The Mortal Vow

The Mortal Vow is a widespread religion throughout the continent of Deurlyth, practiced among each and every clan. Even though a large majority of the Deurlen people believe in the teachings of The Mortal Vow, the religion is largely unregulated and disorganized. Of the very few self proclaimed "Priests" of The Mortal Vow, most if not all of them serve more as Folklorists and scribes of Deurlen history, and serve as the sole spiritual and ceremonial heads of their clan.

### Practices

Many shrines within the villages and dwellings of the Deurlen people are dedicated to the wills of The Divines, powerful beings that protect and give life to the people of Deurlyth. As there are no specific churches built for the purpose of Divine worship, much of the practices of the followers of The Mortal Vow happen within the daily lives of each and every Deurlen person, such as sacrifice, depicting the imagery of death and life within boundary of the home and placing certain objects at shrines across Deurlyth.

### History

Historically, the Deurlen people have always believed in the teachings of The Mortal Vow, as it has survived centuries of oral tradition. Many changes have occurred within the religion since the dawn of the Deurlen people, many Divines have been popularized or have been forgotten and some practices held in high regard have died out entirely within the culture, with entirely new practices arising in clan spiritualism.

### **The Divines**

The Deurlen are polytheistic, believing in a wide array of gods for nearly every purpose. In fact, most Deurlen are not aware of every supposed "Divine." Instead, Deurlen tend to focus on worshiping a few specific divines that fit their personality and appease the others through constant sacrifice.

These few Divines are well known across Deurlyth, many Shrines in homes and on pathways depict the deities as the hands that intervene in mortal affairs. While these are the quite well known or central Divines, there are still many more Divines with Shrines across Deurlyth.

 ***Patriarchal Divine Éag***: *Divine of the Eternal, The Unknown, and The Mortal Soul* [AY-g] Éag is the patriarch of the Deurlen Pantheon, father of the Mortal Vow, heavily shrouded in mystery. Out of a mixture of fear and respect for the Divine of the Unknown, no shrines are erected in the name of Éag. Instead, favor with him is curried through through the superstitious practice of skull-keeping, in which the skulls of bird, sheep, and wolves are cleaned and hung above doorways to appease him, representing the acknowledgement of the boundary between life (home) and death (outside world).

Éag is fabled to take human skulls as personal trophies. The Headless Rider, a fae of legend, is purported to arrive and collect skulls for the Divine, ferrying the soul along with them.

He is depicted as middle-aged, eyeless male carrying a scale with which to weigh the soul. To the Deurlen, he is commonly referred to as 'Death' in Common.

 ***Ghaois***: *Divine of the Wellspring, Wealth, Poetry, and Wisdom* [GYE-sh] Ghaois is revered as the keeper of The Wellspring, the Deurlen ideology for the source of all human magic. Despite there being very few mages among the Deurlen, there is the belief that there is great, unseen force in all things. The spirit of magic is in all things, however small. Shrines are kept to Ghaois to appease and reward them for their endless watch over The Wellspring. They are known to favor offerings of Arcane Essence, pipeweed, and bundled of orchids wrapped in white linen.
Ghaois is depicted as being either a cloaked male or female, carrying with them a leatherbound tome. They are referred to as 'The Watcher of the Wellspring' in Common.

 ***Saol***: *Divine of the Hunt, Moon, and Woodland Creatures* [SYE-ell] Saol is the keeper of the wilds, and maiden of the hunt to the Deurlen. She is revered as the chaotic mistress of the wilderness, prayed to by hunters, providers, and archers among the clans. Small shrines are kept to her in forests and wilds, as well as where meat and fur are hung to dry. These shrines are adorned in small wooden effigies, furs, antlers, and daggers. To curry her favor and bring luck, superstitious archers keep an arrow hewn of bone and feathers in their quivers, never to be loosed.

Saol is depicted as a dark-haired woman with a red staub of mearcannan masking the left half of her face. She carries a wooden longbow nocked with an ivory arrow. Her body is draped in bloodied hides, and she wears spaulders made of stuffed wolves' heads. She is referred to as 'Moonlight's Maiden' in Common.

 ***Scríobhaí & Maisitheoir***: *Divines of Travel, Night stars, Commerce, and Thieves* [SCREE-uh-vee & MAH-shah-hor] A pair of strange, playful divines, The Twins are never depicted alone. Scríobhaí and Maisitheoir are an inseperable duo of tricksters and traders, venerated by all Deurlen who partake in trade and commerce, as well as those who would accrue wealth by theft. Shrines to the Twin Divines are personally kept altars adorned with gold pieces and trinkets of value, for fostering wealth and financial luck. The superstitious are said to bury a sack of gold before their doorstep to ward away thieves.

Strangely, the Twin Divines are most commonly depicted as birds with a piece of gold tucked between either of their beaks. In human depictions, they are of either gender and possess raven black hair adorned with golden coins and cuffs. A black strip of mearcannan is tattooed across their eyes. Coins and trinkets of all sorts jingle, hung from their waists and on sacks carried on the back. They are known as the 'Thieves' Prophets' in Common.

 ***Athrú***: *Divine of the Harvest, Hearth, Homestead, and Good Health* [ah-HUH-roo] Athrú is venerated in greater force by the People of the Marches, in the south, where crop and livestock are allowed to flourish. Shrines to her are kept close to where food is grown and raised, where offerings may be given, and sacrifices of healthy cattle are made to reign in good fortune for the Clan's coming years. Before a season's harvest, a bundle of aromatic herbs are cast to the flames in the interest of their providence. At the end of a harvest, a clan-wide feast is held to keep all in attendance in good health.

Athrú is depicted as a beautiful woman of stocky build, and floor-length red hair with a pair of massive braids, capped in iron. She wears a white gown and tan furs, and holds a bushel of herbs and berries. She is known as the 'Maiden of the Threshold', in Common, a diametric counter to the Patriarch Éag. Where He is death and the wilds, she is life and the home. Despite this opposition in themes, they are not seen or treated as enemies, or opposed to one another.

 ***Lámh***: *Divine of Prophetic Guidance and Dreams* [LAHV] Lámh is a specialty divine, not always taken to in casual adherence. He is sought after for his great wisdoms and prophecies, known as a seer and prophet to followers of the Mortal Vow. To gain his insight, the Deurlen will burn smoking bowls full of herbs to bring on psychotropic sleep. For his favors in dreams, the same herbs are kept in a bundle beneath the mattress or pillow.

Lámh is shown as an ancient, wizened man with a roughspun grey cloak and long, white beard. His pale blue eyes are hooded, looking languished and exhausted. He is known as the 'Hand of Guidance', in Common.

 ***Cosán***: *Divine of Pilgrimage, Weather, Rivers and Destinations* [co-SAHN] Cosán is worshiped in great force by transient clans of Deurlen, as well as Deurlen venturing from their clans to travel across Deurlyth. He is regarded as a kind and helpful soul, ensuring that travelers do not get lost or killed on their journeys. In the name of this, paying respects to lost/killed travellers is commonplace among those who worship Cosán, it is said that doing this guides their soul into the Realm of the Eternal peacefully. Deurlens will often assist families or Clans that have helped in their journey in return, ranging from simple farm duty to helping the Family/Clan for quite awhile with many reasonable requests.

Shrines to Cosán are placed at landmarks, road-bends, and rivers to guide travelers to their destinations. They are adorned with lit lanterns and windchimes.

Cosán is depicted as a young and winsome-looking male, donning a hooded cloak and wolven furs. On his back he burdens a massive traveler's pack with a lantern affixed. He is known as the 'Traveler's Path', in Common.

 ***Creìd***: *Divine of Creation, the Forge, Carpenters* [CRAY-id] As there is spirit in all things, so too are they within their creations. Creìd is known as the patron of all Deurlen artisans. Forgemother or Father, they are the determined hand thought to be the weaver of every inspiration. Those faithful to Creìd often burn and melt their votive offerings into the creations they forge, be it herbs, coins, or even one's own blood. Commonly, an artisan's tool is marked in devotion to Creìd, be it a smith's hammer or a carpenter's saw.

They are depicted as a burly man or woman, and the counterpart to Díothú, purported to craft all the weapons for their sibling Divine. Their working hands are stained in red tattoos. Known as the 'Forge's Mother/Father'.

 ***Uair***: *Divine of the Youthful, Worn, Day Time, Night Time and Unreachable Depths* [ouh-WEHR̃] To the Deurlen who see force and magic in everything, there is little other reason needed to personify and worship the passage of day and night. A patron to both effervescent youth, and wizened old age, Uair is both the father and son of time itself. As such, Deurlen will watch the sunrise and sunset in His name to reign in an eventful, healthy long life. In order to ensure they complete their life's goals, the superstitious will don iron jewelry, bracelets, and necklaces depicting the intertwined sun and moon.

Depicted as a man with sky blue mearcannan, and long, wild red hair. Depiction varies between depicting him as young or old, but this may be intentional, for his place as both the Divine of the young and old, as well as time. He is known as the 'Sky's Constant', in Common.

 ***Díothú***: *Divine of War, Battle, Anger and the Burdened Soul* [dee-HOO] The Deurlen are no strangers to war and battle, often waging it between themselves and other clans with whom they disagree in faith or territory. The Deurlen, living among the harsh wilds, must protect themselves, so every Deurlen has given an orison to Díothú at least once. In his name, respects are paid to those who have killed others or harmed others greatly, and praying for their soul to be allowed into the Realm of the Eternal is said to bring solace to their mortal soul. Sacrificing others to Díothú is said to appease him greatly, though only more sinister clans believe this to be true, many Deurlen people believe that this idea of sacrificing others is an affront to the Divines and that it is only to justify the sickness that they hold within them.

Díothú's mearcannan stained his body, as crimson as blood, splattered and stricken across pale skin in jagged designs. He wears a cloak of a bear's head and hide, adorned with human bones. Díothú is known to carry a large bearded ax, decorated with red feathers. He is known as the 'Wrath of the Vow', in Common.

 ***Droch-rùnach***: *Undivine of Sin, Darkness and Evil Emotions* [dra-kh roo-NAKH] Where all the beauty in life is personified by the Divines, so too are all of its evils. Droch-rùnach is the atriarch of vice. For their misdoing, they receive no worship or shrines among the vast majority of Deurlen peoples. To invoke even their name is to bring ruin, as they are purported to bring with their appearance great disasters in threes. They are venerated only by the darkest, most zealous of clans.

The Undivine is of alabastar skin, and bears the slithersome tongue of a serpent. They are said to have one eye open at all times, and carry with them a locked box, clapped in chains. They are known, also, as the 'Unspoken One', in Common.

##### **Sacrifice**

Deurlen perform sacrifice for the Divines to show their devotion, and to placate them in the event of misdeeds and wrongdoings. While sacrifice is usually only done to animals, fanatics and darker clans have been known to sacrifice other humans, or mar the body with self-made offerings of flesh and grotesque illustrations via scarification.
### **Burial Practices**

While many burial and funerary practices differ between Deurlen clans and peoples, great importance is placed upon the body and processions to take place. Various grave goods are often placed around the body, consisting of pelts, belongings of the deceased, and important ritual objects and artifacts related to the dead’s chosen Divine of reverence.

Importance is placed upon keeping the body intact, making cremation extremely rare among funerary practice in Deurlen communities. After funeral ceremonies, bodies are interred within barrows or ancestral tombs marked with stone cairns and menhirs, in which all deceased clansmen are buried. The thresholds of these barrows and tombs are marked with thuribles, each kept lit and burning with potent herbs, in order to ward away the eyes of any fae that would make mischief or grief of Deurlen corpses.

Though posthumous mutilation is rare among the Deurlen, zealous practices would see that a small number of clans take to the burning, decapitation, and flaying of their dead for the purpose of effigies. These grotesque rituals are seen as a highly respectable spectacle among these zealous clans, and may be believed to be as an act of martyrdom, making a show to spark interest in the dead; Which in turn keeps the eyes of the fae away from the living.

Regardless of the ceremonies held, the dead are typically honored by a feast held in clan halls, where the remaining members of the deceased’s immediate family are cherished and nourished whole, filling them with strength so that they might better compensate for the loss of a laborer.