Cult of Conservors

This article refers to the organisation of the religious group - for more information on how they are experienced in the world, you may want to read this summary or this longer explanation of religious experience 

The Cult of Conservors is one of the 18 Cults of the Holy Sanctorum, dedicated to living in - and protecting - nature.

Though, like every Sanctorum Cult, membership is voluntary and (mostly) non-exclusionary the Conservors often have devotees of above-average dedication, and most practicing Conservors either live in Sanctorums dedicated to the conservation of a particular area of natural beauty, or live in larger communities which support the Cult and live in harmony with the natural world.

Structure

The Conservors are structured similarly to most Cults - at the local level they have Acolytes and Sanctors in leadership roles. It is unusual for Conservors to be sharing a Sanctorum with a large number of other Cults, and it is their internal policy to ensure that (where they do) the community always remains under the control of the Conservor Sanctors.
Each community of Conservors will have a High Conservor as its leader and - owing to the geographic spread and diversity of Conservor foundations, these High Conservors are given significantly greater power and authority than in other Cults. The only level of organisation above them is the High Conservor Council which oversees the Cult on matters of dogma and discipline, and the Grand Conservor who represents the Cult on the Grand Sanctorum Council

Ethics

The Cult sees the conservation of creation as the best service people can offer in reparation to the Creator, and its members seek to achieve this in places of wilderness and natural beauty. More recently, as towns and cities continue to grow, Conservors have founded sanctorums in urban areas - maintaining an area of parkland as a place of holy leisure and relaxation.
The Conservors are one of the least dogmatic Cults, with each sanctorum defining its own precise approach based on the needs of the local area, and the geography of the place. In every instance, the High Conservor Council has decreed that nature should be managed so that:

1. It is not destroyed, or changed beyond recognition by mortal hands. Rivers must not be dammed or diverted, forests must not be levelled, and there can be no mining.
2. It is stewarded. Trees may be cut for legitimate purposes only if grown to be used or at the rate of replacement, similarly meat and beasts should not be consumed in such a way to deplete their populations. Fields should lie fallow when they must.
3. It can be sustained by mortal effort. This allows Conservors to sell produce and otherwise make money from the land (provided that they obey the two principles above, and use all money for the good of the community).

The eating of meat is controversial within the Conservors, with some (though by no means all) devotees declining to kill animals for meat or fur. While acceptable, after controversies in the fourth and fifth centuries AC, the Grand Sanctorum Council decreed in 503 AC that vegetarianism "was not an essential belief of any Cult of the Creator," "was not mandated by the Creator, Holy Morgene, Holy Conrad, nor any Blessed Exemplar," though it could be "a useful and holy practice, if voluntary and do of the love of the Creator's work." Similarly, it decreed that no High Conservor could declare their Sanctorum free of animal meat and fur, and it must remain a personal decision for each devotee.
Similarly, the use of Vik to alter creation (either any part, or dramatic changes, depending on the person) is controversial - and divides many ways: some Conservors make a distinction between the scale of the change (i.e. summoning earth is not irreligious, flattening a mountain would be), some between the intent (summoning water to drink or heal, versus flooding somewhere for aesthetic appeal), and some between whether true Vik is being used, Sanctorvik - clerical magic based on prayer. In the latter case, many will accept that the will of the Creator is evident, others will argue that calling on the Creator to mould creation to mortal desires is the beginning of pride, hgubris, and the original Fall.

Serve Creation for the Creator

Type

Religious, Holy Order

Subsidiary Organizations

• Conservors of Farhad's Fist