Order of the Elder Orchid

The Order of the Elder Orchid was an effort to preserve Gilnean culture and encouraging the repopulation of the Kingdom of Gilneas. They journeyed home to establish their own village on the southern part of Gilneas, a home they have given the name of Darel’horth.

Order of the Orchid, which was established by a triumvirate; Ferenold Stormshend, Torean Austerlitz, and Lord Vanston.

Story of the Orchid
An in-depth history of the order and its Township was written by Ferenold Stormshend in 6 parts.
 * Story of the Orchid: Chapter 1
 * Story of the Orchid: Chapter 2
 * Story of the Orchid: Chapter 3
 * Story of the Orchid: Chapter 4
 * Story of the Orchid: Chapter 5
 * Story of the Orchid: Chapter 6

The Elder Orchid
The Orchid. It is what the order was named after in the first place, and it is certainly not without a wealth of reason. The Orchid is a plant that is for one, distinctly Gilnean. Although it is known to spring up in both Lordaeron and Arathor, it is in its greatest abundancy in Gilneas, and it takes the greatest plethora of forms there as well. The Orchids were considered divine by the first practicioners of the Old Ways, a plant that could be used in religious healing and cleansing ritual. However, they stayed ingrained within Gilnean culture even when the Light became the state religion of Gilneas. Although they no longer had spiritual purposes, the Orchids came to be considered to be symbols of luck.

Thus, many Gilneans began to maintain their own orchid gardens around three hundred or so years past. Literature popularized the orchids, and they became a frequent motif in many Gilnean novels. Gradually the plant's meaning expanded, and the Orchid became synonymous with the Gilnean land. This belief was not literal of course, but the symbology was most known by the people whom lived directly around Gilneas City, in towns such as Keel Harbor.

The Order put the adjective ‘Elder’ in front of the Orchid to symbolize that they wish to return to Gilneas once again, in a time that they have forgotten as refugees. Thus the Orchid has grown old, and they seek to return to it once more. It is not an allusion to the archaic belief in the Orchid, as such things have been entirely forgotten, even by the Keepers of Old.