Locations/ManseOne
The Garden
Earth Aspected\\ Manse •
Hearthstone:\\ The Stone Potato\\ (HearthStones/IkselamEarth)
The Manse is located in a dense area of forest, not too far from civilization. The walls of the Manse are white jade, only about four feet high and one foot thick, forming more of an elaborate fence than anything else. The Manse is circular and is 20 yards in diameter with a three-foot opening in the fence in the direction of the Elemental Pole of Earth.
Within the outer wall is another, smaller, two-foot-tall wall forming a circle only 15 feet in diameter. This wall has no break, so one must step over it to go inside. Within the inner wall the ground is fresh-tilled, rich soil. In the center of the circle is a small plate of white jade on which the hearthstone forms.
Within the rest of the Manse, the floor is rich soil growing with ripe vegetables despite the season. These include carrots, turnips, various colors of onions, leeks, celery, and many different unseen-elsewhere varieties of hierloom tomatoes. These vegetables, if picked, regrow to fresh ripeness at the beginning of the next season. The Manse produces enough food to sustain three or four people indefinitely.
Living in the Manse is a spirit known as the Gardener who appears as an old, kindly woman or man. The Gardener is civil to most any Exalt to enter the Manse, save Abyssals. It will freely allow Earth and Wood aspected Dragon-Blooded to attune to the Manse, and may even allow them to have the Hearthstone if they seem pleasant enough. The Gardener is civil to Fire aspects, though it prefers that their stay be brief. It evaluates Celestial Exalts on individual merit. At any given time there are three or four minor earth elementals in the garden tending the soil.
The Gardener is a minor god of agriculture and has ties to the local King of the Wood for protection. The Gardener's charms focus on compassion mostly and some on temperance. If asked for healing the Gardener's reaction depends on the type of Exalt as above. If engaged in combat the Gardener will use its charms to hide and call upon the King of the Wood for aid and remain hidden until help arrives. If killed the spirit will reform at the Manse in about a month, though if others have attuned to the Manse in the meantime they can refuse the Gardener permission to attune again, at which point the spirit will attempt to drive out the inhabitants by calling on the King of the Wood. Failing that, the spirit moves on to more fertile grounds. The Gardener is an Essence 3 spirit.
-- Mnemosynis
Comments
Edited a bit. I'm a bit unclear as to the crops: do they grow within the inner wall, or just the strip between the two walls? Also, what if others attune to the manse while the Gardener's reforming and leave before he returns? -- Raindoll
