Green Regent
Appointment
The mantle of Green Regent was passed from person to person in an orderly and peaceful manner, in a ceremony held each midsummer. Its term was limited to a period of sixyears, unless the Regent was killed in the meantime. No one could ever serve for longer than this. In this way, the Forest Lord could have new and varied Chosen as his needs evolved.
The ceremony to choose a new Green Regent was held by the Circle of the Bark, a reclusive order of druids devoted to La'au, who arrived in the town of Salvaxe in time for midsummer. All who would volunteer for the role, either as Green Regent or as a Scion, assembled in front of the Wellingbough, the oldest redwood in the center of the town. There, they were asked to imbibe a secret concoction known as the Greendraught from a clay cup called the Forest Lord's Chalice. Kept safe by the Circle, these were believed to be crucial to the ceremony; without them, there could never be another Green Regent. Those whom La'au accepted as Scions were marked with his holy symbol upon their brow. But those whom he declined could not keep the Greendraught down and, nauseated, vomited it back up.
Afterward, the Scions were to fast for the rest of the day, eating and drinking nothing. They then headed south into the Greenbark, went their separate ways, and kept vigil through the night. They were permitted to make a small campfire for warmth and light, provided it didn't threaten the forest. Some time in the night, one of the Scions would be visited by a coatl, which would lead them away and deep into the forest. Where they went and what amazing event transpired there was a secret known to the Green Regents and the demigod himself.
The next day, the Scions and the new Green Regent, bearing the tell-tale signs, emerged from the forest and began their service to the Greenbark however they willed. The Scions swore an oath to serve the Green Regent and to defend Salvaxe and the lands around.
As for the Regents themselves, the Lord of the Forest picked all kinds of people, and sometimes not the most likely or popular. He was known to pass over faithful clerics of his Circle in favor of mercenaries, renowned rangers for humble farmers, and even chose folk faithful to other deities. But whatever the surprises and doubts, his choice of Green Regent invariably turned out to be precisely the right one.
Accoutrements & Equipment
The one who bore the mantle of the Green Regent had telltale markings, in the form of intricate symbols of emerald hue that ran and entwined like ivy all over their body. These would include the holy symbol of La'au, a coatl coiled around a tree, appearing like a magical glyph upon their forehead. It glowed with an emerald hue and was as bright as a candle but did not dazzle the eyes. Local legend held that any effort to hide or magically suppress or remove it would invite the anger of La'au. At the end of a Green Regent's term, whether through death or passing it to another, the markings turned black and appeared similar to regular tattoos. These stayed with them the rest of their life.
Grounds for Removal/Dismissal
The Green Regent's term ended either with their death, the completion of their six years of service, or by La'au revoking his blessing (though this has never happened in any tale or living memory).
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