The World of Umbra · Lore
“We are the root. We are the wild. We are the ward.”
Umbra’s steward of the wilds — keeping the forests, rivers and fields alive, and keeping civilisation from eating them.
While Iron guarded the roads, another watch never truly slept.
Verdant preserves forests, rivers, fields and wildlife, and works to see that settlement grows in step with the land instead of consuming it. Its virtues are the slow ones: balance, patience, stewardship, resilience, humility and renewal.
Wardens oversee whole regions, with rangers, herbalists, foresters, scouts, beastkeepers and apprentices under them. The work is restoring damaged ground, watching dangerous creatures, managing game, and teaching practice that lasts — and guarding the trade routes where they run through wilderness, which is where Verdant and Iron meet.
The wilderness here is protected, not abandoned, and the difference is meant to be visible. Wardstones stand along the old paths and have stood a very long time, watching with silent eyes. A warden vows to leave the land healthier than it was handed to them.