Major Holy Sites
Rainbow Trail - Location: Valleyhome Province
The oldest holy site, this community once marked the rough half-way point between Upper Valleyhome and Redshore. While changes in movement patterns meant that it was reduced in importance economically centuries ago, this site remains important because it is the burial place of kings and high priests, as well as a storehouse of the oldest and most important relics of the People. For the rare few with the capacity to do so, this place is considered an important stopping point on pilgrimages out of Valleyhome to Holy Sea and the Sacred Forest, forming part of what is known of as the Triangle Path.
Sacred Forest -Location: Sacred Forest, Sacred Forest
Holiest of holies, this combination of temple, city, and forest can be defined of as narrowly as the temple complex to the gods, with Fythhagyna and Crow at the center. A place of learning, scholarship, and debate, it is also one of the biggest consumers of art in the kingdom. The central pilgrimage site for the People and even outsiders attracted to know more of their gods and mystic arts, everyone dreams of one day making the trip, and a fair fraction of the populace will find the time and resources to make the trip. Those who live in and tend the forests consider themselves the holiest of all the People, and pilgrims will often make offerings of labour to do minor tasks such as the planting of trees or the repair of retaining walls, under the supervision of expert artisans and priests.
Holy Sea- Location: Redshore
Just outside the urban area of Redshore there is a secluded cove among the cliffs where the stones form beautiful bands and the sea comes in just right at high tide to create a place of wonder and serenity. While the actual location is largely preserved, structures have grown up around the perimeter to house the priests and shamans who make offerings to the sea and peer into the pools at low tide to seek omens of the future. The populace of Redshore come by with offerings of fruit and grain to be sacrificed to the sea in exchange for the bounties of fish they bring in.
Horse Valley - Location: Stonepen
A broad box canyon that has had living structures sprout up along the perimeter, Horse Valley serves both as a place to house sacred herds of cattle and horses for the Stonepen region and as the premier star gazing location, renowned for its clear nights and excellent sight lines. While a favorite with locals and mystically inclined shamans, it is far enough off the main trails that it gets comparatively little attention for its age. The founding of the Heaven's Hawk has considerably increased its traffic, and sacred falconers have begun to appear among the priests and shamans.
White Circle - Location: Northshore
A natural shrine formed from a break in the ground forming an enclosure of natural white megaliths, White Circle is a small place that has slowly gained considerable wealth as traders frequently make small offerings there as they sail the coasts, this serving as the natural break point between the dangerous cliff of Redshore province and the gentler shores of the northern provinces.
Warrior's Rest - Location: Northshore
Found at a key stop off point along the trails out of the hills in the south heading towards the Stallion Tribes, Warrior's Rest is the religious center of the north, as the settlement serves as a logistical resting point for warriors traveling across the kingdom to the various fights - usually in the north - and also as a massive cemetery for those who fell in battle in the north, their bodies unable to be taken all the way home before decomposition grew too terrible to transport.
Star Mirror - Location: Blackriver
A curiously out of place sinkhole in dark stone, the water that collects in this secluded place is always dark and clear, and thus when the sun sets it becomes a perfect mirror for the heaven's above. While not as good for the direct study of stars, many priests and shamans claim to have nearly lost themselves in the glittering dark, their souls detached from their bodies. There have also been assuredly been those who literally lost themselves to the surprisingly water through accident or darker means. Aside from disturbing the water, there is also a fairly strong current of mysterious source just beneath the surface that is believed to be part of what keeps the water so clean.
Sunrise Grove - Location: Redhills
Located within the dry hills of Redhills, Sunrise Grove faces to the east to greet the sun every morning. Situated in a place of rolling, golden sandstone, this holy site is based more around the necessities of the community to have a meeting place than any particular natural feature.
Skyforest - Location: Southshore
Along the seaside cliffs of Southshore, one in particular rises up into a particularly high and flat plateau. Covered in thick forests, the place also seems to attract fogs to its feet, making the forest seem to sit within the clouds, both from the sea looking in and from the forest looking out. While maintained with care, the eerie fogs long ago lead the shamans to leave the forests wilder than most, to serve as a place of communion with the primordial green of the world.
Bloodgrove - Location: Redshore
The stones here bleed, stained with iron. Bloodgrove is one of these deposits, paired with a profusion of plants that seem to grow nowhere else. The priests protect the sanctity of this place from the miners, while also supporting their spiritual needs. Many say that it is in Bloodgrove that the blood of those killed in beneath the earth wells up, and here it is that the priests put the spirits of unquiet miners back to rest.
Spiritwell - Location: Blackriver
Little more than a natural well at first, it was soon discovered that sound did strange things when one went to get a bucket of water. Soon enough priests and shamans were brought in, and it was discovered that down in the narrow confines there was a cave system, and the whispers of spirits could be heard if one paid close attention. After a few generations it was realized that priests and shamans who spent too much time there had a tendency to go mad with the revelations of the spirits, and thus the membership there is on strict rotation with other holy sites. This has made Spiritwell a place of learning second only to the Big Three.
Moonwell - Location: Southshore
A most peculiar place, this spring and pool sits at the bottom of a natural channel between two hills. Centuries ago it was observed that during the solstices the moon had a tendency to be bracketed by the sides of the channel, and soon a major astrological observatory sprang up to track what phases of the moon could be seen from this location at what times of the year and what it could mean.
Sparkling Cave - Location: Hatriver
An old site first found by the Hathatyn, the Sparkling Cave is a former mine that ran out of ore millennia ago but also lead to the discovery of a chamber where the walls are filled with tiny sparkling crystals. A single candle makes the chamber shine like the night sky, and it was only natural that priests take up shop for this important holy site and place of pilgrimage.
