Spheres of Influence: Alliance

Country Name: The Unity of Nature's Friends (The Friends/Unity/Leafies)

Country Colour: A lovely living green

Government: The Unity of Nature's Friends is organized in a communal society. Local affairs in each settlement are decided by community meeting, while the affairs of the nation as a whole are governed by the Elders' Circle. Elders are wise and respected members of their communities who are elected to serve a higher purpose. They come from all walks of life, and some notable mages have been elected as Elders quite early in their lives. The Elders' Circle is headed by the Guardian of Nature, who is chosen from among their number. The Guardian is considered the foremost authority among the Unity, and is trusted with the well-being of the whole nation. It is rare that the Elders go against the Guardian, as it is tradition and custom to come to a consensus and find a solution that works for everyone. A Guardian will usually serve for around ten years, though some serve only a short time, while others may lead the Unity for decades.

Leader: Guardian Alyn Loras "Sings-with-birds". Alyn is one of the younger Guardians in recent years, at a (relatively) youthful forty-three. They are a skilled mage and have a close affinity for birds, which they use to keep an eye on the situation across the lands. They were elected for their skillful handling of a crop failure in their home town, as well as negotiating agreeable conclusions to some land disputes and showing a high aptitude with magic and a keen desire to learn and apply knowledge. They are currently married to Robb Wiley, a silversmith, and have two children named Finch and Edwic from their previous partners. Alyn and their two exes remain friends, and share custody of the kids. They sadly have much less time to spend with family since being elected Guardian.

Society: The Unity is an agrarian pacifist nation, consisting mainly of humans but welcoming to all. People usually live in small to mid-sized towns, with large and productive fields. There are a few larger cities which are important centers of trade and craft. The Friends try and live in harmony with nature and others around them. They put a large importance on education and personal enrichment, and enjoy culture and the arts as well. Their main specialty is a deep knowledge of the natural world and nature magic, which allows them to enhance the growth of plants, communicate to an extent with plants and animals, improve the fertility of soil, and purify the environment. The Friends put a high value on skillful trade and craft, and pride themselves on making good, quality tools that last. They are generally apprehensive of recent advances in industrial technology, but are looking for ways to integrate them into their current way of life.

Although they are very peaceful, the Elders' Council maintains a small corps of trained fighters for community defense and to contribute to the Alliance's efforts to keep the bugs back. Though few in number, they are unmatched in discipline and esprit de corps. Many who choose to fight are also magically gifted to an extent, using their abilities to heal and protect their friends. The Unity also trains battlemages who are capable of magically enhancing their allies' abilities, granting such traits as improved vision, speed, toughening skin, strengthening bones, and so on. The battlemages can also take part directly in combat, transforming themselves into half-beasts who fight with the ferocity and strength of many soldiers. The most powerful among them can transform themselves fully, becoming huge, magical versions of their animal forms. It is rumored that the Guardian is entrusted with even deeper secrets, and can call upon the life-force of living things around them for power in times of desperate need.

Members of the Unity are known for calling fellow Friends "Brother", "Sister", or "Sibling", and for calling strangers "Friend"

History: The roots of the Unity date back to 168 AF, when former court mage of the Tharassan Empire Floris Neophytos emerged from the wilderness after being missing for over a decade. Known for being one of the few mages at court critical of the plan to raise Emperor Nemo to godhood, which led to his dismissal from court, he was assumed to be dead, either killed by Nemo's assassins or simply perished far from home in the Imperial hinterlands. Floris had always been interested in elvish magic and craft, but during his time at court he was more motivated by harnessing the powerful magic that the elves were said to possess in the past. After returning from the wilds, Floris was a changed man. His personality was much different - instead of being self-centered and power-hungry, he became a quiet, caring, and generous man. He became a wandering sage, helping villagers with their problems and crops. At that time he started calling himself Floris "Speaks-With-Trees", and began preaching a lifestyle of peace, respect, and harmony with nature. His way of life attracted followers, and soon entire towns began listening to his teachings. Floris eventually settled down and codified his beliefs, writing a small book called "Unity and Friendship With Nature". From that book, his followers started calling themselves "The Unity of Nature's Friends".

When Floris reached the end of his life, he passed down his knowledge to those who had been with him the longest. He told them that after his exile from court he was pursued by Emperor Nemo's assassins. Starving and desperate, he fled deep into the wilds, losing himself in the thick and untamed lands. For many days he waded through marshes, walked through high grasses where wild animals grazed, and struggled through the deep woods. Finally, at the end of his strength, when even magic could not give him energy or propel him farther, he collapsed by a natural spring. The next thing he remembered was hearing a voice offering him help and a soothing feeling. He thought he was dying and seeing an angel of the gods, but the vision persisted. Finally his fever broke and he had the strength to sit up. Floris saw lying around him some fruit, which he immediately started eating. Over the next few weeks he figured out that the voice he heard came from a very large and old tree which had roots throughout the mineral pool of the spring. He learned that it was innately magical, and even though it didn't have a brain or mind in the sense that we know of, the tree was intelligent and had taken pity on him. It had directed the squirrels and birds that lived in its branches to feed him while he was sick, and the larger creatures of the forest to care for his body.

Floris spent the next several years learning from the forest and speaking to the trees and the animals. He learned many secrets and studied how to be a steward of the land and give back to those who rescued his life. He eventually decided to leave, telling his new friends that the rest of the world needed to learn as he did. He departed with the blessing of the tree's spirit and a newfound mission in life. As Floris died, he entreated his friends to be wise and caring, and entrusted his closest companion, an old herbalist named Chloe, with the honor of being the Guardian of Nature, the inheritor to his mission.

In the intervening years the Unity's influence waxed and waned. They remained popular among the peasantry, who always welcomed the magical help, and inspired a few peasant revolts (most notably in 237 AF and in 322 AF, both of which established short-lived peasants' republics). Along the way, different Friends would have their own communications with powerful living beings, such as Brynn "Sky-Hunter" who spoke with the Great Bear and learned the secrets of assuming animal form, Liara "Whispers-in-the-wind" who calmed hurricanes with the knowledge of plants which had seen many storms before, and even ones of dubious veracity like Jamie "Stone-Blood" who claimed to have learned the language of dirt and rocks from a mountain. The current polity dates back to 554 AF, when a group of Friends managed to convince a few cities and their surrounding towns to follow their way of life in the wake of a succession crisis and civil war in their kingdom. This time, the Unity decided to take a more cautious approach, and when order was restored they offered to pay tribute as vassals and provide food and high-quality goods in exchange for local autonomy. The strategy worked, and over the next several decades they spread their teachings until finally the monarchy peacefully abdicated in 601 AF. The Unity was mostly left alone after that, trading with its neighbors and occasionally paying tribute in exchange for protection from attack. By the 650s they were relatively self-sufficient, having trained a sufficient number of people in the more offensive and powerful arts passed down from Floris and others to defend themselves. By that point, the Unity had stopped active expansion efforts, mostly focusing on tending to its own and occasionally sending itinerant mages out into the world to help strangers in need. When the Xei swarm threatened to overwhelm the realms of humans, dwarves, and orcs, however, they quickly sprang to action. The Unity claims that their negotiators were essential in the formation of the Alliance, though others may disagree. It is indisputable, though, that they contributed a valuable part of the defense force, cementing the Unity as a free and independent member of the Alliance.

Alliance: The Friends are a founding member of the Alliance.

Gods&Religion:
The Friends don't have a unified religious structure, instead venerating the many gods of the various human peoples (and some gods adapted from the dwarves, elves, and orcs). However, the dominant pantheon in the region is as follows.

Nobody knows what came before the Gods, and whether there was a beginning or if the universe is cyclical. However, the first among the gods to awaken was Issaya the Green, She who tends the garden of the world. She is the mother of the human race and aided her fellow gods in coming forth. When they formed their first circle, the Gods came together to shape the world into its current form. They did many great acts, living much as we do, and left their marks on the world. When they were finished and satisfied, they left for their realms, said to number among the stars, from which they oversee creation and occasionally provide miracles, answer prayers, and empower demigods. Those worshiped by the Unity are:

Issaya the Green, She who tends the Garden: First-born among the gods, mother to humans, Goddess of nature, fertility, life, love, and beginnings.
Bookrin World-Shield: God of duty, honor, and law. He is the protector of the world, and is patron of those who stand guard at the Bronze Pass
Sumai the Singer: Gender-fluid God of music, culture, art, and trickery. He/she/they are known by many names and is said to have invented theater.
Orryn: The Wandering God, patron to travelers, said to walk the world on occasion.
Emolyn Huntress: Goddess of the wilds and the hunt. Also known as Emolyn Stormbringer in her aspect as the goddess of rain and storms.
Waha: Goddess of fire, the forge, and craft.
Volomir: God of the Sea, older brother to Emolyn.
Arria/Arryn/Arrol: Goddess of day and summer/God of night and winter/God of twilight, spring and autumn, and change. A three-faced god known by three names.
Doric, the Last: God of Death, Fate, Prophecy, and Endings, they were the last among the gods to reveal themself. They do not speak except to the dead and those who are doomed to die, that is to say mortals. It is said they offer a choice to each soul - whether to be reborn again in new life, or to pass forever into the realm of the gods and be judged by the others. They send visions to prophets. They alone have no realm or temples.