Editing Barrowmaze (section)

==The Gods==

The Ancient Ones, called the Anganach by the folk of the region, represent the elder gods . Whether they preexisted in the forests, swamps, and old streams of the land, or whether they were brought with the first humans, few can say . The humans who founded Ironguard Motte, Helix, and Bogtown (called the Second Settlement by local sages) found protection in the worship of Silvanus (Green Man), Herne the Hunter, Cromm Cruach, Impurax, and to a lesser extent, Nergal . Through respect and reverence for the wilderness and its deities, the human settlers learned to survive and established their villages . With the migration of the new gods from the civilized kingdoms to the east, the Anganach are in decline.

The New Gods, called the Futurus, include the faiths of St . Ygg and Arcantryl, and the more clandestine cults devoted to Orcus and Set . Slowly their priests have made their way to the duchy . The clerics of St . Ygg have been aggressive in their attempts to convert the people from the “primitive” faiths of Silvanus and Herne . They established a stone temple at Ironguard Motte, converted the Ironguard family, and began to spread their influence from the major trade and political center of the district . Although the cults of Orcus and Set are not openly worshipped their influence has started to grow in the dark corners of the region.

Despite its isolation from the outside world, the people of the duchy (particularly those in Ironguard Motte) have heard tales of foreign religions including Kor the Sun God, Athena the Goddess of Military Strategy, Thor the God of Thunder and Lightning, and others.