Resplendent Garden

The Resplendent Garden is a pseudo-religious organization based out of southern Tiansha. It is an order of monks dedicated to the semi-divine figure called the Jīn Dharma, also known as the "Golden Saint", who was said to have been the first Spiritual Cultivator on Athos and the founder of the Sect. According to legend, the Jīn Dharma reached spiritual enlightenment and ascended into the heavens to take her place amongst the stars as the first of the Sainted Mages.
As one might expect of such an ancient organization, the Resplendent Garden is incredibly wealthy and influential. It is one of the oldest Sects on the island, dating back to the Twilight Era. Fortunately for the other forces on the island, the Garden has made it clear that they have absolutely no desire to participate in the endless political squabbling that so dominates the region. They do not seek to rule and they do not seek to pressure anyone else into following their lead.
Instead, the Resplendent Garden is a Cultivation Sect in its purest form. Her members are all devotees of the Jīn Dharma, and they all aspire to the Saint's precepts of virtuous humility and diligent righteousness. Most of them are monks, with some degree of training in martial combat as part of their spiritual cultivation practice.
In addition to quiet cultivation and martial training, it is also very common for monks of the Garden to journey across Galadria on pilgrimages. The reason for a pilgrimage is unique to the individual that undertakes it, but most acolytes will do so in order to seek out wisdom or to offer aid to the various peoples of Galadria.
The symbol of the Resplendent Garden is the lotus flower, which symbolizes the mortal journey to rise from the mud and reach the heavens. The monks and acolytes of the Garden will bear this symbol proudly, often worn as an amulet or embroidered into their clothing. By displaying the symbol, they are expressing to the world that they hold themselves to a high standard of moral virtue. As such, they often enjoy a certain level of implicit trust when interacting with the people of greater Galadria.
The power of such a symbol is great indeed. Naturally, more than a few nefarious crooks have tried to abuse it over the centuries. For that reason, the Resplendent Garden has a zero-tolerance policy towards abusers, which it enforces with categorical lethality. If it is discovered that someone is carrying the lotus falsely, or is betraying their commitment to virtue, they will be named a "paper flower" - a fake imitation of the real thing.
Once someone is marked as a paper flower, the Garden will stop at nothing to destroy them. It is said that they have a special branch of assassins - the Jiā shu zhíwù, Nightshades, that are capable of hunting down and slaying even demi-gods if necessary.
The Resplendent Garden is currently led by Sect Master Hua Dushou, and is presided over by Patriarch Meteorfist.

There came a day, in my time living among the monks of the Resplendent Garden, when I observed a group of monks dressed all in black, and carrying many deadly weapons. They walked with all the grace I had come to expect of my hosts, but with an edge of deadly purpose.
I turned to Xiong, who was guiding me through a tea ceremony at the time, and gently asked him whether they were, perhaps, from a visiting Sect. The man chuckled darkly before replying simply "there is more than a single kind of flower in the Garden." 
Having lived at the temple for some time, I had become versed in the art of speaking delicately, so I bided my time and continued with the tea. Before we parted for the day, I turned to Xiong once more and asked him "The Jīn Dharma teaches us to nurture the world, and tells us that the heavens cannot be touched by hands sullied with mud. Surely a flower that blooms at night cannot thrive in a garden lit by eternal day?"
Xiong smiled, then, and gave me a nod of respect before answering. "A child must be given rules, discipline and consequences, or else shall become corrupted and malevolent. A tree left unpruned will eventually strangle its own continued growth. Wisdom is in understanding that to be nurturing is not the same as to be kind."

- Sir Walter Drake, Travels on Athos Vol. II