Religion

Gods, Demi-gods and Demons

There are two major religions within Vannin, with one split into two forms of worship. There is the newly arrived monotheistic sun worshipping religion of Sol Invictus with its many saints and the Old Faith, split in two; most worship the pantheon of gods but others worship the demons and devils from beyond (the Void, the Abyss, the Gap between the worlds etc.). The Old Faith has been around for millenia but the worship of Sol Invictus has only recently been introduced to Doggerland.

Here is a list of the major deities within each religion...

Sol Invictus
Worship of the sun as a supreme being. There are many saints associated with this religion who have powers within their own rights but they all swear obedience to the great sun god.

The Old Faith
The pantheon is revered as a whole, but individual clerics will favour an individual god or Nature itself as an entity (in the case of druids). The main deities are...

Woden - king of the gods, lord of the wind, wisdom, leader of the Wild Hunt and those killed in battle
Thunor - god of thunder (son of Woden)
Frig - goddess of fertility (in people) (grand daughter of Woden)
Tir - god of law and heroic glory
Hermod - god of swiftness
Balder - the bleeding god, god of healers
Heimdall - guardian of the entrance to Valhol
Hel - goddess of the underworld (where those not slain in battle go)

Niord - god of the sea, wind, waves and fishing
Freya - chooser of the slain (daughter of Niord)
Frey - god of travel (son of Niord)

Wayland - the smith of the gods (fashions their weapons and armour)
Valkyries - serve Woden and Freya to bring the dead to Valhol

Cernunnos (The Green Man) - god of nature (the manifestation of Nature personified)

The Old Faith (Cthonic religion)
This is the dark side of the Old Faith pantheon. There are great deities worshipped in this pantheon, but in this region of the world, Cromm Cruach, the maggot or worm god is the prime mover. He is assisted by legions of demons, devils and monsters from between the stars. Most important to this campaign is Zuggtmoy - demoness of fungi, oozes and moulds.

Other gods that may appear to be worshipped in Doggerland
The Divine Elrich of Bergen - worshipped by the people of  Bergen
Set - God of death and the afterlife - an eastern deity from outside Doggerland
Mitra - an eastern deity from outside Doggerland
Ishtar - an eastern deity from outside Doggerland
Bel - God of thieves - an eastern deity from outside Doggerland

Days and Months

Moon phase graphic amended and used without permission

There are seven days in a Doggerland week. The days, named after the Old Faith gods, are as follows…

1.       Godsday          -    The day of rest

2.       Sunday            -    The day to reflect on the power of the Sun (man’s day)

3.       Moonday         -    The day to think on the seasons of the year (woman’s day)

4.       Tirsday            -    Mid-week - day to celebrate the balance of law under the god Tir

5.       Wodensday     -     The day to celebrate Woden, chief of the gods

6.       Thunorsday    -     The day to celebrate the god Thunor

7.       Freyasday       -     The day to celebrate the the goddess Freya

There are four weeks in each month. Each moon cycle lasts exactly 28 days from New Moon to New Moon. There are thirteen months celebrated in the Doggerland year of 364 days. Each season lasts for three months except for winter which is longer at four months – this is just a vagary within the calendar as the actual equinoxes and solstices fall exactly a quarter of a year apart. Different things are celebrated or looked out for in each month, thus the names of the moons/months are based upon those events.

1	Spring	Fish Moon	return of fish to their spawning grounds	Principus
2	Spring	Planting Moon	when to start planting the crops	Duober
3	Spring	Flower Moon	when flowers/crops start to show in abundance	Tresober
4	Summer	Rose Moon	first moon of summer	Quattrober
5	Summer	Red Moon	second moon of summer	Quinquember
6	Summer	Thunder Moon	beginning of the thunderstorm season	Hextember
7	Autumn	Harvest Moon	beginning of harvest	September
8	Autumn	Hunter's/Blood Moon	when animals are culled to provide meat for winter	October
9	Autumn	Frosty Moon	first frosts start to appear	November
10	Winter	Cold Moon	when the nights are longest and winter tightens its grip	December
11	Winter	Wolf Moon	when the wolf packs howl hungrily outside the villages	Undecimber
12	Winter	Snow/Hunger Moon	when the heaviest snows fall	Duodecimber
13	Winter	Crow Moon	cawing of crows signals the end of winter	Terminus