Sulyha's Order of Botanist-Herbalists

Throughout the course of her life, the botanist-herbalist Durte Sulyha attracted a great number of followers. After her death, they ventured to keep her legacy alive through the school they founded in 1903 and its overseeing organization, the Sulyha Botanist-Herbalists.

Origins of the Order

The roots of the order go back to Durte Sulyha's mysterious rise to fame in the 1980s. With no recorded schooling or prior accreditations, she demonstrated great knowledge on the topics of botany and herbalism, especially in regards to the Trinzejar Jungles and its surrounding regions. At the School of Natural Studies in New Oriole, she attracted a great many respected followers and bitter rivals. When new management of the school threatened to force out Durte and many others, she voluntarily left along with nearly half the staff to found their own school in the far more suitable city of Bursenton in Sunnyland-Aster, cheekily called the True Academy of Natural Sciences. Though then it had no name, the loose collection of botanists, herbalists, doctors, and druids was in spirit the beginning of the Order.

Sulyha's Death

After her catastrophic death, her followers took on the responsibilities of her projects and research. They appealed to the priests to have angels guard the grounds desecrated by Durte and ran a campaign to clear her name. The Order looked over the school, by now well established, and constantly proposed improvements and additions.
For 80 years, the Order grew steadily and began several new research projects including a controversial project to recreate the Wicker Crown. But they lacked success in these endeavors, especially with carrying on Durte's research. Funding repeatedly fell short as the local lords and townships retracted their donations. Projects were frequently abandoned and staff at the school had to be cut. An embezzlement scam in 2003 delivered the final blow and left the Order and its school a husk of its former self.
Still, the books and papers written in that century or so of success are invaluable and have been copied hundreds of times over since. The True Academy remains today as a historic landmark and many druids and botanists visit it to pay respects to Durte and her followers.