The Old Tide

Also called: The Drowned Faith, or simply “the Tide”

The Old Tide is the faith of the Uzan, carried in their breath, their blades, and their bones. It is not a doctrine of mercy or light. It is a faith of hunger, storm, and endings. It teaches that the world is not held together by harmony, but by struggle—by the crash of wave against stone, by the howl of wind through broken trees, by blood spilled so something stronger might rise.

The gods of the Old Tide are few. Velgranna, the Deep Mother. Skarn, the Skyfather. Eidhal, the Pale One. Each is cruel, each is necessary, and none are kind. They do not ask for love. They ask for recognition, for offering, for the silence of understanding that to live is to kill, to lose, and to endure.

The Tide does not flow from temples. It rises from cairns slick with salt, from cliffs where sacrifices are cast into the sea, from longhalls that burn their dead so the gods do not claim them slowly. Its rites are carried by the Gravecallers, who bleed the offerings, speak the omens, and remind the people what is owed.

To follow the Old Tide is to walk with the knowledge that death is not an end, but a tide that pulls all things home. Sacrifice is expected. Fire must be fed. Names must be buried before they rot.

Worship is harsh and hidden. Shrines are built from driftwood and stone, bound with blood and salt. They are placed on cliff edges, sealed caves, and frozen shores. The wind itself is sacred, for it carries the voices of gods and drowned alike.

The Uzan do not pray. They speak into the wind and hope it does not answer.

Funeral Practices

Sea-Burial

To the Uzan, the sea is the final gate, the mouth of Velgranna, and the path by which all souls must return. When one dies, their body is wrapped in sailcloth, salted, and pierced with iron to weigh it against the tides. The dead are laid in small boats, carved planks, or tide-wrapped rafts, then set adrift in the direction of the setting sun. Gravecallers speak no blessings, only names and the deeds that will follow the soul into the depths.

The sea-burial is the most sacred rite among the Uzan. To be taken by the water is to be remembered. To drift is to find silence. The Uzan believe the tide judges each soul. The waves carry it home, or drag it under.

Barrows

Rimejarls, deep-blooded warriors, and those whose legacy is too great to scatter are laid in barrows, stone-lined tombs carved into hills, cliffs, or ice-split rock. These tombs are sealed with iron and marked by runes, spears, or the banners of their Drengrhold.

Barrows are not built often. They are costly, sacred, and dangerous if breached. It is said that those interred within do not sleep quietly. Their names are etched only once, and never spoken again unless blood is due or vengeance called. To disturb a barrow without cause is to curse your own line.

Drowning

Those unworthy of name or honor are bound, weighed, and cast into the deep. No rites are given. No names are spoken. The act is silent and swift. These are the oathbreakers, the traitors, the cursed, those who would twist the tide or defy the will of the gods.

The drowned are not mourned. They are erased. The water takes them, and the world is cleaner for it.

It is said that the drowned sometimes return in storm and shadow. Their eyes are empty, and their mouths are full of salt.

Afterlife in the Old Tide

Followers of the Old Tide believe the dead drift into the Deep Below, a dark and endless sea where the spirits of warriors, kin, and oathkeepers dwell in the shadow of Velgranna. There, the worthy feast, fight, and wait in the cold halls beneath the waves, watching the tides of fate rise and fall. The unworthy, cowards, oathbreakers, and kin-slayers, are dragged deeper still, bound in silt and silence until even the gods forget them. Some say they still scream, but the sea keeps its secrets.

Gods of the Woven Path

Afterlife in the Old Tide

Velgranna

Skarn

Eidhal

Velgranna

Goddess of Earth, Death, and Hunger: Velgranna is the deep breath beneath the sea and the hunger of the world that cannot be filled. She is the mother of all things, but she offers no comfort. Her embrace is cold stone, her gift is silence, and her love is survival. Sacrifices are made to her at cliff edges and barrow mouths, and her name is whispered when fire consumes the dead.

Title: The Deep Mother
Alignment: Neutral Evil
Domains: Earth, Death, Darkness
Subdomains: Undead (from Death)
Favored Weapon: Heavy flail
Symbol: A knotted spiral of four looped arms bound at the center
Sacred Animal: Wolf
Offerings: Burned flesh, salt poured into the sea, bones left at low tide

Skarn

God of Sky, Storm, and Oaths: Skarn is the storm that judges the living, the sky that watches, and the voice in thunder that demands strength. He is called upon before raids, during blood feuds, and when vengeance must be taken. His fury is swift, his silence more dangerous still. Those who break oaths beneath his sky risk more than shame, they risk being struck from memory.

Title: The Skyfather
Alignment: Lawful Neutral
Domains: Air, War, Weather
Subdomains: Lightning (from Air)
Favored Weapon: Greatsword
Symbol: Four broken arrows woven into a circular storm-knot
Sacred Animal: Raven
Offerings: Blood spilled on stone, broken weapons, oaths carved into driftwood and cast into the sea

Eidhal

Spirit of Fate, Dreams, and Forgotten Things: Eidhal is neither god nor mortal. They are the whisper behind the mirror, the breath on still water, the shadow at the edge of the firelight. Some say Eidhal was once a god that forgot its name. Others say they were never alive at all. Dreams are their voice. Madness is their touch. To see them is to be changed.

Title: The Pale One
Alignment: Chaotic Neutral
Domains: Magic, Darkness, Knowledge
Subdomains: Nightmare (from Darkness), Memory (from Knowledge)
Favored Weapon: Dagger
Symbol: An open loop crossing itself in two curling hooks
Sacred Animal: White eel
Offerings: Teeth, breath held in a sealed jar, unread scrolls, burned names

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