Froyalanish Ancient Ways
The Froyalanish Ancient Ways is the traditional religion of the Froyalaners. It is considered a fusion of some mythology from the Church of Elwynn and the Vanatru of Stormark.
The Ancient Ways were, in the canon of the Vanic government, practised uninterrupted since time immemorial in parts of Elwynn. The Ancient Ways made their entry into the rest of Elwynn with the arrival of Harald of Ettlingar Freyu in Elwynn and established their first non-Vattnalandish temple, the Vanic Temple in Araxion which became known as the White Orchid Temple, in the city of Araxion Tower after Harald of Ettlingar Freyu had become Count of Araxion, and quite soon thereafter Araxion housed several Vanic temples.
The Vanic faith was forced upon Wintergleam when Harald of Ettlingar Freyu became Count of Wintergleam and the temples known as the Sanctum of Dedication and Shrine of the Sea were established in those days of yore. The former in the city of Dragonskeep, the latter in the city of Avaldsnes. With Wintergleam's return to Goldshire and the mass exodus of Froyalanish migrants, regional folk religion and Cedrism have regained popularity among the populace.
After the ascension of Harald of Ettlingar Freyu to the dukedom of Elwynn, the Froyalanish Ancient Ways quickly expanded into all parts of Elwynn, founding major temples in cities such as Ardashirshahr, Caligae, Eliria, Islus, Tala and Wolfraven. During the Ducal Reign of Harald of Froyalan (1533-1542) one of the most pivotal events in the history of the Vanic Faith in Elwynn took place: the inclusion of the corporeal Goddess Elwynn in the worship of the Froyalanish and Wintergleamish Vanafolk.
When Thorstein Noah inherited the Elwynnese throne upon the abdication of his, now late, half-brother Prince Jonathan of Elwynn, with his father Storjarl Hallbjörn Haraldsson serving as Steward of Elwynn during Thorstein Noah's minority, the Froyalanish Ancient Ways got another boost with the Concordat of Avaldsnes and the introduction of the Hierogamy (the marriage of King Noah to the corporeal Lady Elwynn, see Konungstekja). The Concordat of Avaldsnes enforced preferential relations existing between the Froyalanish Ancient Ways and the Elwynnese Union. The Hierogamy was said by the Vanic government to have done much to strengthen the relationship between the Lady Elwynn and the Elwynnese State and in consequence thereof the bonds between the Vanic clergy and the Elwynnese Government, with the Froyalanish Ancient Ways becoming the established faith of Elwynn.
In 1651, after the Auspicious Occasion, the temples and monasteries and all orders associated with the Froyalanish Ancient Ways were dissolved and suppressed. After 1651, the religion has been suppressed by Elwynnese and Shirerithian authorities, with public profession of the religion becoming an indictable offence.
An Autokratorial Decree of the Imperial State of Constancia bearing date 3.VII.1685, declared, among other things, that the practice of Froyalanish Ancient Ways is suppressed forever within the Imperial State of Constancia, and adherents and practitioners thereof are subject to immediate arrest; that the Church of the Froyalanish Ancient Ways is suppressed and all its property is forfeit to the Imperial State of Constancia, that subjects and nationals of the High Realm of Stormark are forbidden to depart the territory of the Imperial State of Constancia, declared Kul of the Imperial State under the patronage and protection of the Autokrator.
