Gods of Before

The Gods of Before is a minority religion in Bahlmorea, only practiced by tribesmen and villagers in the furthest reaches of the northern continent. It once was practiced by nearly everyone a thousand years ago, but its followers have dwindled in recent centuries. It's a pagan religion that's dedicated to worshipping nature dietes. The people who hold this faith believe in spirits and gods that have existed long before the creation of the lands and were the ones who settled into the earth once the lands were formed. It's said they were the ones who were responsible for creating it and instead of looking down on it from above in the heavens, they look at you from within the trees, water, air, soil, roots, animals, and so forth. This religion isn't popular in the more industrial areas where people have less of a connection with nature and don't rely on it as directly as tribesmen, villagers, and hunters do. With the rise of industrialization, worshippers have begun to vehemently opposie it–saying it's severring the ancient bond between nature and man.

   In times before the creation of the earth, the gods lived as the stars with one another for as long as time had existed. According to word of mouth, they were never created they just *were*.  Once the gods left the stars to live in the earth, each star represented each diety of something to someone–the tree your father cut down to build a fire, a fox with a tail lost to a hunter's hands, the salmon cache that lasted your tribe throughout winter. In short, there are as many gods as there are stars.

## Religious Customs

The customs for this religion are held to of utmost importance and breaking or defying any customs is considered hersey and/or worthy of being exiled from the tribe or village. People here are practical and they will only defy or openly argue against something if it can cause harm/trouble for the tribe.

* Children are raised by the entire tribe or village and what they are taught cannot just be only from the parents–they must be given important knowledge by everyone. Similar to how the entire wolf pack raises pups of a single pair. Both men and women are expected to be responsible for raising children.
* When one kills an animal or cuts down a tree, he/she must utter a prayer for it. He/she must also make use of it, nothing goes to waste. Some leave cairns for mighty trees or powerful animals.
* Marriage isn't exactly some official event that occurs, there are life partners (opposite or same sex) that can be platonic or sexual if the pair really feels like they could be faithful to each other for the rest of their lives. Sometimes if life partners want to make it "official" they will hold a ceremony binding the two together under the eyes of the gods. If a life partner bond is broken after being binded together, the two are sent into the woods for a week to appeal to the gods that they lied to.
* Murder isn't against customs, but it's deeply frowned upon if it's committed in cold blood. Life is precious to worshippers of this religion and just ending a life for no real reason is considered an evil act.

## Notes

Worshippers of this faith believe in ***aluins***, which are the "demons" of this faith. They can represent a wide variety of scourges such as famines and sickness or they can represent the temptation of betrayal or hate. Their appearance is varied, but they are mostly described as grotesque half human half animal creatures.