SETTING THE GAME TABLE - The Old Ways

 

The Path of the Green

In Firefly Holler, faith in the Old Ways runs as deep as the roots of the mountains.  In the broadest sense the Old Ways recognize the eternal struggle between the Green and the Black, between light and life and hope, and the the yawning, despairing, devouring darkness.  One cannot exist without the other, and yet the folk of Firefly Holler also know that the Old Ways are the ways of the righteous, and not the ways of the wicked.

Lessons of the Old Ways are often transmitted through the songs of the deeds of the mighty Cu Chulainn, and he is the great exemplar of the people's faith.  The Old Ways say that Cu Chulainn strode the earth an age ago or more, in a land far away.  A land where the ancestors of the folk of Firefly Holler had once travelled from, in a time lost to memory.

Cu Chulainn was the implacable foe of the Black and the Chosen of the Green.  Wherever evil manifested in his domain, he met it with action and courage.  Cu Chulainn advocated the cause of men before the courts of the fey and was counted as friend in the deep halls of the dwarves.  His name is known to and respected by all good folk.  Many great deeds of heroism did he accomplish, and it is said that though he be mortal, yet still his line endures.

Even today, the folk of the Holler sing his songs and tell his tales, knowing that the blood of the Hound of the Splinters runs through their veins, as well, and when the Black rises, the Old Ways promise that the Green will answer.

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In game terms, the faith of the Old Ways is expressed through the seven Divine Domains found beginning on page 58 of the PHB, which are:

Guardian

Knowledge

Life

Light

Nature

Tempest

Trickery

These are the tools that the faithful array against the Black in all its forms.  As noted elsewhere, the domain of War is recognized instead as the Guardian domain in this world.  The Black and its adherents wield their own powers, through traditions and practices too foul for good folk to contemplate.

Players are free to explore the contours and intricacies of the Old Ways in any way they see fit that keeps to the spirit of the campaign, whether it be through the lore of Cu Chulainn and his deeds, the various divine domains, or any other aspect of the Green that wards the good folk of the Splinters against the darkness.