Dainrouw
by Marco Dalmonte English translation by Gary DaviesWorshipped in: Minrothad, Wendar, Five Shires; Norwold, Savage Coast (Robrenn), Hollow World (Icevale Elves)
Dainrouw (in elven literally “Way of the Forest”) is the name of the cult and the philosophy that worships Ordana, the Immortal creator of the elves and patroness of the sylvan environment, also known as Mother Forest or Thendara. Her philosophy preaches the respect for any forested ecosystem and the protection of plants and animals that are found there from those that willingly harm them. In exchange the forest and its inhabitants are able to provide any need to those that follow the Way of the Forest, sheltering, feeding and protecting them from external dangers.
Dainrouw is an extremely peaceful philosophy that the sylvan elves have embraced for times immemorial after the catastrophe of Blackmoor, and it is based on the peaceful cohabitation between those that live in the woods, on the collection of the products of the forest and of the undergrowth and on the selective hunting of the older members of the animal species, in order to operate an artificial selection that strengthens instead of weakening the local fauna. Every follower of Dainrouw is well liked by the animals and sylvan peoples, as well as by the druidic orders with which they are found to interact, and they always offer aid to the follower if he should have need. The philosophy moreover also preaches of fighting with force all those that threaten the sylvan ecosystem.
The relic holy to Ordana is always a tree typical of the area in the vigour of its years (only in the case of the Minrothad elves are we talking about a true artefact), which the clerics protect as a sign of the perennial alliance with Mother Forest; the ceremony relating to the relic nevertheless remain a secret kept by the faithful.
The priests devoted to Dainrouw (among which are numbered both common clerics and druids, largely elves, even if there are also followers among the phanatons) are specialists in spells that interact with nature, dressing only in clothes of wool, cotton or leather and using as a symbol a leaf of the tree sacred to that community (usually an oak).