Editing Journey of the Strange (section)

==Native gods and the Church of the Shepherd==
The islands and some of the coastal areas are littered with huge carvings of demonic heads (think Olmec etc, but wood). Curiously, these heads are wooden yet are apparently ancient, the wood remaining sleek with natural oils as if only a year old and are mostly uncovered with mosses or lichens.

Over the last two years, a good half of the temple compound has been given over to native, or half-native carvers. These men (there are two women among them) have some of the status of a shaman in what is left of the native community and are said to trap spirits into these carvings. They have been carving effigies of saints, and a few more eastern gargoyles, and at least two ships have been laden with these devices and sent back across the sea, to what purpose only the priests know.

Meanwhile, some priests have taken to carrying symbols which stem from the native culture, whether of local demons and spirits or of local animals.