Adapted From: The Verdant Philosophy of Naya
The Starfall Galaxy's devotion pie is a complex entity in itself. Sure, each of its five devotions are rigid and easy to define, but the magic happens when you begin to combine these devotions to create something new. This wonderful setting of ours has leveraged this complexity to craft many unique factions and characters; however, when it comes to three-devotion combinations known as shards and wedges, the definitions become less apparent, and the examples less available.
White-Red-Green Devotion
I aim to clarify what drives each of them at a fundamental level, starting with The Verdant Vanguard, which combines White, Red, and Green. A unique shard in that it's the only one to have neither Blue nor Black in its composition, the devotions of manipulation and control. Instead, it embraces a way of being that is far more primal. So, let’s not waste any more time, because I’m eager to show you how the Verdant Vanguard challenges the way we perceive power, community, and what it truly means to live.
Observations of Power
When dissecting the devotion pie, the best place to start is obviously with its application in the Starfall Galaxy. What I mean is, by observing how a section of devotions is used to create worlds, factions, and characters, we get to see the combination in action. For the Verdant Vanguard, the best place to start is the miniature plane that shares its name from the set Cosmic Nexus—The Emerald Gardens. The Emerald Gardens is a plane devoid of Blue and Black Mana, with a focus on Green. The result is a world where life is both celebrated and left unchecked.
When it comes to factions, we can look to the plane of Nova Prime and specifically The Lumina Collective. Here we have a faction who facilitates the festivals and feasts of the plane, held in their great dance halls. To this faction, culture and celebration are what drive society—an active community strengthened through parties and shared experience.
Our final observation comes to us through the most common creature type and class for the Verdant Vanguard, and those are the Cosmic Terrasaurs and the Star-Shaman. Cosmic Terrasaurs come to The Verdant Vanguard in the form of towering creatures who stand like stoic mountains. They are not creatures of viciousness but instead are an extension of nature, like the seasons who may bring both growth and destruction. Our final example is that of the Star-Shaman, those that are connected to the spirit of the land itself and live through the examples of the elemental forces that surround them, and because of this understanding, can call upon it through themselves.
Now with these examples, we have a core grasp on what makes the Verdant Vanguard what it is, but I know you came here for something deeper still. This is now the point in the video where we will dissect the true philosophy hidden within this combination. To do so, I will present three different versions of the combination of White, Red, and Green, each one focusing on one devotion more than the other.
The Core Philosophies
1. The Animal Within
Each of us is an animal, unique in design, different by our very nature, and born to be free. And yet, we as a society always aim to bind the animal within. Call it a defect in our morality. This idea goes against our very nature; we are animals born from the dirt, and no matter how much we replace trees with skyscrapers, this fact cannot be erased.
You see, a White-focused Verdant Vanguard still sees the value in coming together, of the shared burden of responsibility, but this should never come at the cost of our freedom. This becomes apparent when you realize the other side of this combination is the Wildfire Guild (Red-Green). Thus, what we should build instead is a world that facilitates our nature without binding it to a rigid way of being. The Verdant Vanguard believes that true morality lies not in restriction, but in understanding and embracing the wildness that lives within each of us. You see, the more we deny our natural instincts, the further we drift from who we truly are. In the Verdant Vanguard's view, a society that imposes rigid boundaries only weakens the spirit, turning vibrant individuals into cogs in a machine. Instead, the Verdant Vanguard envisions a world where we are free to express our primal urges, to live fully in the moment, while still respecting the bonds that tie us together. It's not a rejection of community or responsibility, but a call for a world where those things coexist with the freedom to be who we are without fear of judgment or suppression. To live in harmony with the animal within is not to descend into chaos, but to rise into a state of true balance where we honor both the wild and the communal aspects of our nature.
2. Community Flourishes
Community flourishes through acts of shared experience. A festival of like-minded sentient beings is more than revelry for its own sake—it's an act of forging bonds, bonds that last with us for the rest of our lives. This act is all too common in Red, but where Red does this deed for its own sake, the introduction of the Harmonic Accord (White-Green) puts that focus on building communal bonds. It is through the sweat of dance, the sharing of food, and the making of merriment that sentience grows stronger as a unit. I ask if you have ever taken part in any form of community gathering with people who share the same hobby, taste in music, or spiritual alignment? Can you recall the friends you made or the experiences you had with those strangers? In most cases, we come back from these events feeling fuller and having felt as if we were part of something more than ourselves.
Ritual, festival, and feasts have long been a part of the sentient experience and a way to forge lasting bonds, and the Verdant Vanguard sees the value in tapping into such rituals. It's in these moments of collective celebration that people find a sense of belonging, a deeper connection to those around them. The laughter, the music, the simple act of coming together—they all remind us of our shared nature. In the Verdant Vanguard’s eyes, these rituals are vital. The joy is real, but so is the purpose: to build something lasting, a community bound by shared experience.
3. The Power of Stewardship
Whether through coincidence or destiny, sentience is burdened with the stewardship of this planet. We have manifested control of the waters, the animals, and the climate, and yet we let ourselves become cruel in our control, cleaving forests for our own comfort, slaughtering countless animals for our own gluttony, and poisoning rivers through our own disdain. To the Verdant Vanguard, this is a transgression that cannot be forgiven, as it sees itself as a protector of the gift we have been given.
With Green as its core, the Verdant Vanguard feels a deep connection to the Earth that gave it its life, and with the Celestial Sentinel (White-Red) at its side, this feeling is paired with retribution. A person who is aligned with the Verdant Vanguard will be one who cannot sit by as nothing is done and the world around them is stripped away. They refuse to be complicit while they hear the cries of Mother Nature. This feeling turns to action, and this action can take many forms. For some, it might be the quiet rebellion of living sustainably, rejecting consumerism in favor of simplicity. For others, it may be the roar of defiance in the face of corporate greed, risking life and limb to defend the Earth’s creatures and landscapes from destruction. The Verdant Vanguard’s warriors are those who do not flinch in the face of adversity, and their resolve is as unyielding as the mountains they protect. They know that every act, no matter how small, contributes to the larger battle to restore balance between sentience and the world we are meant to steward. And in their hearts burns the knowledge that to protect this planet is to protect the very soul of sentience itself.
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