Anselt is the patron of farmers, shepherds, and herbalists, keeper of time and of seasons as they relate to both mortals and the wilderness, and guardian of the boundary between cultivated land and the wilds. Theirs is the domain of guided growth, generosity, and protection, of ensuring that things have the time and resources to grow as they are intended to, of taking care of the part of the world you are entrusted with and passing it down to the next generation better than it was when you found it. They are the Gardener, who prunes away corruption and smiles upon those who patiently work towards the growth of a better future.
Anselt holds the following virtues sacred:
The crops will grow in their own time; you cannot rush what will happen naturally. This isn’t always true, especially when magic is involved, but patience is nonetheless one of the mainstays of Anselt’s teachings — the patience of waiting for something to arrive in its own time, doing what you can to prepare for it in the meantime, and laying the groundwork for the next step in whatever process you are undertaking.
The future depends upon those willing to put in the hard work to make sure it happens. Anselt teaches that hard work is its own reward when put to good use, and that those who consistently put in the effort will find spiritual strength as well as material bounty as a result. Anselt’s clerics are frequently to be found in the fields and gardens alongside farmers and shepherds, working diligently to better understand their favored Saint.
To give without expectation of repayment is to imbue the world around you with prosperity and growth. Generosity is the backbone of any mortal community, according to Anselt’s teachings; few can truly survive on their own without relying on others, and if you must pay for aid it makes it that much harder to both survive and to keep the wilderness at bay. Generosity in Anset’s view does not need to involve giving your last copper if you’ll need it later to ensure your own safety, but rather a benevolent sharing of what resources you can spare when someone else is in need.
Anselt also teaches that generosity towards nature is just as fundamental to taking care of the world around you as generosity towards other mortals. Leaving fields fallow so that they can recover, leaving seed out for birds and carrion out for scavengers, and doing what you can to keep the ecosystems around you healthy, are all sacred acts in their eyes.
Anselt holds the following to be the greatest sins:
The fields will grow wild if they are not weeded and plowed. The seed won’t plant itself. If the crop is not harvested promptly, it will rot in the field. Tending the earth and bringing forth life from it requires effort, and those who are not willing to put in the work when it is necessary will earn Anselt’s ire. They do not generally express their displeasure over such sins with active punishment, but rather chooses to simply ignore the prayers of the slothful — after all, if such folk aren’t willing to put in the work for their own benefit, then why should the Saint they’re praying to?
Anselt embodies the creative aspect of nature, and only tolerates destruction when it is truly necessary, specifically only when something must be destroyed to clear the way for something new to grow. Those who would destroy carelessly or for pleasure are the hated foes of Anselt’s followers.
There is a season for everything, and everything has its season. There is a time and place for everything, and to move outside of that cycle is to invite corruption. Anselt views those who violate the natural order of things extremely poorly, and is not shy about urging their followers to prune back such corrupted individuals or their twisted creations. The undead in particular are vile monstrosities in Anselt’s eyes, second only to those mortals who seek to prevent or undo aging and death — death is part of the cycle, in Anselt’s teachings, and those who would fight against it seek to violate the basic tenets of reality and nature.
Anselt appears as a young androgynous person with blonde hair, pale skin covered in freckles, and an easy and patient smile. They are often bedecked in flowers or vines, and holding a basket of fruit and vegetables or a bag of seeds in addition to at least one farming or herding implement. They are always depicted as going barefoot and with soil-stained hands, and often wearing a straw hat and simple farmers’ garb instead of anything formal or majestic. They always appear as a Fae of some sort, though their Lineage varies between Aelding, Satyr, Vaettrkin, and Sinterling, depending on which season it is.