Order of the Blue Nuns

History
Originally started about 100 AA, after Port Jasper had been established. Widows who lost their husbands to the wars with the dragons and refused to sit back and do nothing started the St. Jasper’s order, donning armour and fighting alongside the men. Up until 268 AA, the Order had almost nothing to do with religion past a rather faithful following of women, already scared by pain and loss who refused to let the flying worms control their lives.

Among them was Estelle Drebeque, a young woman who refused her parents’ wish to be wed and joined the Order voluntarily in 264 AA. She was surprisingly religious, always carrying the star of Jasper with her and constantly surviving such situations where no one else came back alive. This caused the Order to reconsider and adapt a more religious view on their affairs. Estelle also brought about the realization that the Order’s efforts were needed elsewhere – Astel was well on its way to being completed and the power of men grew. Woman warriors were no longer needed.

The order began building its first permanent headquarters in Port Jasper in 275 AA, a simple wooden construction with a plain chapel dedicated to St. Jasper, the land belonging to one of the original Blue Widows. The order began to focus on teaching young girls the arts of defending themselves, taking in orphans and unwanted children. Eventually, reading, writing, medicine and religion were added to the mix. By 289 AA, the Order was forced to expand, building a few more buildings, roughly having the same layout as present day.

In 3 AM, the Great Dragon Fire of Jasper happened, the Port being attacked by dragons appearing from behind the Gate of God. The wooden Order’s buildings were destroyed as most of the Port except for the newest, stone buildings. Opening up the coffers that the Order had and with the donations of its brotherhood Order in Astel, the sisters rebuild their home from stone to withstand even the hottest flames. Construction of the Convent was finished by 12 AM however the great St. Jasper’s Cathedral within the Convent walls was not completed until 36 AM.

The Order, originally that of warriors, was slowly transformed into peace and charity. By 113 AM, St. Jasper’s Order was renamed the Order of the Blue Nuns, supporting a purer lifestyle. In 167 AM, the Hospital within the Order’s walls was opened and the first patient admitted on March 21st, 167. Charity work within the city walls became a priority, the sisters started to explore sanitation and other medical properties. Educating the masses became part of the Order’s goal and many sisters left to become private tutors for rich families with young children and young ladies.

However, the Order overestimated its strength. In 256 AM, during a rather harsh plague that swooped over Port Jasper, the sisters were shocked to see their coffers, usually overflowing with inherited gold, depleted to barely anything. This meant cutting away on charity work, hospital care and abilities in order to survive themselves. Thankfully, King Rolland the Just, a faithful follower of St. Jasper, donated a good 10 acres of land outside the city walls to the Order, the sisters now being able to raise their own livestock and food. This priceless gift from the king allowed the Blue Nuns to continue their existence and re-establish themselves by 270 AM.

Through donations from different sources and the support of locals who had seen the efforts and effect of the Blue Nuns’ charity work within the streets of the Port, the Order was able to re-open the hospital to the public once again by 272 AM. As a thank you, the doors of the Convent would open each year on St. Jasper’s Day to allow the masses to come and pray within the great Cathedral who’s high roofs were visible each day.

In 308 AM, a group of sisters departed Port Jasper to Astel where they began a new branch of the Blue Nuns, starting a small convent in a house owned once by a converted widow. Their efforts there are purely charity work and education, the sisters distributing bread to the poor daily and teaching young girls in a school nearby – another building donated by the monarch at the time.

Clothing
The name “Blue Nuns” originates from the founders of the Order. The widowed warriors sported a grey-blue cape around them, the color of tears they shed for their husbands. Although the clothing evolved to be a typical nun habit, the blue-grey wool stayed, being the main color of the habit with white accents from the headpiece and aprons.

A full pledged nun of the St. Jasper’s Order will wear a woolen habit of grey-blue color that would drape down to the floor with slightly large sleeves that would slide down a sister’s arm if she raised them, exposing a well fitted white shirt underneath. A white headdress, completely covering the hair, ears and neck, would be worn with a bright red, embroidered star of Jasper in the middle. Simple slippers would be worn when in the Convent and boots of ankle height when travelling.

The headmistress of the Convent would easily be identified by her differenthead piece and a large Jasper’s star pendant. On St. Jasper’s day, the usual grey-blue habits would be replaced by red ones to celebrate the Saint’s day. Unpledged sisters would wear the same clothing as full pledged with the exception that their headdress would be starless.

Young girls studying under the Blue Nuns at the Convent would wear a grey-blue wool sleeveless dress atop a fitted white long sleeved shirt. The dress would reach to their knees while long white stockings would be worn under. Hair would be braided back into a single braid tied with a white ribbon.

Hair was never to be cut by any sister in the order. Although hidden most of the time, hair was washed weekly and brushed out nightly. In the morning, sisters would braid and pin up their hair under the headdress. This ritual was established as yet another contribution to St. Jasper’s who’s long locks were clearly visible in all paintings. Hair could only be trimmed to be evened out or cut in dire circumstances.

The Convent
The main entrance of the convent is situated in the south-east corner of Port Jasper’s main market square. A short wall with 30 foot towers on both sides hold massive, beautifully carved main gates of the Convent. The wall is five foot thick and runs around the whole convent, standing everywhere a strong 20 feet. Towers, like the two beside the main entrance, stand at each corner of the wall for a total of 7.

Once you enter through the gates, to the left you will see the “barn” and kitchens pressing up against the north-west and west walls. The “barn” is actually a storage house where the sisters keep their supplies and food that is brought from their farm outside the city every other day. The kitchen is a massive structure that prepares three daily meals to all residents of the Convent including the nuns, their charges, the patients and the physician when he comes, and bread for the poor that is distributed every few days.

Just behind the kitchen, with the short side of the rectangle building touching the west wall and marking the halfway point of the Convent stands the Hospital. Although that is the massive building’s name, that is not the only function it has. It is divided into two wings – east and west. The west wing is dedicated to the true name of the building – the first floor, a massive room with high ceilings and a massive fireplace at one end houses 20 beds, 10 on each side that are filled by patients not able to finance themselves. Six semi-private, small rooms upstairs are reserved for the rich patrons willing to pay for their care. Each bed has curtains on both sides that can easily block the patient from the outside world. A chair and a table is beside each bed. Large paintings of St. Samuel hang in the main ward and above each small fireplace in the rooms upstairs.

The east side is dedicated to the pharmacy and the school. The pharmacy is located on the ground floor and is kept under lock and key. The school for the girls of the Convent is located on the second floor, girls separated into a few different sections and alternating between subjects each day.

To the right of the main entrance is a huge cathedral dedicated to St. Jasper. The cathedral’s roof is made of red tiles. The style of the building resembles a renaissance gothic style, with spires and arches supporting the structure’s massiveness. Sculptures of the Seven Saints are stationed above the main façade, looking down at the courtyard of the convent and those entering the sacred place. Huge stain glass windows made in a special way to withstand dragon fire fill the huge windows depicting the saints, big and small, along with their deeds.

Pressing up against the east wall and in line with the Hospital, stands the young girls wing. A three story building, this is where the Convent’s young charges live. Girls are divided into three age groups, each living in a large room with beds. On each floor, two unpledged nuns oversee the girls, living in small separate rooms. Lavatories are inside on the ground floor as are the baths. Three thin, beautiful arches stretch the space between the Hospital and the Young Girl’s Wing, dividing the Convent into the North and South Sections

In the South-West corner, a small chapel for St. Mary stands facing East, representing the last passage of day. Stretching between the chapel and the side of the Hospital, against the West wall of the Convent is a small, nameless graveyard of patients unable to be cured, passed away sisters and children, dying after coming to the convent. Following the rest of the East wall and bending with the South East one, the nun’s quarters stand. Three stories high with each sister having a private chamber, it is an elegant wing that is made of a similar blue-grey stone as the color of the habits.

A vast garden of herbs and plants takes up most of the convent’s south part, a creation of six medium-sized patches that house different things and are kept by the sisters themselves. Between each patch and running around the border are orange and apple trees, protecting the herbs and adding some happiness to the place. Wells are situated around the premises as water is extremely important to the sisters.

Education and Conversion
The Blue Nuns get most of their newly-turned sisters from their charges. Girls are taken off the streets, from parents unable or unwilling to support another child or even finding abandoned children at their steps in the morning. All girls are taken in and taught in the Order’s ways. History, language, reading and writing, math, healing and medical care are all taught as well as some basic ways to protect one self.

Young girls help keep the small herbs garden going while older girls help bake bread and distribute it to the poor. All girls and nuns also make cloth that is used in the ward and for the habits. In the summer months, the convent charges are taken away from the city to the farm in order to help there and to explore plants in their natural habitats. As the harvest ends, they return back to Port Jasper.

Girls stay at the convent until they are sixteen and are considered “young girls”. At sixteen, they face a choice – they can leave the convent by either marrying or returning to their families, fully able to support themselves or may remain at the convent as unpledged sisters, going through the pledging at twenty two.

While full pledged sisters forever give up romantic endeavors, unpledged sisters are encouraged to understand the meaning of love and come into the pledging knowing full well what they give up. Unpledged sisters are sometimes called “St. Jasper’s brides” for a pledging is much like a marriage vow. Just pledged sisters must wear a veil until the next St. Jasper’s day that covers their face from their nose down.

Widows, young women wishing to dedicate themselves to the Order, female criminals wishing for a second chance are all also welcomed. However, these are few and they tend to be the most devoted to religion and purification. Upon joining the Convent from the outside, the women also donate all their wealth and lands to the Order unless direct male heirs make claims. Widows of a man’s second marriage may not donate lands but only money. Young women bring their dowry.