The Way of Whispers

[Drusus 198]

 The Way of Whispers

 

-credit: Adam Wesierski

 

Within a darkened corner of a grove, a masked and robed priestess trails her scarred fingers over the dark leather cover of a tome recently finished, one decorated with the bones of small beasts of the wilds interwoven with small roots. Life and death working together to keep the tome together. The masked priestess gently rests the book upon its shrine, offering a small and silent bow of the head before she takes her leave.

 

“Death is simply part of the cycle, one that many shy away from…but not us. With death, life shall be born anew from the ashes and thus the cycle continues.”

 

The Way of Whispers is a creed of the Wild Faith. One whose formation wasn’t forged by great adventure or the desire to find inner balance. Instead it is one that came to be with the understanding and acceptance of death and the ever turning of the wheel which is the cycle. 

We whispered few who walk this path, seek not great glory through epic battle nor do we try to become well known speakers of wisdom. Instead we work towards the goals of the more silent side of the cycle, one of death and the nursing of new life from those ashes. Though this isn’t to say that we seek to slay those before us to enact such a goal but nor does it mean we will quietly sit and wait.

The writer of this Way, the Volcano Druid Igne’ihnsil, had for a long time found herself at odds with the other Creeds and Ways that the Oracles before her penned.

She could understand and accept each of them, seeing why someone would choose to walk those paths. Yet. They were not for her. Each she had found all were missing something.Though she sought out those who walked their own paths and spoke with them, each time she felt as if some of her questions were unanswered.

 

Thus she retreated to the places she found comfort and found herself meditating upon those questions she often had. The ideals and beliefs that she had. After some time of quiet contemplation an idea started to flourish, then soon enough, ink met paper and at anypoint that the Volcano had, she would be nestled within a dark corner. Writing.

 

Core Values

 

“The death of the lamb, allows the wolf to feed. The death of the wolf feeds the grass and in turn the lamb. Thus the cycle continues.”

 

-=Remembering the dead=- 

Be they druid or anyone else who worked to protect the balance, remember them. Their story, their accomplishments and how they met their end.

 

-=Be the hand of death when needed=-

Starting a forest fire when needed, or granting a swift and merciful end to one suffering. Do what is needed for the greater good of the balance and not for personal gain or satisfaction.

 

-=Be the shepherd of new life=-

Ensure life is ready to be born anew once death has come and aid those in mourning With our aid, life can rise up from the ashes of death and can be allowed to flourish so that the cycle may continue.

 

-=Be a Keeper of Secrets=-

There are some who do not wish to be remembered and others who might not truly understand the bitter truths of the world. Keep these secrets close to yourself and share only with those trusted.

 

-=Enjoy the quiet moments=-

Even the most mighty beast of the wilds requires time to recuperate and we are no different. Our path is grim and macabre, it is wise to take time to remember why we chose it and why it is important.

 

Traditions

-credit: Diana Novich

 

-=Masks=-

The use of masks play a major role within the Way of Whispers. They are used by the oathed members of the Creed themselves but are also used as part of their memorial rites for the dead.

 

The masks that are used by the members of the oathed members of the Creed are crafted by that person themselves, they are encouraged to make it a personal item. It can reflect who they are when it comes to their duties or it can be something else. The use of masks is done in this manner as there is no true traditional ilmyumier for the Creed to show their membership but also it allows the oathed member to enact their duties with a certain level of anonymity.

 

Materials are fully open when it comes to the personal masks though it is more common for them to be natural things such as wood or bone while decorated with other things such as feathers.

 

The other use of masks is for the memorial rites for the dead. With these masks they are made to fully reflect certain aspects of the fallen person, perhaps in the image of an animal they felt a kinship with. For example a fallen priest of Amaethon would have a mask made in the image of a stag while also having other traits for the deceased.

These masks, unlike the ones for oathed members, are all made from wood. This is to allow them to rot away at their resting place to signify the soul’s journey to the afterlife.

 

-=Book of the Dead=-

Another item which is made and held by members of the Creed is a book of the dead. This book acts as a way to help remember the fallen and it is expected that each member of the creed looks after and keeps their own tome updated whenever possible.

Each passage of the book will have the name of the person, the date of death, how they died and any notable deeds that they had achieved in life.

The appearance and materials that the book is made from is fully up to its keeper for as long as it serves its purpose it truly doesn’t matter.

 

-=Singing Trees=-

Akin to the book of the dead. The use of singing trees within the Creed serve a similar purpose of allowing a druidic member to add memories to the tree in order to ensure that their fallen comrades are not forgotten. Each memory stored within the tree being one of a fallen ally, to ensure that they are not forgotten.

 

Spoiler

A special thank you to those who helped me with writing this, be it ideas or just reading it over.

Dragonoftaters
Neropolitan
Floralhedgehog

[jqsmlne 460]

On an evening stroll, the 'ame made her way to the sacred faith pit, when she stumbled upon a new shrine she had not seen before. By curiosity of the unknown, Liriana picked up the tome very gently with her hands covered of the mother's mark. 

 

Although Liriana practiced the ways of the springmother, the fact that the third part of the natural cycle was often times forgotten, and shamefully so, had to be corrected. 

 

Without death, there is no life.

 

 

[Gnomeh 470]

[!] As the small gnomish land wandered the grassy paths of The Vale, his interests were caught by a cluster of fungi, he sat with them as if they were his children, telling them his tales and passing onto his knowledge. For Yepos, mushrooms are the perfect representation of all thing natural for they feed on decaying matter to expand their vast empires, breathing life into their local ecosystems.

Later on in the evening, the gnome happened to stumble upon the tomes that had found themselves within the Faith Pit, he spent many hours reading of the teachings, drawing links between his knowledge of the world and the teachings of The Volcano Druid. He would soon relax, setting on a journey to find her.