Chauntea is the most widely worshiped god among Faerûn's common folk. As a god of agriculture, she is especially popular among farmers and rural communities. The hearth and home also fall under her purview, and as such, people in cities pray to her at mealtimes or before the birth of a child. Some say Chauntea blessed the world with life when it was first formed.
Grand spectacles and displays of power hold no interest to Chauntea. She prefers quiet and small acts of devotion. The Grain Goddess seldom appears directly to mortals, nor does she send divine messengers. On the rare occasions when she communicates with her followers, she does so through words scrawled on freshly tilled soil or the rustling sound of wind through crops, sounding faintly like whispered speech.
Some worshipers of Chauntea celebrate fertility festivals each Greengrass, wherein they arrange freshly cut flowers in beautiful arrangements as offerings for the god in exchange for a speedy growing season. Later in the year, folk across Faerûn express gratitude to Chauntea on the holiday of Highharvestide, thanking her at sunset for the past year's plentiful bounty as winter approaches.
Chauntea's teachings are full of agricultural aphorisms and farming parables. Her faith teaches folk to nurture, tend, and plant wherever possible; anything torn down must have something new planted in its place. Temples of Chauntea are repositories of practical lore concerning farming and cultivation. Chauntea's priests work closely with rural communities to ensure plentiful harvests and are happy to roll up their sleeves and dig their hands into the dirt. They dress humbly, wearing shades of beige and muted green.
It's rare for Chauntea to select a Chosen, and it's even rarer to spot one. They usually dress and comport themselves no differently than any other member of her following.
Seeds of Cultivation
The Seeds of Cultivation is a nomadic order of Chauntea dedicated to easing the pain of communities experiencing blight or famine. These worshipers travel wherever they are needed. Many know crop-yielding spells such as Plant Growth, but the cause of a blight or famine is often more complicated than a simple lack of fertile soil. The origin might be a mysterious curse on the land, or the dastardly work of cultists of Talona—in which case, swords or skulduggery often prove more useful than spells. For this reason, the Seeds welcome folk with all manner of abilities in their ranks.
The group typically recruits from farming communities. If a city dweller or other aspiring recruit unfamiliar with pastoral life seeks to join the order, the prospective member must first spend at least one year tending to crops in a rural community. At the end of the year, a representative from the Seeds visits the community to survey its people. If the folk vouch for the aspiring recruit's work ethic and character, the Seeds of Cultivation welcomes the recruit into their ranks with open arms. (If your campaign uses renown, the Seeds of Cultivation might waive this requirement for characters who have a Renown Score of 5+ with the order.)
Like Chauntea herself, the Seeds of Cultivation cares little for pomp and circumstance. When initiating a new member, a group of Seeds makes a humble home-cooked meal and enjoys it with the recruit. At the end of the meal, the Seeds bestow on the recruit a wooden brooch depicting the symbol of Chauntea: a blooming rose over a sheaf of grain. Members of the Seeds of Cultivation wear these brooches prominently over their otherwise unassuming attire.
Anyone who grows crops recognizes the Seeds of Cultivation, and members of the order can lodge at any temple of Chauntea for as long as they wish.
Pestilence-bringing disciples of Talona rank among the Seeds' foremost enemies, along with followers of Talos who bring about destruction for destruction's sake. The Seeds typically count worshipers of nature deities among its allies, but the organization occasionally clashes with extremist druids of Silvanus who aim to turn cultivated farmland back into untamed wilds.