Yggdrasil
Considered to be the oldest of the deities originally part of the Pantheon of the North, Yggdrasil is also the only one of them to have been expelled from the Pantheon by the other gods and goddesses. The reason for her expulsion was her attempt to gain dominance of the Pantheon by drawing the Pantheon’s collective worshipping community into her service only, through the creation of a cult orientated around the sacrifice of other sapient humanoids to try and boost her own power and capabilities above the rest of the Pantheon. Unfortunately for her, Yggdrasil’s plan was discovered by the other deities who, led by Njördr drove her and her followers on the Material Plane into hiding, banished her from the Pantheon and declared her cult to be heretical. Since then, the cult of Yggdrasil and the goddess herself have continued to survive, but they remain at constant risk of discovery.
Divine Domains
Originally, Yggdrasil had been associated with regrowth and renewal, which had tied her closely into the activities of Freyd and Balder, though she is now no longer officially associated with them in the Pantheon. However, even though she has been ostracised from the Pantheon, and has turned to darker methods of trying to gain power over the other deities, she is still intrinsically linked to the areas of regrowth and renewal, though more from an angle of using the lifeblood of others to reinvigorate herself and her followers. This promise of reinvigoration is what still draws people to seek out the cult of Yggdrasil, whether to heal themselves of some ailment or affliction, or to gain additional power for themselves.
Divine Symbols & Sigils
Yggdrasil’s main symbol is that of an oak tree, shown from the roots to the top of its canopy. Temples and cultic centres to Yggdrasil, both secret and public will have an elaborate stone carving of Yggdrasil’s oak tree at their centre, which is the focal point of worship, offerings and sacrifices.
Lectors and followers of Yggdrasil would originally wear a broach or necklace of an oak tree to show their dedication to her, but since her cult was forced underground few people in the north will openly wear the symbol of Yggdrasil’s oak tree. Many of her cultists do wear tattoos of the oak tree symbol but they will almost always be tattooed using an expensive ink, imbued with magic that makes them invisible to the naked eye, but are revealed when shown under the light of a specially enchanted candle. This is one of the many ways that the cultic cells of Yggdrasil try to keep themselves safe from outside intrusion and discovery.
Tenets of Faith
In her bid to become more powerful than her fellows in the Pantheon, Yggdrasil had commanded her followers to perform regular, ritualistic sacrifices of live, sapient humanoids, as opposed to simply offering her gifts of food, or the sacrifice of livestock. As part of the sacrifice ritual, the blood of the victim would then be poured onto the roots of the central oak tree statue in the temple, through which Yggdrasil would absorb the life force of the victim. Sacrifices such as are still carried out by Yggdrasil’s cultic followers, though it obviously takes place in a much more secretive setting, in addition, the sacrificial victims tend to be chosen from sections of society where they are less likely to be missed.
Holidays
There are no officially recognised holidays to Yggdrasil. As the different underground cultic cells dedicated to her tend to operate in isolation from each other, to avoid attracting too much attention, there are no coordinated secret feasts held in Yggdrasil’s honour. Instead, the separate cultic cells will maintain their own calendar of feasts where sacrifices are made to their patroness.
Divine Goals & Aspirations
For Yggdrasil there is only one goal, to grow her power-base so that she can either re-enter the Pantheon of the North, this time as its chief deity, or to oversee the destruction of the Pantheon and the enslavement or death of its gods and goddesses who do not offer fealty, and the supremacy of her cult across the north of Turoza and beyond.
Comments