Old Faith

You need not a temple to find your gods, as they dwell within every tree, stone, and community around you.

— Norhild, Druid of the Verdant Circle

Long before the Law was written in light and stone, folk across the Mornlands gave offerings to the gods of earth, sky, and sea—not as saviors, but as forces to be honored, feared, and understood. This naturalistic, polytheistic tradition is now called the Old Faith.

It has no singular doctrine. The Old Faith is not followed—it is remembered, felt, and kept. The Druids, though diminished, remain its stewards: shepherding forgotten rites, tending sacred places, and speaking with things older than language.

Core Beliefs

• The world is alive and full of will. Winds, rivers, trees, beasts, fire, bones—all have spirit.
• There are many gods—some vast, some local—each bound to natural places, cycles, or forces.
• Worship is not submission, but reciprocity: to give offerings, observe taboos, and maintain balance.

The Invisible World

Beneath or beside the world of waking life lies the Invisible World—the unseen layer of existence where the gods of the Old Faith dwell, alongside spirits, fairies, and nameless things that predate human memory.

To the druids, the Invisible World is not symbolic—it is real, if elusive. It may be reached through dream, death, sacred places, or deep ritual. Certain groves and pools are said to be “thin,” and animals that speak or vanish may be crossing from that realm.

Known Traits of the Invisible World

• Time flows strangely; seasons twist, days linger or vanish, and memories run backward.
• Beings from it—called Fair Ones, Hidden Ones, or Walkers Beneath Green—may bless or doom mortals, often by unclear rules.
• Some druids speak of a Great Tree, Great Depth, or Great Flame at its center—though they do not agree what it is.

The Church of Holy Law denies the Invisible World outright, classifying all tales of it as faerie superstition, dream-delirium, or abyssal contact.

Common Beliefs

• Druids rarely name the gods—they use titles: The Crag-Watcher, The Deep Green, The One Beneath, Mother of Still Waters.
• Shrines are found in groves, stones, caves, and springs—never of worked stone.
• Old ways are strongest in borderlands and forgotten woods, where Church banners fade and roots run deep.
• Some say the gods of the Old Faith are waking again—or were never asleep to begin with.
• The Old Faith tends to be more popular within Ashborn communities, although many hold a syncretic view of this Faith in conjunction with Holy Law.

Type

Religious, Other