The Sylvan

It is the Forest that nurtures us, as it does all Sylvan, whether god or mortal. We are all one family that comes in many shapes: Treant and Centaur, Pixie and Elf, God and Hag, and our ways are our own. We are nothing like the others, such as the gods of the humans, or those twisted by Chaos as our lost-kin the Orcs, or our shameful exiles the Drow. The other gods, those that spawned from the World Crystal, and those that pierced the even greater Crystal Sphere, and all of their creations, are ultimately agents of Chaos. All of them, hastening Entropy, with their burning, their felling of Trees, of digging deeper and deeper for secret ores, of consuming more, and more, until there will be nothing left...
We have fallen far, my kin, in this 4th Age of Lorinian. Our Forest is but a pale, sad remnant of what once spanned half the world itself. Our mortal members retreat to lands no larger than, I say with horror, some barbaric human kingdom. Lorinian is plundered by alien gods and alien forces, while its peoples plunder it too. Once we stood for Order and the Forest was so Mighty that all held us in awe.
I say, we make this 4th Age ours now. All of us, from the greatest of the gods, to the lamest of mortals. I call upon all Sylvan to rise up, for if we do not, this Age will be our last. Yes, I will admit what no one else wants to: even we can be Shattered!
-Yarvenya Therel-Vas, Banner-General of Sylvanarellen, at the Grand Sylvan Conclave, Year 2 of The 4th Age

Divine Domains

• Thenennel, Queen-Mother of the Sylvan, The Seed, Mistress of Branch and Blade (Greater Deity) - Nature
• Javos-Rel, The Star, Holder of the Sacred Flame (Intermediate Deity) - Arcana
• Hivlekor, The Sun, The Bonfire of Life (Greater Deity) - Light
• Gahaval Herenya, The Wise One, Seer of Entropy (Lesser Deity) - Order
• Lemotorash, The Fang, Shattered God of the Orcs, God of the Sea Elves (Shattered Deity) - Tempest
• Lavoua, The Night, Banished God of the Drow, Darklings, Korred, and Sirens (Lesser Deity) - Twilight

Holy Books & Codes

The Sylvan have no written scripture, but a rich oral history of song and stories, and culture of artistic expression dating back further than any other race's beliefs and faiths, an unbroken chain of memory and myth that reaches back to the 1st Age. For the Sylvan, faith and culture are one in the same, a way of life that is inherent to all their kind (barring some exceptions of course) that doesn't need a book to express it. What book could ever rival the grandeur of one of the Virgin Trees that has been tended to, both guided and learned from, since the start of Creation, or the achingly beautiful and simple lesson of a leaf falling onto a still autumn pool?

Divine Symbols & Sigils

A stylized amulet of the Virgin Trees , with their iconic soaring trunk and high branches, always made from a fallen branch within the Forest.

Tenets of Faith

Animals and people are every bit as much a part of this world and of nature as are the flowers and the grasses, the trees and the fungus. There is a natural order to things that is plain to see: predator and prey, the turning of sun and moons, the blooming of spring, the bounty of summer, the decay of autumn, the slumber of winter. Humans think that Nature is Chaos, violent and harsh, but they fail to see the truth that we can, blessed by the sight and wisdom of lives that can be measured in centuries: Nature is Order. So too is this plain to see: life, for all it's precious beauty, cannot sustain itself forever.
Eventually, the world itself will fall into an endless, dark winter. Everyone had a taste of that at the end of the The 3rd Age . There is never enough: space, food, resources, selflessness. The more rapidly we deplete Lorinian, the sooner that Final Age shall come. It is madness for the living to take any other path than the one that gives us the most time to be alive. They call us secretive, but is they that rejected our foresight, so now we will take responsibility as no one else is willing.
Undead are the most corrupt vision of this: decaying, eternal, a mockery of life itself. Chaos and Entropy empower these evil things, and must be destroyed at all costs. If an entire Temple must battle and sacrifice itself to destroy a horde of undead, so be it. Just as we must save the peoples of the world from themselves. If they oppose us, we will show them that despite what we have suffered, the Forest remains a force to be reckoned with, and if we must drag the rest of the world kicking and screaming with us, so be it.
For those few who realise the error of their ways, that throw themselves at the foot of the Forest and beg for mercy, we shall grant them a chance, of course! The more allies we have against Chaos and Entropy, the longer we have to Live. For those that threaten our way of life, we shall meet them with blade and bow, spell and song, and they shall know our revenge.

Holidays

Each year, the turning of the seasons are marked by all members of a Sylvan community coming together to sing, dance, share their arts, and fast for seven days, eating nothing but what has fallen from a plant or tree without influence or magical coaxing, drinking nothing but water if it rains and nothing at all if dry. Exceptions are made for the sick, children, wounded soldiers, and even those elves and other Sylvan that might find themselves far from the Forest will observe the occasion as best as they are able, though they are exempt if on official business of either the monarchy or a Temple.

Divine Goals & Aspirations

The four remaining Sylvan gods in The 4th Age in their insular Pantheon still remain focused on the original goal of extending the life of Lorinian for as long as possible, and by any means necessary.
Followers of Thenennel seek to protect what remains of the Forest, now just the woodland valley known as Sylvanarellen. They guard the Virgin Trees, the most sacred form of Sylvan life, and serve the monarchy in positions of advisors whose words carry heavy weight. They are known to be the most conservative and slow to change of all, compared to the rise and fall of mountains. Her followers often train in the art of swordplay; some Thenennel High Clerics have been known to dispatch their foes with nary a spell but a quick and precise thrust of a blade.
Followers of Javos-Rel include clerics as well as wizards and other arcane casters aligned with Order. They believe that Arcane and Divine magic are not opposed, but rather complimentary, as bee is to flower, male is to female, or sunlight and rain to a seed. They are responsible for the incredible tree-top cities of the Sylvan, using magic to gently guide the growth of their trees to provide homes, pathways, amphitheaters, palaces, and more. It is said that once, the greatest of Dwarven craftsmen and a Friend of the Forest, had to be carried away as he wept from the beauty of the lights flickering behind the leaves and just the sight of the outskirts of Sylvanlayost. Some of their kind have blended the most precious of Sylvan arts of magic, song, and swordplay into the famous Bladesingers. They are the most secretive of Temples, for their powerful arts are only granted to the those most-trusted.
Hivlekor, The Sun, it is his light that allowed the Queen-Mother to give birth to the other Sylvan, and to this day it is his love and light that allows life to continue on Lorinian. Through trickery and strife his light had been shielded from the world at the end of the 3rd Age, and now that life has resumed in the 4th Age, they mean to make sure that this never happens again until, at last, Hivlekor sleeps and Lorinian dies. Clerics of Hivlekor comprise the bulk of Sylvan forces against Crystalfall, as well as backing up the rangers of the Albaraccin Spires in attempts to both defend their borders and expand them. They often hold the art of the bow in high regard, and include a number of famous Arcane Archers.

Followers of Gahaval Herenya often seem to carry the weight of the world on their shoulders, and understandably so. Their Temple teaches a form of self-sacrifice and endurance for hardship to prolong the livespan of the world and all peoples within it. Only by resisting our illogical impulses can mastery be attained. People were given the gift of soul and mind, that is all that separates them from animals, and it was so we could see a path that they could not. Clerics of Gahaval Herenya might be viewed as eco-terrorists by other nations at times, as they may strike without warning, even in a realm far from Sylvanarellen's borders, destroying Crystal caravans headed for Dubravec, or burning down the latest mechanical, polluting monstrosity the madmen of Trakine created. They are known for their skills at organisation, survival, stealth, and austerity.
Athough he was Shattered during the wars of the 1st Age, Lemotorash, God of the Orcs, still maintains a cordial relationship with his fellow gods, even if they both encourage the occasional wars between their mortal followers. He is mercurial, one moment saying live-and-let-live when it comes to the other gods, the next sending the Orcs off in so many war galleys the Gold Sea almost seems to turn black to crush a foe for a seeming slight...or maybe for fun, or just to remind the mainlanders the Orcs are a power to be reckoned with. His clerics often wield rapiers, crossbows, and know how to point a cannon, trim a sail, or haul an oar as much as any seasoned sailor. To the Sea Elves, after they swam away from the Sylvan in the 2nd Age, they have turned to Lemotorash as their new patron, and it is not uncommon to find giant statues of him flanking the entrances to their coral cities. Lemotorash is glad to give them his protection for the power their worship brings him, allowing him to Manifest often enough to still maintain some influence, and in turn, the Sea Elves are glad to be left alone and somewhat sheltered from the Chaos on the surface. Other gods watch him and his followers with deep mistrust, as Lemotorash is the only known god that has been Shattered and did not become an agent of Chaos; many suspect he may be a bigger wolf in a smaller wolf's clothing, even if his clerics fight against the followers of the Shattered Pantheon.
Lavoua, and all those who followed Her, were banished from the Sylvan after the bitter and bloody War of the Veil . Having seen the error of her ways, Lavoua no longer wishes to hasten the end and the Final Age, knowing now that even she, the Goddess of Night, will perish in that eternal eve. A dramatic shift has taken place among her followers, which hasn't improved the lives of the races that were exiled from the Forest with her. Most Drow, Darklings, Korred, and Sirens had never paid her much heed, perhaps part of why she became so jealous as to try to embrace Entropy, and as far as many of them are concerned, their Goddess is to blame for all their woes. To this day, Ages later, her divine ears hear her name cursed more than praised. The few who praise the Night though are having to learn that their Mistress has decided to flip all their prior beliefs on their head at last: Entropy is not an ally, but The Enemy. Let the Sylvan think they are the only ones fighting for this world, as Lavoua and her clerics seek to show the world that Darkness is on Life's side this time.

Divine Classification

Various

Religions

• The Living Pantheon