Frozen Gods

The great majority of Withic people worship nameless, faceless deities known as the Frozen Gods. Believed by their worshippers to control all events, the Frozen Gods appear foreign and alien to outsiders. It is said the vagrohls of the Order of the Frozen Gods can hear the gods' whispers and commands in the winds and snowfalls.

Please see this page for the Witherlands calendar and holidays.

## Myths about the Frozen Gods

### Appearance

Traditionally, the Frozen Gods have no names or faces. They are a cryptic pantheon of deities which, to almost every worshipper, blend into an amalgamation of the divine. However, some fringe believers claim to have distinguished one god from the others or to have discovered names or depictions of their physical natures. Many of these carvings of the gods’ supposed appearances are found on ritual grounds or imprinted in runic drawings. In some areas of the Witherlands, villagers believe in local folklore which details a particular Frozen God blessing, or cursing, their region.

Beyond the few followers who physically depict the Frozen Gods, believers are officially taught that the gods are a mysterious pantheon. Even accounts which portray the gods communicating through the Witherlands’ biting winds and snows make sure to emphasize the gods’ ethereality and lack of physical form. When others, often scattered cultists or nonbelievers, claim to have seen a Frozen God in the flesh, they attribute to it monstrous qualities: tentacles, claws, curled horns growing out of a misshapen skull, a glowing, malicious magical aura, and so forth. Vagrohls themselves have access to certain texts in their sectors which attribute to the Frozen Gods names or appearances, but despite the hearsay, the widespread teaching and belief in their intangibility remains.

### Magic

One of the most prominent rumors about the Frozen Gods is the existence of cryomancy (i.e. the ability to magically manipulate ice or, otherwise, to use ice to divine supernatural insights) amongst the vagrohls. Vagrohls are often believed to learn cryomancy in sectors, alongside their religious curriculum. Many vagrohls have themselves stated that they are able to speak directly to the Frozen Gods and hear the gods’ responses in numerous whispers conveyed by the wind or the snow.

Whether or not this is true is a subject of much conjecture. To be sure, there are esoteric branches of the religion which do focus on magical or mystical elements, but according to official reports by archvagrohls, these are not the requisite or standard subjects that most sectors teach. Cryomancy *may* exist among the vagrohls and among subsects of the devout, but whether or not vagrohls can actually perform cryomancy (or whether they can actually hear the gods speak to them) is uncertain; belief in it is up to the individual. However, because the details of the education vagrohls receive are not typically shared with the public, the rumor remains prominent.

## Core Beliefs

### Origin

The Frozen Gods are ancient beings. Whether the landmass of Marin or the continent itself existed before the Frozen Gods is uncertain, even for scholars, but regardless of the origin of the planet, one thing is unquestioned amongst the devout: the Frozen Gods are the reason that winter exists and the reason why the Witherlands has the longest winter of any kingdom in Marin. They have been around for much longer than humanity has been here, lying dormant for eons, waiting for the opportunity to purify the world in their frozen image.

The Frozen Gods made their home in the Witherlands, which according to the Order’s origin tale, was once warmer than it is now. Only the very top of the kingdom was then as cold as the entirety of the Witherlands is today. Once humanity began to populate the area, the Frozen Gods revealed their existence to the people, and those who listened and believed in them became the very first vagrohls.

These vagrohls had true powers of cryomancy bestowed upon them, and with the blessing of the Frozen Gods, they began to use their magic to “purify” and preserve the lands: to drive the entirety of the Witherlands colder and further into deep, vestal winter. Though the vagrohls had wanted to continue freezing the land, going further south down the continent, the Frozen Gods stopped them. The gods stated that the other peoples of the world were not yet ready for their blessing. They proclaimed that the vagrohls must wait for the arrival of the mythical Chosen One to purify the rest of the world, thus prophesying the conditions needed for the sacred bliss and quietude understood by believers as the Great Freezing.

### Afterlife

The existence of an afterlife is a subject of much debate amongst vagrohls and scholars of the Frozen Gods. Though many believe that life in the physical world is the only life available to most beings, others cite the implied existence of resurrection as a kind of an afterlife. This is primarily influenced by the ultimate prophecy of the Frozen Gods, known as the Great Freezing. Generally, vagrohls and the devout are taught that life ends at death and that there is no true, immediate afterlife or the concept of an eternal soul. However, the bodies of true believers are said to be resurrected when the Great Freezing comes. This is a period during which the foretold Ice Age will arrive and submerge even the deep south in frigid winter, preserving the lands for the Frozen Gods and for their followers to live in for as long as they wish to without suffering the aches and ailments of the flesh. This plane of existence is depicted as a form of paradise and redemption for the devout, though those who commit grievous sins may be resurrected, too, in order to serve proper punishment at the hands of the Frozen Gods. The extent of these punishments is also debated, though the consensus is that the resurrected bodies of these sinners are destroyed for good after their punishment has been served.

### Virtues

Followers of the Frozen Gods are taught virtues from an early age. Though most believers don’t have direct access to a vagrohl’s tutelage, followers are still instilled with the same virtues as are taught in the sectors. Asceticism, in particular, is highly regarded in the faith as a form of absolute moral purity. Though complete bodily deprivation is not encouraged, the devout are taught moderation in all things, and short periods of fasting are looked upon well, as they symbolize the shirking of physical comforts in favor of spiritual purity and understanding.

Purity is encouraged in all senses of the word. Vagrohls take vows of chastity, and though the layperson is not expected to remain chaste forever, abstaining from carnal pleasures until spiritually ordained into marriage is a great virtue. Along with that, some of the virtues most encouraged by the Frozen Gods are patience, calmness, and diligence, all of which are praised in the earliest texts of the Order of the Frozen Gods and exemplified in the gods’ original disciples: the religion’s first vagrohls. Above all, the greatest virtue is a true belief in the sanctity and divinity of the Frozen Gods. Authentic devotion is considered most important.

### Sins

Just as the Frozen Gods have particular virtues for their followers, the faith also maintains some things as sins which lead to divine disfavor and, eventually, retribution. Traits which are regarded as “impure” are those most likely to be considered sins. Much as asceticism is a virtue, its counterparts, in the forms of gluttony and unbridled lust, are considered sins for the Frozen Gods. Participating in unchaste or undisciplined acts is impure, just as giving into animalistic desires or emotions, such as wrath. For that reason, acts which stem from those undisciplined emotions, like murder, rape, premarital sex, etc. are sinful to the Frozen Gods and their devotees and will most certainly result in punishment from the gods.

Additionally, mutilation of the body, including mutilation of the dead (particularly pyrolysis and cremation), is considered a grievous sin, as it prevents preservation and makes it more difficult for the body to be resurrected when the Great Freezing ultimately arrives.

## Religious Customs

### Prayer

Prayer abounds in the religion of the Frozen Gods. There are two daily prayers which are obligatory for believers, but prayers also occur during every major holiday and play a significant role in the daily life of the devout. All known prayers are recited in Oldtongue, an ancient and almost archaic language that, when uttered, sounds like nothing more than faint mutterings and whispers of ghosts. When pleading with the gods on a personal level, Northtongue may also be spoken.

Followers of the Frozen Gods awaken when the first silver rays peer through the ominous and foreboding clouds that overlook the Witherlands. It is essential for them to bask in all light offered to them in the hours of dawn so they can pay proper homage to their faceless deities. Ritualistically, the followers will kneel wherever they may be in the morning, so long as the sun is shining on them. There are more traditional gatherings such as in the sectors, town halls and sacred areas such as the Lake of Longevity (where it’s believed the Frozen Gods’ power of preservation and purity are strongest and most beneficial to the devout), but generally, as long as the sun shines on them and they are kneeling, they are performing their religious duty. As the rays seep into their pores, the worshippers close their eyes and utter the specific prayer instilled into them from their youth: *Shezdir*, which translates to "shining". The prayer gives thanks to the Frozen Gods for allowing and controlling the wild and untamed sun’s rays to light their paths across their lives and see clearly with the eyes the Gods have allowed them. It roughly translates to:

"Thank you, oh mighty Frozen Ones, for the illumination to see the snow’s beauty as the crystals dance in the daylight. Thank ye, oh wondrous protectors, for shielding the flames’ wrathful licks from disturbing our sacred land as we live and toll and sow in the realm of winter you have afforded us to one day reach the paradise beyond."

When the sun begins to set and the ominous shadows cast their black blankets over the kingdom, the followers will emerge for the second and more demanding ritual of the daily customs. They will kneel into the snow, or the cold, hard ground, and stay there until they can feel the chill in their bones. The followers close their eyes and breathe the cold air into their lungs and exhale out their essence into the universe for the Frozen Gods to acknowledge them and their fervor. Once in their element, the followers will hear the whispers of the Frozen Gods within the snow and communicate with them by echoing what they hear. Eventually, they will recite the prayer of *Zventiltah,* which means "nightfall" in Oldtongue. Like all known prayers, it is performed in Oldtongue and is muttered and whispered in much the same way the follower is hearing the Frozen Gods in the snow. The prayer roughly translates to:

"Now downcast the shadows that bind us. It is within the dark we seek and breathe and live. It is through the untethered majesty of your presence our lives are preserved through the sanctity of your crystals that surround us. The protective shroud of night you have gifted us allows for another day to see the silver rays appear. Blessed be your winter."

### Pilgrimage

There are many pilgrimage sites, used as lodestars for the holy, throughout the Witherlands. Short pilgrimages, in which believers go to a local sacred place or ritual ground, are common, but longer pilgrimages are encouraged by the Order as acts of devotion to the gods. The two most common places of pilgrimage are the Lake of Longevity and the Valiant; throngs of worshippers make lengthy journeys to these sites each year.

The Lake of Longevity is a natural water basin located in the Iron Plaines, at the eastern part of the Witherlands. People use the river known as the Gritline to navigate their travels across the kingdom, as it’s a straight line to and from the region of Great Walk and it allows people to get their bearings. The Gritline eventually strays off east into a tributary, reaching as far as the plentiful pine forests of the Iron Plaines. The tributary eventually stops at a lake in the middle of the forest; the lake is known as the Lake of Longevity. Tales say that this pool of water is what gave the original vagrohls strength to continue their mission of purifying the Witherlands with their touch of winter. The Frozen Gods’ original chosen vagrohls travelled further and further south, and with each passing day their ability to purify the land and turn the realm into ice became more of a struggle and their energy was increasingly sapped. That is, until they found the Lake of Longevity. The vagrohls took refuge by drinking and then bathing in the lake, which as the tales state, restored their powers and vitality. This was one of the primary reasons the vagrohls were able to go right down to the southern border. The Lake of Longevity has since been used to heal those in critical conditions, which seemingly brought an end to their ailments. It is also used as a site of great reflection and worship. If one is to bathe in the Lake of Longevity and recite the prayers of both the shining and nightfall, it is believed one will be bolstered by the Frozen Gods and be able to see visions more clearly.

The Valiant is a pyramid-like structure located in the Ashfields, at the Ether Tracts on the northernmost peninsula of the entire kingdom. The Valiant is the tallest and largest structure in the Witherlands and is often used as a beacon to guide sailors and vessels closer to the mainland and its nearby ports. The fires that burn during night can be seen from leagues away and appear as reddish-orange rondeurs that contrast with the clouds and stars of nightfall. Inside the gargantuan construction, religious ceremonies and holidays are held. When gathered en masse, the interior of the Valiant can house 30,000 people inside its Chamber of Enlightenment. Upon a dais that is forty feet high, the most esteemed vagrohls in the Order of the Frozen Gods will boom out sermons that project across the entire hall. The Valiant is a central point for servants, commonfolk, nobles and even royalty to be surrounded by those most powerful within the mysterious order. The Valiant has seemingly endless amounts of rooms that can house anyone from any walk of life or birth. Those that arrive at the Valiant can seek spiritual, emotional and moral guidance whilst also being attended medically and having three square meals a day. Wanderers and people who enjoy the hospitality of the Valiant cannot, however, receive formal training by the governing bodies at the Valiant to become initialised within the order and start their journey to become a vagrohl; for that, they must seek out any of the sectors to prove their devotion. The Valiant is home to many ancient scripts and texts that date back to those who first walked the Witherlands. The libraries are long and twining, often leading from one section to the next without the individual even realising where they are. The books and tomes are vast and each section and genre offers more reading than one could ever do in a lifetime. The courtyards outside stretch for miles upon miles, eventually being closed off by huge curtainwalls. People who have visited and been inside the walls of the Valiant have said that is where they feel most connected to the Frozen Gods, and the gods are almost materialised when they close their eyes.

### Coming of Age

Coming of age in the faith of the Frozen Gods occurs on the eve of the believer’s sixteenth birthday. When the time comes for a child to come of age and assume their role in the Frozen Order, there are several things that must take place. Firstly, the child is tutored in survival skills, such as learning to hunt, forage and adapt to their environment. This process can take up to several months of grueling preparation.

After such tutoring is complete, the child must go on an excursion to the coldest wildernesses of the Witherlands. Many venture near the tundras of the north, where the cold breezes flow like water and the auroras illuminate dark nights. Otherwise, they may walk to the depths of vast pine forests or near glimmering frozen pools. The area to which they venture must be absolutely secluded. There, the child must spend one day and one night on their own in order to be closest to the source of purity of the Frozen Gods and witness the gods' presence enter their bones, welcoming them into the Order. After this excursion is complete, the child must make their arduous trip back home. Upon their return, a vagrohl completes their coming of age ceremony by submerging them in a pool or bath of freezing water whilst chanting ancient prayers from the holy books of the Frozen Gods. This confirms the child’s belief and placement in the Order as well as cleanses and purifies their body, officially bringing them into adulthood. This ceremony may be followed by a celebration of the believer’s journey and acceptance into the faith, though this is dependent upon their relatives and is not required to occur.

### Marriage

In the faith of the Frozen Gods, marriage is an eternal, sacred bond between man and woman. The unison is a holy affair, always officiated by a vagrohl sent by one of the sectors and witnessed by onlookers and believers alike. In the ceremony, before the exchanging of vows and the bond of matrimony can begin, man and woman must first stand before the steps of a marriage altar, where a raised basin of ice cold water lies in wait between them. The vagrohl whispers an individual prayer for man and woman, before slicing horizontally across their palms to draw blood. Then, the vagrohl joins their hands, blood meeting blood, and presses them together in the basin. Once their sacrifice is made together and the basin is filled with their blood, the vagrohl wraps their hands together and they finally ascend the altar to speak their vows in front of gods and men, and be joined as husband and wife.

### Burial

Customarily, those that perish under the frozen faith are preserved in tombs of ice or mounds of frozen earth, resulting in natural mummification of the corpse. This is a sacred act and pivotal to the passage of their body into the Great Freezing, a time when they will remain in pure, blissful stasis. Individuals are often buried with valued possessions and dressed in their most expensive clothes, so as to preserve them for the Great Freezing. Funerals typically occur a day or two after the body is discovered; they are stolid affairs, involving copious prayer, with mourners typically dressed in white. A wake may be held if necessary, though this is more commonly done for those who die suddenly, particularly children.

If the tradition of mummification is not properly upheld, and the body and Frozen Gods are not properly honored, then the gods are said to show their wrath for upsetting the established plan for mortality. The Frozen Gods will supposedly bring about disasters to punish the sinners and defiers of the Great Freezing, such as earthquakes, blizzards, avalanches and floods to purge the corruption. The burning and cremation of bodies is deemed as the greatest act of desecration imaginable within the faith. The pyrolysis and rendering of the form to nothing but ashes means their bodies have been extinguished and can never be resurrected.

## Hierarchy of the Order

### Archvagrohl

Archvagrohls are the religious leaders of each sector. There is only one archvagrohl per sector, and they make all of the ultimate decisions when it comes to the sector's inhabitants and welfare. Archvagrohls are appointed for life or until they are no longer mentally capable of serving. Only eldervagrohls may be nominated to become the archvagrohl for their particular sector. Typically the previous archvagrohl nominates their successor, but if that is not possible, a council of eldervagrohls vote on the next possible sector head. Archvagrohls have very important religious duties beyond their obligations to the sector. They have access to the most intimate level of their own sector and may, with permission, obtain access at any of the other of the 100+ sectors. Many spend much of their time, aside from administrative work, researching the Frozen Gods.

### Eldervagrohl

Eldervagrohls are the elite inner circle of the Order of the Frozen Gods’ religious hierarchy. Becoming an eldervagrohl requires many years of experience and nomination by another elder in order to qualify. The elders have a section of the sector specifically designated for them so that they may learn and research more about the gods. However, many eldervagrohls continue to act as advisors or missionaries, though they are often assigned to more prestigious or important tasks than their junior counterparts.

### Vagrohl

Vagrohls are the official, ordained clergy of the Frozen Gods. Vagrohls may leave the sector in which they were trained and branch out into the wider world. The vagrohls are the quintessential example of the religious hierarchy, and they are what many of the gods' devotees know best. Vagrohls are proselytizers and advisors; though the Frozen Gods are primarily a culturally Withic religion, vagrohls are encouraged to spread the word of the Frozen Gods and how to live life according to their traditions. Vagrohls may choose to stay in the sector and study, or they may be assigned to a different location, such as at a noble House, to better serve the Frozen Gods. After many years of experience and the recommendation of their peers, distinguished vagrohls may hope to join the inner circle of eldervagrohls.

### Acolyte

Acolytes are the second-lowest ranking members of the Order. They have proven themselves learned enough to complete the trials of novicehood, but they do not have sufficient experience to become fully-fledged vagrohls. Having undergone physically demanding tasks as novices, acolytes may begin to more wholly devote themselves to religious study. Many spend most of their time poring over sacred texts and learning about the origin and meaning of belief in the Frozen Gods. This period may take years or even decades. Some acolytes remain as such forever and never advance further in the Order. In order to become accepted as vagrohls, acolytes must undergo an arduous graduation, akin to the traditional coming of age ceremony, which tests both their religious knowledge and their devotion to the Frozen Gods. This trial is specifically tailored to each individual recruit and may involve missionary work, tests of learning and mental aptitude, long mountainous journeys searching for specific ingredients or artifacts, and so on and so forth. After this trial, if the acolyte proves worthy (as decided by a council of eldervagrohls, with the sector's archvagrohl acting as the final decision-maker, if necessary), they may officially become a vagrohl. If not, they remain an acolyte until they are proved worthy by another trial.

### Novice

Novices are new recruits to the Order of the Frozen Gods. Initially, they are treated as little more than servants who must perform the most menial, physically demanding tasks. Their routine is issued to them by the acolytes above them, and they must adhere to it at all costs, lest they be excommunicated from the order. Novices tend to wake earlier and sleep later than everyone else, for their tasks are often only completed by the time the entire sector rests. Novices also act as security for the sectors and are the physical barriers between invaders and the sacred artifacts, scriptures and texts that belong to the Order. Many novices find their tasks too difficult to continue their recruitment, so the least committed often leave their sector before advancing to acolytes. This is one of the reasons why the grueling realities of novicehood are better known than the true extent of the duties of higher-ranking members of the Order.

## Places of Worship

### Sectors

Sectors are the primary religious institutions for the clergy of the Frozen Gods. Sectors are typically located at high altitudes, especially on mountains, and the journey to reach any particular sector can be perilous. There are some 100 sectors spread throughout the Witherlands. While some of the smaller sectors are simply composed of one isolated building, the largest sectors are a complex compound of buildings in which thousands of people may live and study. The average sector is a stone building, commonly divided into sections, which is built to withstand the extreme cold and the high altitude present in its environment. Within the sectors, there are places devoted entirely to religious study, other areas to particular rites and worship, and others still for accommodations for the Order members who reside there. There are sections which only ordained vagrohls can access, and hidden deeper within each complex is a part of the building which is restricted only to the most elite eldervagrohls.

#### Sector Shardmoor

This is the largest and most well-known of the sectors. It is an imposing, white-walled enclave of buildings located on a mountain near the Witherlands' capital of Grand Stead. Sector Shardmoor has been known to educate some of the kingdom’s highest-ranking vagrohls, particularly those who serve the ruling family of House Carter. Sector Shardmoor houses some 10,000 individuals and is a place of great reverence for the faithful, often attracting many worshippers who come to seek the advice of the vagrohls who live there.

#### Sector Gallahigh

Though Sector Gallahigh is not as well-known or prestigious as Sector Shardmoor, it is prized by believers for its vast trove of knowledge. Sector Gallahigh is composed of a relatively squat series of buildings halfway up a small mountain in Binding Point, but it boasts the largest library of any of the sectors. Many of the sector's residents work at the upkeep of the library itself, which is filled with thousands of tomes written on parchment, whaleskin, or carved into slabs of rock that provide extensive history and study of the Frozen Order and its intricacies. There is additionally a deep, inner section of the Gallahigh Library which is kept closely guarded and shut to all but verified eldervagrohls. It is said to contain many secrets about the inner workings of the Frozen Gods.

#### Sector Vanadon

Rumored to exist somewhere in the tremendous murky depths of the Witherlands, this sector is often alluded to in superstitious theories about the otherworldly nature of the Frozen Order. Though it is unknown whether this sector actually exists and, if it does, where it is located, theorists describe it as a place where vagrohls go to learn not just cryomancy but other forms of archaic magic, derived from ancient spell books granted to them by the Frozen Gods. Though some depict it as a place of heavenly learning and even as the source of religious salvation, others describe it as a mysterious den of iniquity, hidden from the rest of the world because its contents and occupants are much too sinister to be revealed.

### Ritual Grounds

Ritual grounds are located throughout the Witherlands. Other than the sectors, to which the devout do make pilgrimage, there are no official worship buildings in the kingdom. Worship is typically relegated to the home and to whatever grounds the worshipper deems sacred to them. Though many people in the Witherlands frown upon magic, many of these so-called holy sites, or ritual grounds, are places which have rooted, innate arcane energy, such as the dark inner forest or ancient runestone circles. Likewise, places which symbolize the power and beauty of the Frozen Gods in some way, such as deposits of sparkling gemstones hidden deep in caves or crystal-shaped formations (whether natural or man-made), are often used as places of worship in which to perform special rites or religious rituals. Pools of frozen water especially are given special significance, and pilgrimage sites which double as ritual grounds do exist throughout the Witherlands. Additionally, there are many altars of the Frozen Gods forged into the landscape: carvings etched deep in the bark of trees, symbols written in unyielding snow, warped divine faces drawn in rock and earth. For a devout believer of the Frozen Gods, signs of their existence are everywhere. However, in everyday life, religious ritual, prayer, and worship primarily are based in the home.