The Church of St. Erin teaches that the Old Religion
is the original religion that Man had in his primal state, at peace with Nature and other races,
and before he became aware of good and evil. It was only when evil seeped into the world that
Pelor made himself known to Man. That this might be true in shown by
the fact that other wilderness dwelling races (such as the
Goliaths) have similar values to practioners of the Old Religion
and can bond with its adherents. In certain cases, the
Firbolgs for example, the bond is so great that the races
perform ceremonies together.
The priests of the Old Religion are called Druids and they do not perform their ceremonies in
buildings but rather in sacred groves of trees or beside sacred stones. They revere Nature and
seek most of all to preserve what they see as the balance of nature. As one of the parts of nature that is
most self-aware Man is seen as having a great responsibility to keep the balance and if he
neglects this responsibility he risks unsettling the world and causing its ultimate destruction.
The Great Darkness is seen by the Druids as a period
when Man nearly did exactly that and it serves as a warning to future generations.
Despite (or perhaps because of) the friendliness between the Church of St. Erin and the Old Religion
the Church of St. James tends to look down upon the Old Religion
as something primitive and pagan, an attitude which is shared with the Pelorean Church in
Reetland. Nevertheless despite (or perhaps because of) this attitude a lot
of the country folk in both countries have not forgotten the Old Religion and although they go to
Church the charms they put over their doorways, the sayings they have about the weather, and the
lore they have about what lurks in the forest may owe more to the ancient traditions of the Old Religion.