Hands of the Earth

Hands of the Earth
Profile picture of the Hands of the Earth discord
Culture
Religion	Greenfaith
Links
Discord	https://discord.gg/TYYrNc6gSj

The Hands of the Earth are a nature-worshipping religious group on CivMC. They aim to combat player grief by regrowing areas to the way they were at the Start of the World and replenishing natural resources. Their religion is the Greenfaith, and is as follows:

1. "As a server ages, the map changes. Forests are cut down and tree tops float without trunks. Mobs are exterminated or enclosed in farms. Land becomes flattened or littered with delapidated structures."
2. "The Greenfaith teaches that Favoured are the ones who reverse this process, and restore areas to the way they were. We can make the server younger and the land fresher for players to use."
3. "As we lush up depleted areas, players can use reclaimed land for whatever they wish, and history and nature become layers on the land, making it richer."

So far, the Hands have cleared grief, enriched endangered wildlife populations, set up a network of pilgrimage routes and established a community of server-wide nature enjoyers.

History

Founding

In October of 2022, GuggaBugga planted Parliament Park in Commonwealth City. This is a small terraformed forage forest yielding jungle wood, cocoa, sugarcane, bamboo and mushrooms. Here GuggaBugga wrote 'Sower's Song' - the first religious text of the Greenfaith. This is a parable recounting the story of the Sower - a healer-herbalist from ancient days who stood up to the Emperor and faced the consequences. Reffelruz of the Commonwealth made friends with GuggaBugga and continues to be a trusted sage to the Hands, earning him the title of Magus. He wrote The Epic of Gugga(pt.1), which stands on a lectern in Parliament Park, and continues to adapt the life of Gugga to literary form in subsequent titles.

Making friends and ritual

In November, GuggaBugga travelled overland and sailed to Icenia, making camps along the way. This was the first pilgrimage route. In Icenia, he met Cammo37, who was a faithful friend and joined the Hands.

In December, BikMik, a Seafarer of the Hands, visited Gugga's public garden and blessed it with flowering vines and bamboo. ImperialRex also joined the faith, writing the Garden Keeper's Manual. Gugga was getting busy irl, and became mostly inactive. He appointed Cammo and ImperialRex to keep the faith as Briarhearts. They led a bonemeal spray of Icenia. Everyone present ran around with stacks of bonemeal, consuming all of it on any patch of grass they could find.

In January, Kinnoin of Icenia joined the Hands and created a hiking trail in the Icenian Highlands, becoming a Trailblazer.

As winter turned to spring, Gugga was still inactive. ImperialRex continued to engage discussion in the discord, so Gugga made him First Hand alongside himself. Throughout this time, ImperialRex had been spreading the Greenfaith in his native Reggio Argeddina. By the capital city, Rex blessed a moonlit lagoon with kelp and turtles.

Grand Pilgrimage era

On the 12th of May, Gugga became active again and announced the Grand Pilgrimage. This is a journey faithful can take from where they live to the Greenfaith Sanctuary at -1546, -69. Along the way, they replenish and plant natural resources and make unreinforced camps. If a pilgrim posts pictures with their exploits on the journey, they get the Pilgrim role on the discord. So far, ImperialRex and Kinnoin have done the pilgrimage, leaving trails of biodiversity and camps on their way from Reggio Argeddina and Icenia.

Roles and Customs

The Hands reward both rejuvenating nature and travel with discord roles to those who provide proof of activities.

Role	Activity
Garden Keeper	Creating a green space with high biodiversity from which others can harvest material both to use and to cultivate in other areas.
Water Keeper	Creating a 'garden' like that of a Garden Keeper in water, like in a river, lake, coastline or sea.
Mushroom	Working with playergrief or other player-built things. A 'Mushroom' either clears player-built things or finds a way to grow life within them.
Watermover	Creating new bodies of water or transferring water from an existing source. This can be an artificial lake or river, or an irrigation system like an aqueduct.
Pilgrim	Traveling overland or sailing along a pilgrimage route to a holy site and rejuvenating nature along the way.
Trailblazer	Building unreinforced travel infrastructure like camps, bridges or trails.
Seafarer	Building unreinforced sailing infrastructure like coastal camps, lighthouses and ports.