siblings to the Network, but their memories remain untapped by members of the Sisterhood.

The Sisterhood primarily interact with members of the Marine Concordant through the pirates that trade with the mainland.

## Structure

While the integrity of the Sisterhood has begun to fail due to the Diminishing, the ancient structures still hold in parts of the world.

### The First Spore

Also commonly known as The Green Mother.

Since outsiders are not permitted within the Citadel Without Walls, no outsider has verified the existence of the "First Spore". Nevertheless, she is said to exist at the very centre of the Sisterhood and serves as the beating heart of the Network.

Some say she lives to this day. Some say she died many centuries ago, with only her corpse remaining at the centre of the Citadel. And some say she never existed in the first place, that the Sisterhood is based on a lie.

### Sporeseers

Also known as Mothers.

The eldest and wisest among the Sisterhood, these seers possess the greatest pool of memories among the order. Their lives have been greatly extended through exposure to the Network; however, like the First Spore, they have become linked to their Celium Sanctums and cannot leave these holy sites. While the First Spore is said to possess the entire awareness of the Network, the Sporeseers control the flow of information through each of the eight kingdoms. There can only be one Sporeseer at a time: when they die, their bodies are buried in the sanctums, and a Sister ascends to the role.

### Celial Sisters

Often referred to as “Veiled Ladies” by those outside of the order, owing to the web-like ceremonial veils that they wear.

The Celial Sisters make up the majority of the order, serving as the emissaries of the Sporeseers. Their access to the Network is more limited, and they largely serve to carry messages, stories, and histories from the seers to the great houses and courts of Stormbound.

### Sporelings

The youngest members of the Sisterhood, Sporelings are recent initiates into the order. As it takes many years for those who are newly spore-touched to develop a connection with the Network, they accompany the Sisters and learn the ways of the order.

## Sites of Power

### **The Citadel Without Walls**

The Citadel Without Walls is the seat of the Sisterhood’s power. Deep in the jungles of the Shadowfen, somewhere to the east of the kingdom, lies the Citadel. Not a city, a castle, or a fort – this seat of primordial power lies in a deep valley and is built into the body of an ancient fungal organism. Under the shadow of a great mushroom-like canopy, the valley is bathed in a bioluminescent snow of spores, which fill the air and cover the earth in a blanket of light. At night, these spores are said to glow like stars or fireflies, giving the glade its distinctive eerie light. While the Citadel is not defended and can be accessed by those who know the way, only a fool would attempt to take the seat of the Sisterhood. The spores that fill the air of the valley are extremely toxic to outsiders, and few have ever entered the valley and lived to tell the tale.

It is here that the "First Spore" is said to have bonded with the Celium Network, creating the Sisterhood.

### **Celium Sanctums**

   These fungal groves are sacred to members of the Sisterhood. They are the resting places of former Sisters, the dwelling place of current Sisters and their Sporeseers, and contain the primary access node of each section of the Celium Network. The sanctums are built around the bodies of smaller mushroom-like trees and can often be found in the centre of major capitals. While these groves seem open to all people and do not appear to have defences of any kind, the air surrounding these sites is similarly thick with tiny spores, incredibly toxic to all but those who have attuned to the Network.

In the time of the first memories, sanctums were hidden in every corner of Stormbound, from the continent's northernmost point to the deserts of the far south. However, only a handful of sanctums now remain, and many of those that remain are abandoned, crumbling into ruin like the Sisterhood itself.

## Known Individuals

* The "First Spore": The leader of the Sisterhood, considered a deity by those outside of the order.
* Amanita: The former Sporeseer of the Bellton Sanctum, before the sanctum fell and she was uprooted. She now serves on the Greenheart Council as the representative of the Citadel and the Sisterhood.
* Mother Erina: Sporeseer of the Bellton Sanctum prior to Amanita.
* Mother Mellean: Current Sporeseer of the Greensgood Sanctum.
* CR Emini (Crem): A Construct who rejects the industrial actions of their peers.