The Worldmind. The Worldmind, also known as the Voice of the
Conclave, is the subtle transmission of Mat'Selesnya's consciousness.
The Conclave also picks up on experiences and wisdom from members of the
guild which they then transmit. The clarity of this wisdom is
proportional to the depth of a member's devotion to meditation and his
or her service to the guild. Through a magical ceremony upon death, a
Selesnyan guild member's full experience (spirit) is "uploaded" into the
Worldmind. The deeper a guild member's devotion, the deeper his or her
access to the Worldmind. Some of the most devout Selesnyans have the
capacity to wield immense power thanks to their connection to the
Worldmind.
Temptations of Power. In a perfect world, the Selesnyans
consider all of their leaders, no matter how tenured, to be fallible and
mortal teachers, nothing more. However, some of the Selesnyan elders
are prone to a bit of self-aggrandizement, due to their own personal
ambition ,and take pride in the growth and beauty of their own
particular vernadi.
Violence and Hypocrisy. A not-so-well-kept secret is
Selesnya's hypocrisy about the taking of life. Because of their doctrine
about the sanctity of life, one might believe that they would be
stringent pacifists. On the contrary, they have no problem with throwing
away countless lives in combat. One of Selesnya's main tactics in
battle is to create a living shield of bodies to stall opponents until
one of their massive elementals or avatars can show up to destroy en
masse. Post mortem, Selesnyans make a large, ceremonial fuss about the
sacrifice of noble warriors and how all life returns to Mat'Selesnya,
but a mound of corpses is hard evidence to cover.
Keepers of Beauty. The Selesnya guild is the guardian of
natural and structural beauty. There are entire sections of scrolls and
codices within Vitu-Ghazi about the correct way to order the landscape,
the best stone to use, how to arrange specific kinds of trees, and the
most pleasing way to layer foliage. There are some who believe in
keeping every stone clean of debris and some who want to arrange without
there being noticeable signs, but all agree that beauty is a crucial
value of life.