About Seedsower Steading

Seedsower Steading, whose full name is “Where Ffion saw the seeds of spring blowing in the breeze, and found inspiration for the purpose of the rest of their life”, is a small Miaren steading. We are dedicated to nurturing and assisting the Empire’s aspiring diplomats and ambassadors, aiming to sow the seeds of proud collaboration in all that we work with.

Where we are

Seedsower Steading stands on a small hill in the beautiful region of Greenfalls, near the heart of Miaren. Over the years, we have accommodated an eclectic collection of visitors from both within the Empire and abroad, and we are delighted to do once more in hosting the Ffion Seedsower Foreign Policy Retreat, otherwise known as “The Other Roads”.

Who we are

These are the members of Seedsower Steading - and friends from elsewhere - who are attending to assist the Retreat.

Our history

We were founded in the wake of the loss of Liathaven in 349YE by Ffion Seedsower, may they soon resume their place in the Great Dance. Ffion was a singular individual, much-beloved by all who knew them. Born in Upwold and taking the Binding of Thorns at 17, they fought valiantly as a Thorn for many years as a scout for the Quiet Step, but retired from the battlefield after an injury sustained during the desperate defence of the West Ranging. For the rest of their life they took up the travelling crook of the diplomat and the vocation of the Guide, gathering a community of like-minded Navarri together here in Greenfalls.

In the thirty years since, members of our steading have worked tirelessly for the civil service and private citizens, creating diplomatic links and forging international ties that have become lifelong friendships. We believe that we best serve our commitment to the Binding of Thorns by bringing strength to Navarr through the ties that bind us across the whole world: at this time where the great longing of our nation seems in sight, that has never seemed more vital. Many of us have worked in the Imperial Civil Service as part of that work, while some have worked further abroad.

Our oath

This is the oath which members of the Steading swear.

“We swear to live by the virtues that guide us, and the oaths and commitments we have made to others. As long as we walk the path of the Seedsower, we will seek to find the spark of greatness in all of those around us, nurturing it until it becomes a mighty flame. We know that friendship comes in many forms and is found in many places, and we will always seek it out. We will guide others who seek to become ambassadors and diplomats to our Empire, forging bonds of loyalty and friendship with all peoples, so that the Way of Virtue and the great undertaking of Navarr and Thorn may find their fulfilment. May this be so, by our will.”

Ffion Seedsower, of blessed memory

Ffion was ambitious and driven, but greatest of all their personal virtues was Pride, to which they were dedicated. They strove to lift up others in everything they did. Many of us here at Seedsower Steading found ourselves here after a time of crisis in our lives, when we doubted the paths we had chosen and our capacity for greatness. Ffion touched the lives of everyone they met and brought light into them.

Ffion had planned and saved for many years to launch a series of symposia after they retired from active diplomatic work, which happened four years ago. Plans for the first Retreat grew and grew. It was Ffion’s decision that the focus of this first Symposia be the question of the Vallorn and the impact of diplomacy on its defeat, inspired as they were by the commitment of our people to ending the Vallorn in this generation.

Unfortunately, in the summer of this year Ffion fell ill. While they, like all of us, had known the presence of illnesses both acute and chronic in their lives, it was clear that this was alarmingly different. A physick’s diagnosis confirmed a rare heart condition, undetected for years, indeed probably present since Ffion’s birth: but, now that it had begun to cause symptoms, severely life-limiting. Indeed, Ffion died in the late summer of 386YE.

They did not see the first retreat, but they lived long enough to know that it would happen. While they also did not live to see the end of the Vallorn, they believed with perfect faith that it would come to pass. Their life savings form the basis of the Ffion Seedsower Legacy, funding this retreat and, we hope, many like it in the decades to come. One day we will hold it in the heart of Terunael itself: this we swore to them.