Hearth of the Balanced
The Hearth of the Balanced is dedicated to balance through helping each individual embrace a balanced lifestyle. They have a number of monasteries, several of which are open to public participation. To achieve this, many of these monestaries are not distanced from civilization, but rather in cities or near villages. This enables them to work with everyday people, and to help unveil the benefits of balance and help them to embrace them.
The Hearth believes that balance is not a single destination, but rather separately defined for each person. That said, they believe that no person's balance should leave them at an extreme. They disavow authroritarianism as too constricting, anarchy as too chaotic, good as too collectivist and evil as too individualist. They believe that the best place to exist is in between these extremes. That the best way to live as a society is to deny these and work to create a place where all can flourish without sacrifice.
This approach has not appealed to everyone presented with it, but its advocates refuse to be deterred. They believe that the more social acceptance that their approach recieves, the better their efforts will be received.
The Hearth makes efforts to send people into areas they consider unbalanced. While there, they work to try and identify individuals that might be the source or contribute to the unbalance and try to, subtly or not, convert them to understand the problems that they are causing. If this fails, they try to work with others in the area to restore balance.
Structure
The Hearth of the Balanced functions as a group of monasteries, temples, and shrines overseen by a central authority. In this way, it is similar to the Creeds of the Living, which many point to as Chenravo's influence on Balnenet.
In the case of the Hearth, the central authority is known as the Fulcrum. The Fulcrum is a group of three that have proven themselves to the church. Each one holds a different role. One is teh Judge, another is the Mentor, and the last is the Dragonborn. They each represent a different facet of Balnenet, and work together to determine the path of the church. The Judge is focused on justice and ensuring that all of the members of the Hearth follow the teachings of Balnenet. After the schism, the Judge has also been tasked with preventing similar occurances. The Mentor is in charge of designing and implementing programs to improve the Hearth's outreach and instruction. The Dragonborn is tasked with ensuring that any dragonborn that desire assistance recieve it. Balnenet felt that though their numbers were few, they live confusing lives and deserve support from his church at the highest level. The Dragonborn is a role that can only be held by a dragonborn.
Culture
While many monastic orders require a denial of personal belongings or a dedication to minimalism, the Hearth of the Balanced differs from these ideas. They do not deny their members personal belongings so long as they do not verge into excess.
Tenets of Faith
Balance is found in the self.
There is no one point of balance.
Power is most easily used by those who understand balance.
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