Order of the One Root

By the Fifth Era, what remained of the Order was strict and dogmatic. Devoted to protecting the treants of the northern Boundary Hills, members generally refrained from the use of trees for any purpose. The doctrine was so important to members that even Willow, who was cast out of the organization, retained her beliefs and refused to use wood for fires or live in wooden structures.   Beyond their care of trees, members of the order in the Fifth Era generally took their own lives very seriously. They did not pursue romantic relationships, drink copious amounts of alcohol, or really socialize at all outside their enclave. They learned all the magic they could, but used it only for basic necessities in the monastery.

By the Fifth Era, the Order of the One Root possessed only the Enclave of the Glacial Grove.

The Order of the Orchard was founded in 5489 by one of the earliest rulers of the High Kingdom of Beurum during the early Second Era by Redersenshen, a Trebai priest of Arion, the patron god of the forest and daughter of Rydaea. Redersenshen saw what he viewed as the increasing mistreatment of forests, especially in the Western Commons, during this area; more and more were being cut down for expanding populations of Trebai. In response to this, he began the Order of the Orchard as a monastic organization devoted to preserving the forests of the Trebai province of Mejethko, which was suffering especially badly from deforestation.   The Order of the Orchard began, in its original form, as a stone quarrying operation to encourage settlers of new areas to refrain from using wood as a burning material. They also crafted magical products to be alternatives to materials such as charcoal or wood furniture. The Order also promoted worship of Arion, which in turn caused many Trebai to be more hesitant about cutting down forests and instead purchase their products.   The Order was, at first, incredibly popular with the leading Trebai religious organization at that time, the Order of the Wanderers, as they both provided services to the Trebai people and sent a portion of their profits to them.    In the following centuries, the Order grew, adding monasteries across the Western Commons and beyond, and even incorporating non-Trebai members who sought to preserve forests, sometimes in their homeland. As the Order grew, however, it began to promote a doctrine that seemed unusual and even contrary to the Order of the Wanderers. Worship of Arion gradually decreased as members instead felt the call of the "One Root," a theorized massive root system that connected every forest in Beurum as one great being. This doctrine was spread by charismatic leaders of individual monasteries such as Liebwin of the Ash, Adelin of the Oak, and Ranthalemos of the Moria. Monasteries were originally dedicated to particular types of trees, from which these leaders received their epithets; but overtime, all members began to dedicate themselves to particular trees.   Activity of the Order shifted from stone and magical item production to ritual worship of the One Root, renaming their organization after it. The Order of the One Rootbecame influenced by both Ren Berig and Arqu with the Arqu wholly embracing the religion in the Old Elvish Mountains during this time. Members began to learn the magic of the One Root, which was a combination of ancient Trebai, Druid, and Daphnea techniques. This magic allowed them to bend forests to their will and summon forest spirits who would follow their commands for a short time, as well as other things. This learning of magic soon became the chief activity of the Order.    Of course, the Order of the Wanderers was heavily opposed to this. Not only was the organization making use of strange, foreign magic, but they were also becoming a threat to the religion of the Wanderers. Moreover, the Order of the One Root was providing very little actual service to the Trebai anymore, and often attracting otherwise ordinary Trebai individuals to a life of magic and thrills. Additionally, One Root monasteries began to close off entire swaths of forest that they deemed especially sacred. The final straw for the Wanderers was when the One Root proclaimed that the One Root was the supreme god, and more important than any deities worshipped by the Order of the Wanderers.   With the help of the military of the High Kingdom of Beurum, the Order of the Wanderers began to systematically destroy One Root monasteries, having declared them illegal. Members of the Order of the One Root attempted to fight back, but ultimately lost in what became known as the War of the One Root. After a couple of years of resistance, it became clear that the power of forest magic was simply not enough to quell the overwhelming force of the Trebai military. By the year 5634, every single One Root monastery in the Western Commons was destroyed.   Following this, monasteries in other regions were largely shut down, as members both feared a similar attack by local governments and found that it was difficult to operate without the most powerful monasteries in the Western Commons exporting their leadership and teachings. By the end of the Second Era, only a handful of monasteries remained, and by the end of the Imperial War, only one remained: the Enclave of the Glacial Grove, located in the northern Boundary Hills. The Arqu embraced the teachings of the One Root for a while, but eventually added it to their expansive list of deities; by the Fifth Era, the One Root was not widely worshipped by the Arqu.   Meanwhile, the Enclave of the Glacial Grove was the last institution to somewhat resemble the Order of the One Root at its height, though the organization was a shadow of its former self. Throughout the Fourth Era, a gradually decreasing number of members learned One Root magic, as well as martial arts and craftsmanship. Their main objective was to protect and commune with the treants who lived there, who they believed to be members of the One Root. Every so often, a particular member of the Enclave was allowed to become a treant if they performed a particular series of difficult tasks. This was the greatest goal for an enclave member.    By the year 8060, the Enclave was down to seven members. One of them, a young woman named Willow, who had been raised by the group from infancy, spoke out against her elders after one treant destroyed a family of Fir Bolgs who had accidentally disturbed his rest. She lashed out against the rest of the monastery, arguing that they should use their powers to help real individuals rather than the treants. For this, she was cast out from the Enclave despite their tiny number of members.