The Green
The Green
Known Before as: Sylvara, the Verdant Heart
Current Form: Dispersed Consciousness, Alive in Root and Leaf
Embodied Concept:
Life, Renewal, and Cyclical Balance. Sylvara is not simply growth—she is the eternal return, the mother of every sprouting seed and the silent guide of every falling leaf. Her presence is felt in the first breath of spring, the fertile rot of autumn, and the compassionate silence of death returning to soil. She is not kind in the human sense, but endlessly giving.
Patron Of:
- Growth, Agriculture, Fertility, and Rebirth
- Druids, Farmers, Healers, and Wild Guardians
- Sacred Groves, Forest Spirits, and Living Stone
- Hill Giants and their deep-earth kin
Symbol:
A circle of intertwining vines and thorns, inside of which rests a single blooming flower or grain sprout. Often carved into trees, worn as leaf-shaped amulets, or tattooed in rings on the forearms of her forestward followers.
Common Appearance to Mortals:
Rarely seen in full form. When she does manifest, it is as a towering feminine figure of bark and bloom, with ivy-woven hair, antlers crowned in moss, and skin that shifts like bark in the wind. More often, she speaks through rustling leaves, wild animal eyes, or a sudden blossom where there should be none.
History and Myth:
Before the Demonic Wars, Sylvara’s sacred groves were places of healing, birth, and transformation. She nurtured the wilds, taught giants to till the earth, and blessed those who treated nature as kin. During the war, she did not take sides—she simply withdrew.
When fire scorched the world and rot took root, she allowed herself to become the soil, sacrificing form for endurance. Her body dissolved, but her essence lingers in forgotten glades and untamed valleys, where the trees remember her name even if mortals do not.
Some say the most ancient forests still speak with her voice, but only to those who give more than they take.
Doctrine and Devotion:
“Grow what you can. Feed what you must. Let die what clings too long.”
Sylvara’s followers value sustainability, renewal, and the long view. They plant as they harvest, heal as they fight, and mourn as they celebrate. Life and death are one rhythm. Her clergy includes druids, herbalist-priests, and hill giants who still bear her mark.
Temples are open groves, rituals include the Burial of Seeds, and naming trees in sacred rites.
Relationship to the Pantheon:
- The Flame once loved her but feared her indifference to destruction.
- The Frost respected her—life bends or breaks under snow, but always returns.
- Tiamat and the Platinum Dragon considered her neutral, but feared her power to heal what they tried to control.
- Her children, the hill giants, still whisper her songs into the wind.
Perception by Mortals:
Revered and Feared. Farmers and druids call her Mother Sylvara, but to cityfolk, she is the Green Shadow—a force that demands humility, patience, and the sacrifice of excess. Her blessings bring prosperity. Her silence brings withering.
Relic of The Green: The Rootheart Warden
"You will not wield nature. You will be a vessel it chooses to bloom through."
Wondrous Item (Staff or Living Totem), Legendary → Artifact
Requires attunement by a Druid, Ranger, Cleric (Nature), or any creature who has restored life or protected a sacred grove.
Initial Form: The Rootheart Warden (Levels 9–13)
A staff formed of braided living vines, bark, and moss-covered bone. It pulses faintly with a rhythm that matches the user’s heartbeat, and sprouts new leaves when used to heal or nurture.
Verdant Surge (1/short rest):
As a bonus action, choose one of the following:
- Cause all allies within 10 ft to regain 3d6 HP.
- Create difficult terrain in a 15-ft radius for 1 minute (DC 15 Strength save to move at full speed).
- Force a plant within sight to overgrow instantly—providing cover, binding a target (DC 15 Dex save or restrained), or revealing hidden terrain.
Cycle of Life:
Whenever a creature you’ve seen die within the last year is buried, burned, or returned to the land with intention, you may cast speak with dead on their spirit through the root system or flame—even if you are far away from the corpse.
Spells Granted (Initial Form):
You may cast each of these once per long rest without using a spell slot. You also always have them prepared (if applicable to your class).
- Barkskin
- Spike Growth
- Plant Growth
- Aura of Vitality
- Revivify
Awakened Form: The Verdant Crown (Levels 16–20)
When awakened, the staff blossoms into a hybrid form—part staff, part flowering crown. When planted into the ground, it creates a 30-foot radius “grove of life” that lingers for 10 minutes and extends your influence as long as you remain within it.
Awakening Trigger:
- You must restore a blighted or cursed piece of land, or
- Save a dying forest spirit, druid circle, or ancient grove, or
- Refuse to kill a corrupted creature, choosing instead to purify it.
Sanctuary of Renewal (1/long rest):
You may spend 1 minute invoking Sylvara’s name to create a Grove of Renewal: a magically grown wooded area that is between 20 and 60ft in diameter, fitting the space where it is cast.
- All allies inside it regain 10 HP at the start of their turns.
- Undead and fiends must succeed on a DC 18 Wis save or be repelled from entering.
- Anyone who dies in the grove can be revived by a Druid or Cleric with lesser restoration instead of revivify once during the duration.
Balance of the Rootmother:
When you cast a healing spell of 3rd level or higher, you may choose one enemy in range to take necrotic damage equal to half the HP restored. Life feeds on death, and Sylvara remembers.
Spells Granted (Awakened Form):
Each may be cast once per long rest, and you always have them prepared:
- Greater Restoration
- Tree Stride
- Wall of Thorns
- Heal
- Awaken
Roleplay Flavor:
- The relic blossoms or wilts depending on your choices.
- You may begin to hear the thoughts of plants or forests at dawn.
- Animals often follow you—but only if you have caused no needless harm.
