The Old Ways
Structure
Magic users called shamans or druids of the Old Ways keep Cahara's teachings alive in the rubblebelts of Ravnica. They pass along stories of Sozon and Illharg, parables of Gec, and watch for signs of the End-Raze. There is no formal hierarchy, just the shaman elders and their students.
History
The religion known only as the Old Ways was once commonplace throughout the wilder parts of Ravnica. As the those parts grew smaller and the Gruul Clans separated from the other guilds, the Old Ways came to be practiced only by those far removed from civilzation. Now, it is almost exclusively tied to the Clans.
Mythology & Lore
Before time and fire, there was only Rage.
Ilharg tore through existence, trampling anything that might hope to exist. His fury was so great that none could hope to overpower him.
The life that called themself Sozon watched from the ruins. They saw Ilharg's pointless rampage and endless destruction. Instead of anger or fear, Sozon felt only pity toward the boar. They saw within Ilharg a purpose, if only he could focus.
So Sozon waited. When next Ilharg's great hooves sought to trample it, Sozon transformed that energy into the first fire. A wall of flame stopped Ilharg, and he stared in awe.
"There is more in you than your anger," Sozon said to Ilharg. They had shaped the fire around them into powerful flaming wings, the better to stay above Ilharg's hooves. Then Sozon shaped the fire into Ilharg, burning away the confusion and leaving a smoldering core. "A time will come when you will need that rage to destroy what has become, and I will raise the world anew. But you must first allow that thing to become."
Sozon taught Ilharg to channel his rage into the earth. Ilharg fed the forests from fire and ash, tilled the soil with great quakes, carried nutrients on angry winds, and woke the seas with great waves.
In time, life began to thrive. Sozon gave them fire and Ilharg gave them strength.
But the First-Phoenix and the Raze-Boar were not the only creatures that sought to shape the world.
Gec the Waste-Wurm lived deep in the earth. It travelled from civilization to civilization, leaving in its wake great tunnels that left the ground unstable. When Ilharg sent quakes to refresh the soil, all that those civilizations had built fell and was buried.
Ilharg came to Sozon and said, "The people cannot build structures to withstand my nature. It must be time to raze the world and begin anew."
Sozon calmed the fire within him and said, "It is only the Waste-Wurm trying to trick you. Do not be deceived, and watch the survivors rebuild."
They did, and Ilharg marveled at their resilience. For their part, Sozon made a band of sturdy stone to cover the entire world so that Gec's tunnels did not make the surface weak.
When Gec saw that he could not destroy what Sozon and Ilharg had wrought, the Waste-Wurm thought to poison it. It crawled above the surface and through the world, leaving sickness and plague in its wake.
Ilharg came to Sozon once more. "The people are too weak to harvest their crops or lift their swords. Surely this is the sign of the end!"
Once more Sozon calmed the fire within him and said, "This is Gec's doing. Do not fall for its treachery, and watch the people heal.
Ilharg did, and marveled at their perseverance. For their part, Sozon decided that they and the Raze-Boar were not enough to combat the Waste-Wurm.
They shaped the fire once more, this time taking fire from the very essence of the world. They created a life and called her Cahara the Scourge-Mare, for she took the shape of the powerful horses of the world. They said to Cahara, "You are the scourge of the Waste-Wurm. While I stoke the fires of earth and sky, and Ilharg maintains the wild world, you will keep the Waste-Wurm at bay."
And so Cahara galloped across the earth, beating Gec further into the earth with the force of her hooves. She gifted the peoples of the earth pieces of her power so that when she ran elsewhere, they could defend themselves against Gec's treachery.
When Cahara had been released upon the world, Sozon rested and called Ilharg to them. "Now you will have a sign of the End-Raze. We have given the people means to protect themselves and they will prosper unchecked. They will grow to cover the world. You will have no mountains to quake, no oceans to flood, and nowhere to send your winds. Cahara will have no earth to run across, and Gec will no longer feel the force of her hooves. She will fall, and her power will weaken in the world. When these things come to pass you will know that we have no more defenses against Gec save your rage. Only then will you destroy the world beneath your hooves and remember Cahara's sacrifice. I will burn what is left and raise the world anew--pure and wild--from the ashes."
Cosmological Views
According to the Old Ways, everything that could be has always existed. It is the duty of life to shape that and become those things.
Tenets of Faith
The Old Ways revere the wild world and raw power. Those are the ideals to which the faithful strive.
Granted Divine Powers
The faithful already inclined to magic can grow their powers to call down the wrath of nature.
Type
Religious, Druidic Circle
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