The Old Faith

Introduction

Pursuing spirituality through the reverence of nature and the elements, rather than the worship of the Ehldaronian Gods, druids practice a different kind of faith than most. While deities of nature certainly exist, such as the Old Nature Spirits that have over time become Gods themselves, it is a druid's deep faith in nature itself and the precarious balance between the elements and life that drives them, and even grants them magical abilities. Rather than praying at a shrine or in a temple, waiting for commands from the Gods, druids will be concerned with maintaining the balances within nature, and fight all that threatens it as well as all that is unnatural.

The Old Nature Spirits

According to the Druidic Faith, there once were four ancient elemental spirits called the Primordial Animus. Each of these spirits was the representation of one element, and they had been present on Ehldaron since time immemorial, long before any mortals and any Gods. The four of them together shaped the realm, their interaction creating the seas and the mountains as well as the forests and the deserts. The entire world as we know it was formed from these great spirits, not because they deliberately aimed at doing so, for these Primordials did not have any sort of complex conscience, but because of the balance between these four spirits. They would always keep each other in check, and while every spirit would in turn grow more powerful than the others, thus creating the seasons, there would always be another that would prevent them from gaining too much power.

As time went on, these four great spirits spawned countless elemental spirits that spread all over the world. Many of these spirits continue to exist until this day as small nature spirits, warding a tree or a river, or perhaps even an entire forest or valley. These whimsical spawns may not be that powerful, but are an important part of nature nonetheless.

When the first mortal races began their existence on Ehldaron uncountable years later, many would worship the primordial spirits as the embodiments of nature and the seasons. To these ancient people, they would be known as:

• Ysyrga, The Primordial Animus of Earth and Growth, The Spring
• Akara, The Primordial Animus of Fire and Light, The Summer
• Therena,The Primordial Animus of Air and Storms, The Autumn
• Toja, The Primordial Animus of Water and Ice, The Winter

The Animus were very simplistic spirits only focused on the interplay between the four of them, which balanced the world. They did not require the worship of the mortal races in any way. Although they were somewhat intrigued by the practices of the mortals, they never really understood them. Their spawns, however, did grow closer and closer with the mortals over time. It were these small spirits that eventually taught certain mortals the secrets of nature magic, creating the first druids.

To this day, many druids still feel connected to the Primordial Animus and their spawns, even though the great elemental spirits no longer exist in their ancient state. To druids, however, the nature spirits remain manifestations of nature and balance, of the world itself, and due to their own reverence they feel a strong connection to them, which in turn allows them to learn a great deal about the world.

The Old Spirits and the Gods

The arrival of the Gods on Ehldaron would change everything for mortals and nature spirits alike. For starters, the Gods differed immensely from the nature spirits. Whereas the four Primordial Animus simply saw the mortal races as a small part in a huge ecosystem which they maintained and were in turn a part of, most Gods disregarded this idea of balance entirely and simply sought to make their will and desires reality. Making themselves the centre of the world, the Gods either aided mortals and were being worshipped as great saviors and leaders, or oppressed them while demanding worship as their ruler. The worship of the nature spirits disappeared to all but the few remaining druids, as most mortals became part of one of the Godly civilizations. Additionally, some Gods regarded the Primordial Animus as a dangerous and powerful threat, while the latter was actually just very confused with the actions and motives of the former.

The being known as Celios, however, didn’t just consider the nature spirits a threat, but also thought of them as a pathway to great power. Celios would hunt down and slay Akara, The Primordial Animus of Fire and Light, and take over its power. This would make Celios the incredibly powerful deity he known as to this day. Thus, the God of Light and Summer was born out of the murder of the ancient spirit. Shortly after, another being by the name of Zedona would follow Celios’ footsteps and kill Toja, The Primordial Animus of Water and Ice for its power, crowning herself as the Goddess of Winter.

With two of them having been destroyed, the remaining Primordial Spirits, Ysyrga and Therena, struggled to maintain the balance they had maintained for so long. They understood that they would have to change, and somehow become more like those that had destroyed their fellow spirits to prevent the world from falling into disarray. Thus they began to learn from mortals and Gods alike, slowly beginning to change and become more like them. Eventually, they would become proper Gods themselves. Ysyrga became Ysyn, Goddess of Spring, Nature, and Rebirth, whereas Therena became Thereon, God of Autumn and Storms. While both former Spirits would always remain different from the other Gods, they would lose much of their Primordial selves in their attempt to maintain balance in the world.

It is important to note that while most druids believe the tale of the Primordial Spirits and the Seasonal Gods to be true, worshippers of the Ehldaronian Pantheon dismiss this idea. In fact, even current day priests and clerics are likely to be unaware of the Druidic tales regarding their Gods, having long lost that knowledge to time.

Balance and the Goddess Ysyn

While the God Thereon would continue to be a primordial presence that roamed Ehldaron not unlike his previous incarnation, it would be the Goddess Ysyn that strived by far the most for the balance between both the elements and life itself. She is the former Primordial Animus that resembles its original true self the most, and as a result continues to play an important part in the life of many druids. While they do not worship her the same way as her other followers, druids do believe her to be the one of the most important manifestations of nature, dedicated to the balance they revere so much. Instead of considering Ysyn a being that is far greater than them and should be worshipped, druids tend to see the Goddess as a close and important ally that has similar goals. Many druids also tend to feel a bond with her due to the mutual connection with nature. These druids sometimes consider themselves to be Druids of Ysyn of some kind, and while they don’t build shrines or temples nor do they pray to her, they revere her by pursuing balance and a unification with nature itself.

Like all other Gods, both Thereon and Ysyn would be banished at the end of the Second Gods War.