The Roots of Gaii’nus
The animistic, earth-centered religion practiced by The Coilledaoine, hunter-gatherer tribes inhabiting the deep forests of Koterii. While the faith accepts the existence of all five DemTeran deities, it venerates Gaii’nus, goddess of life and fertility, as the wellspring of soil, seed, and sinew; the other gods are respected as distant cosmic forces rather than daily guardians. Believers interpret every sprouting fern, migrating stag, or rotting cedar as a line in Gaii’nus’s living scripture, and communal rites revolve around seasonal migrations, foraging cycles, and the ritual “returning” of bones and ash to the loam.
Spiritual authority rests with the draoi (sing. draoi), shaman-priests appointed one per tribe to steward sacred groves, chant the Verdant Litanies, and mediate between spirit and sapling. Every generation these numerous draoi elect an ard-Draoi who oversees roughly one-quarter of Koterii’s woodland expanse and serves as chief advisor to The Coilledaoine Rí (high king). The ard-draoi’s council can overturn tribal taboos, declare blood-oath hunts, and consecrate new settlements, ensuring that temporal power in Koterii remains deeply entwined with the ever-rooting, ever-withering mysteries of Gaii’nus.
Spiritual authority rests with the draoi (sing. draoi), shaman-priests appointed one per tribe to steward sacred groves, chant the Verdant Litanies, and mediate between spirit and sapling. Every generation these numerous draoi elect an ard-Draoi who oversees roughly one-quarter of Koterii’s woodland expanse and serves as chief advisor to The Coilledaoine Rí (high king). The ard-draoi’s council can overturn tribal taboos, declare blood-oath hunts, and consecrate new settlements, ensuring that temporal power in Koterii remains deeply entwined with the ever-rooting, ever-withering mysteries of Gaii’nus.
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