An altar will only be authentic if a Nélandrée blooms within. The clergy will provide a seed each year to each altar on the continent. Pilgrims are given a pot that contains a flower with seeds and roam the lands, stopping at each altar to provide its seed. It will then be up to each Dove to take care of their altar and its flower.
The Nélandrée, or formerly Whitebloom is a flower native to the southernmost part of the Great Forest
Shortly after the beginning of the Golden Age
, it became the symbol of both the Nelandrean Cult
and the Menicean royal family.
was native to the only region where the species naturally grows: the Whitebloom Plains
. According to her friends and family, she especially loved the flower and was often seen carrying or even wearing some. This made it the perfect emblem when the clergy and the royal family were looking for one.
Later on, Kelyeran Asturac
even wrote that having a flower a requirement for every Nelandrean Altar
to be authentic. This led to the White Castle
to build its Nélandrée greenhouse to provide every altar with a flower, each year.
Delivering the flower
gather each year, on the 31st of the 2nd month at the Peace Palace
to get their gear before going on their sacred duty.
They can be recognized by the generally big pot they carry on their back, containing one or many flowers that give seeds, and to their traditional religious clothing. They are entrusted with the delivery of the seeds to a range of altars in a given region. The whole trip is paid by the clergy; Pilgrims are supposed to stay at the common houses
during their stopovers, but people often invite them to the inn or to their homes.
To reproduce, Nélandrées require highly rich soil and hot, mild climate: conditions only met in the Whitebloom Plains
. However, a seed can nearly grow everywhere, which also made it very convenient for the Cult. The challenge was to actually deliver them. If Pilgrims carry a seeding flower on their back, it is because the seeds wither extremely quickly once they are plucked off the flower.
Once fully grown, the flower is very resistant and beautiful. It will bloom for a full year, before reproducing and dying.